Phone Based Computer Scam - Beware

[Abdul]

I figured I'd post this here since I don't have a Facebook account (aka soap box) and this is the only geographically close forum that I participate in. Share or ignore, I care not, but if I help one person it was worth the 2 minutes of my time. The following is the main excerpt from an e-mail I just sent family/friends in Oz.

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I just received a phone call (here in Adelaide, March 3rd, 2012) from an Indian sounding guy (with such a thick accent he was hard to understand) saying he was from the Microsoft support department and that he had detected a problem with my computer. He asked if I was the computer user in the household and when I said yes he said that I needed to follow some steps that he would run me through over the phone. The first step he asked me to do was to turn on my computer which was also the point I told him to bugger off.

Of course this was no doubt a scam, since Microsoft would never call you to say they detected a problem with your computer. Had I not told him where to go I probably would have, as per his instructions, visited some web site or performed some specific actions that would have resulted in his Trojan being downloaded on to my computer, or worse. I figured it was a scam from the start, but listened to his spiel so I could get enough information about the scam he was trying to perpetrate, so I could advise everyone else to be wary.

So, if you get any strange phone call asking you to turn on your computer and follow some steps, tell them you know it’s a scam and to piss off (or if you prefer, just hang up).

[Nash]

Thanks man. Surely you can report this to someone of authority too, maybe police can follow up on the phone number? Or am I being too optimistic? lol. Is there a scam reporting system or network in Australia?

I'm only 24 so I'm cluey to this kind of crap, but I do get very concerned when my 60 year old mother, who struggles greatly with technology, gets online. The internet is a very vulnerable place for those who haven't grown up with computers or taken up a keen interest in them since they have taken off in our modern society.

[EdDog]

Happened to my grandparents - they tell you to go to a website and then download a virus.

[Interloper]

Thanks man. Surely you can report this to someone of authority too, maybe police can follow up on the phone number? Or am I being too optimistic? lol. Is there a scam reporting system or network in Australia?

Scamwatch various departments have jurisdiction over different areas though and you stop one scammer and six more pop up doing the same thing.

This particular scam is an old one. Last time I heard of it, it was a mob allegedly, but probably not, operating out of Sydney, but you could have got a different group operating the same scam. Theres an interview about it 54:50 into this podcast.

Obviously the best advice to give anyone is that if they get a "we have detected problem XYZ with your computer" phone call, just hang up.