Anyone can tell that a situation is bad enough if tech giants and a federal agency work together to stop it. There have been a series of fraudulent activities where customers were scared to the point of accepting help from tech support for false security alerts.
Crackdown on Tech Support Scam
Amazon and Microsoft along with India's Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are working together to put a stop to the fraudulent tech support that has been attacking the retail and software giants' customers in the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the UK.
In a report by the Indian federal agency, there have been two cases where fake call center operators were posing as customer support agents for Amazon and Microsoft. They operated through pop-ups that "falsely appeared to be security alerts", as reported by The Verge.
In continuation to the introduction, the scammers would have the victims call a toll-free number to their supposed call centers. They would then ask the customers to allow them to take over their computers remotely to fix problems that don't exist.
In exchange for their "help," the fraudsters would ask the customers to pay hundreds of dollars for their services. The CBI has conducted intensive searches in five different cases at 76 locations across multiple states, calling the operation Chakra-II.
During the investigation, 32 mobile phones, 48 laptops, images of two servers, 33 SIM cards, and pen drives were confiscated, according to reports, along with several bank accounts frozen. 15 email accounts that revealed the methods of the scammers were also seized.
Amazon claims that the illegal call centers affected over 2,000 customers of both companies. With the severity of the case, it was the first time that Microsoft and Amazon worked together to take down tech support fraud, says Amy Hogan-Burney from Microsoft.
The Scam
There are signs that you can look out for if you think that you are a potential victim of this scam. The fraudsters would call you directly pretending to be tech support for Amazon and Microsoft, even possibly spoofing the caller ID to make it look more convincing.
You will be asked to install applications so they can remotely control your device. Upon gaming control, they can make it seem like normal system messages are issues that you need to resolve. The scammers are also capable of creating false pop-ups.
When in doubt, it's important to remember that Microsoft does not send unsolicited emails or make unsolicited phone calls and ask for personal and financial information. They also don't offer technical support for computer foxes nor do they call to tell you that you need it.
Be wary of pop-ups that contain phone numbers since error and warning messages from the tech giant never include them. The company does not accept payment methods like cryptocurrency or gift cards as well.
If you feel like you have been targeted, run a full scan with Windows Security to make sure that your device doesn't have malware. You may also report these tech support scams through www.microsoft.com/reportascam or amazon.com/reportascam.
