Despite the joint efforts of the IT community and law enforcement, the numbers say Windows tech support scams are still on the rise. According to Forbes, last year Microsoft received 153000 reports from Windows users in 183 countries, a 24% increase compared to 2016. On the other hand, only 15% confirmed losing money as a result of scam, which proves that all of the efforts haven’t been in vain. [Read more…] about Fighting “Tech Support” Scams With Help From IT Pros
Scam
How to Protect Yourself Against Tech Support Scams
In the past few years we’ve written a number of articles on how to spot tech support scam, or what to do if somebody’s tried to scam you. There’s no doubt that this type of cyber fraud will continue to exist no matter how hard we try to eradicate it. However, knowing how to protect yourself against various types of scams is key to keeping your private data and money safe. This time we’d like to summarize a few rules and best practices based on the recent reports we received to help users avoid being scammed by fake tech support companies. [Read more…] about How to Protect Yourself Against Tech Support Scams
Another Fight on “Microsoft Tech Support” Scams
Let’s be straightforward – “tech support” scammers can be a real pain in the ass. Scammers can lock out users’ machines and steal their private data. Scammers are the reason IT pros have to deal with too much suspicion on the client’s part when trying to provide remote technical assistance. Lastly, scammers can damage vendor’s reputation by using this or that product for fraudulent purposes.
Keeping our customers and average PC users safe from scams or any other threats is a priority for us at Techinline. Some time ago we published an article on how to spot typical tech support fraud, as well as shared our own experience in fighting “Microsoft support” scammers. Nevertheless, scammers are here to stay, at least for now. As we have thousands of users worldwide, it’s almost impossible to proactively identify which ones are using our product for unsolicited purposes. However, we’ll continue educating our users about “Microsoft support” scams to ensure that issues of this sort are on the decrease.
We’d like to share another real life story, and we do hope that this will help our customers, their clients, and other businesses fight back against “Microsoft support” scams. [Read more…] about Another Fight on “Microsoft Tech Support” Scams
Fight on “Microsoft Support” Scams
Some time ago we described how to spot tech support scam – a typical computer access fraud that the IT community is talking about more and more these days. Sadly, scamming affects both users’ private data and vendors’ reputation, as most fraudsters tend to present themselves as well-known software providers. We’ve been following all the ongoing discussions about this issue and recently finally got a call from one of our customers that helped us start an in-depth investigation to find and penalize the criminals.
We’d like to share this story and hope that our customers and other businesses might find it helpful in fighting back against “Tech Support” scams. [Read more…] about Fight on “Microsoft Support” Scams
Spotting a Tech Support Scam
Avoiding Computer Access Fraud
Scammers use a variety of methods to gain entry into personal and business computers. Today, one of the most common scams targets the remote desktop tech support industry. Schemers call homes and businesses claiming to have information about a virus on a certain computer. Then, unsuspecting individuals unknowingly pass on information to a bogus technician.