Cases of criminals and frauds claiming to be calling from Windows to offer users computer remote support are on the rise. These calls, usually originating from Philippines or India are scams that are aimed at installing malicious software programs to steal financial and personal data or to scare users into software that they do not need. This news was confirmed after contacting the Windows support number.
These scam callers usually introduce themselves as being from Windows remote support and claim that they have found that the computer of the user being called is at risk of infections. These callers encourage the person being called to switch on their computer and then direct them to log off the Windows operating system. Here they play on the lack of advanced knowledge of the computer user, suggesting that the harmless entries on the log are in fact serious problems and encourage the user to either buy software programs to fix the issues or to allow the bogus remote support caller to access their computer to fix these fake issues.
Many of these calls at the moment are being targeted at the UK customers, where the software used to block calls on the telephones cannot be used to block international calls. In one such case, a man, aged over 80 years received about six calls in one week from someone who claimed to be calling from Windows, despite him never owning a PC. Even though the Federal Communications Commission in US has attempted to track down, charge and stop those making these fake calls, there is little that can be done to stop them.
The best advice to the users is that if someone ever calls telling you that you need to turn on the remote desktop support software for them to help you, you should simply disconnect the call. As the support of Windows XP is scheduled to end on April 2014, there is a concern that big volumes of these calls will be made and people will be conned by these Windows support scammers. Just as banks advice the users that they will never phone or mail them for the log in details, Microsoft also makes it clear that they do not make calls to the users, offering Windows assistance to fix errors and security issues.
These scam callers usually introduce themselves as being from Windows remote support and claim that they have found that the computer of the user being called is at risk of infections. These callers encourage the person being called to switch on their computer and then direct them to log off the Windows operating system. Here they play on the lack of advanced knowledge of the computer user, suggesting that the harmless entries on the log are in fact serious problems and encourage the user to either buy software programs to fix the issues or to allow the bogus remote support caller to access their computer to fix these fake issues.
Many of these calls at the moment are being targeted at the UK customers, where the software used to block calls on the telephones cannot be used to block international calls. In one such case, a man, aged over 80 years received about six calls in one week from someone who claimed to be calling from Windows, despite him never owning a PC. Even though the Federal Communications Commission in US has attempted to track down, charge and stop those making these fake calls, there is little that can be done to stop them.
The best advice to the users is that if someone ever calls telling you that you need to turn on the remote desktop support software for them to help you, you should simply disconnect the call. As the support of Windows XP is scheduled to end on April 2014, there is a concern that big volumes of these calls will be made and people will be conned by these Windows support scammers. Just as banks advice the users that they will never phone or mail them for the log in details, Microsoft also makes it clear that they do not make calls to the users, offering Windows assistance to fix errors and security issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment