{"id":41869,"date":"2013-03-01T19:05:48","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T19:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=41869"},"modified":"2013-03-01T19:05:48","modified_gmt":"2013-03-01T19:05:48","slug":"tech-support-call-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/tech-support-call-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Support-call Cons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam.jpg\" alt=\"phonescam\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-41875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>by Fred Langa for Windows Secrets Newsletter<\/p>\n<h4>Tech Support-call Cons<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cHello. This is Microsoft Tech Support. Your PC has notified us that it has an infection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The call is a scam \u2014 an extremely prevalent one. Here\u2019s how it works and what you need to know to stay out of the trap.<\/p>\n<p>Scams come and go, but this particular one seems to have staying power \u2014 and it\u2019s spreading quickly. It\u2019s now so common, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center) issued a Jan. 7 special alert, \u201cNew twist to online tech supportscam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Windows Secrets reader Scott Brande was recently on the receiving end of a typical tech-support con. Recognizing it for what it was, he carefully documented the attempted snow job, then sent in his notes as a service to all Windows Secrets readers.<\/p>\n<p>His narrative, plus the resources I\u2019ll list at the end of this article, can help you \u2014 and the people you care about \u2014 avoid falling prey to this malicious tactic.<\/p>\n<p>Scott\u2019s description of how the scam played out:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThis morning I received a telephone call (the second such call in two weeks) about infected files on my computer; the caller then offered to fix the problem. Suspecting a scam, I decided to play along.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it was the same caller both times. He had a strong accent, the kind I\u2019m used to hearing on outsourced help lines. I asked the caller\u2019s name both times; the first time he replied, \u2018Mike Tyler,\u2019 and the second time he was \u2018Andrew.\u2019 He began the call by saying that he\u2019s with Microtek, an authorized supporter for Windows operating systems. (My spelling of the company\u2019s name was a guess; the caller never spelled it out.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked immediately whether this was a sales call. Without directly answering my question, he launched into what sounded like a script. He stated: \u2018Our servers have received information from your computer that indicates it is infected.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I questioned him about his company, he told me I\u2019d find \u2018Microtek\u2019 listed on [an online business directory] \u2014 as if a listing in the directory were proof his call was legitimate! When asked where the company was located, he replied, \u2018Houston, Texas.\u2019 I then asked for his employee ID; he gave me \u2018MSCE079502.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(After the call, I ran an online search and came up with a Microtek in Houston; it\u2019s a training facility for business computer users \u2014 not a technical-support center. I assume the caller just picked Microtek\u2019s name off the Web. I don\u2019t believe the real Microtek had anything to do with the bogus tech-support call.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChanging topics, I asked how he knew my computer was infected. He replied that his company is an authorized Microsoft Partner and, because I use Microsoft Windows, my computer sends notifications to Microtek servers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI then asked how he knew about my specific computer; he stated that his server gets updates from my PC. He then asked whether I ran Windows Update. When I said yes, he went on to say that Microtek servers got the information about infected files in my system via Windows Update.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI countered, stating that Windows Update goes only to Microsoft servers \u2014 not Microtek servers. But he simply repeated that Microtek is an authorized Microsoft Partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNext, I asked him which one of my computers was infected (I have several at home), to which he said something vague about a MAC address. When asked which MAC address he had for my machine, he would state only that, for \u2018security reasons,\u2019 he couldn\u2019t tell me the MAC address (even though it was my own PC).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this point, I expressed my doubts about all this information. But he was quite persistent; he stated that \u2018some of our clients in your area have been affected by the infected files on your machine.\u2019 He then claimed I had upward of \u20191,000 infected files.\u2019 When asked who these local clients were, he said he couldn\u2019t tell me that (of course).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked how his clients\u2019 machines could possibly be affected by my home computer. He didn\u2019t answer this but went directly to the following: \u2018OK, I\u2019ll show you the infected files on your computer.\u2019 He instructed me to enter .inf into the Start menu search box, then declared that all these files were \u2018infected\u2019 (that .inf stands for \u2018infected\u2019 or \u2018infection\u2019).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that point, I said I didn\u2019t believe that was true; it was my understanding that .inf was a particular type of file that comes with software installed on my computer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this point, he ended the call \u2014 probably because I knew that .inf didn\u2019t refer to infected files. As it was, I\u2019d had him on the line for a good 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs I mentioned, this is the second such cold call I\u2019ve received in about two weeks. The pitch given in the two calls was very consistent; I surmise there must be many others who have been presented with the same scam.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Great job, Scott! Your suspicions are totally correct: This was just a scam. And yes, it\u2019s extremely widespread.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/windowssecrets.com\/top-story\/security-alert-bogus-tech-support-phone-calls\/?utm_source=PCPitstop&#038;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\">Article continued here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This excerpt appears with permission from Windows Secrets Newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/techtalk.pcpitstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam.jpg\" alt=\"phonescam\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-41875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/phonescam-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello. This is Microsoft Tech Support. Your PC has notified us that it has an infection.\u201d The call is a scam \u2014 an extremely prevalent one. Here\u2019s how it works and what you need to know to stay out of the trap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[4225,611],"class_list":["post-41869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-windows-secrets","tag-microsoft-tech-support-scam","tag-tech-support-scam"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tech Support-call Cons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cHello. 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