01/01/2017
Below are a couple articles that explain in detail what I have been mentioning regarding scammers. It is a long but VERY informative and knowing about this ahead of time could possibly save you hundreds of dollars! Worth reading!
1.What can be expected from the Tech Support Scam virus?
With the technology developing every day, we are increasingly involved in the virtual world. The criminals have learned to make use of this involvement and are inventing numerous ways to exploit the unsuspecting victims. Thousands, if not millions, of people have already been tricked through scam calls, but Tech Support Scams puts this deceiving business on a whole another level. This type of scam involves both computer and phone technologies to extort money from the users. The criminals involved in such scams usually employ knowledge of the human psychology and use social engineering to involve people into their fraudulent operations. The vulnerability they target the most is the security and health or the users computers. The scammers invent fake companies or work under the names of famous ones, such as Microsoft. They try to trick the users into obtaining unnecessary products or services which may not even exist. If they do exist, though, they may be simply non-functional or even hazardous to the PC. Therefore, if you ever see a notification on your computer, claiming that your system is infected with malware or some other system malfunction has unexpectedly occurred, closely inspect and evaluate this message before taking action.
2.What are the basic principles of a Tech Support Scam virus?
We have already discussed that Tech Support Scam is related to both, telephone and computer technologies, but initially, it all begins with a cyber infection. Tech Support scammers use technology similar to adware. It allows the virus to infiltrate the system together with other software and start generating pop-up ads and other notifications on random sites you visit online. So, there is actually no way of indicating what websites you should avoid. Of course, it is always recommended to keep away from obscure and unreputable sites, but remember, there are no guarantees that such dubious ads will not pop-up on your favorite news page or social networking site as well.
It is difficult to pinpoint what exactly do these ads claim because there are numerous different Tech Support Scam viruses currently roaming the Internet and every one of them may use their own tricks to outwit you. The scammers may pretend to be representatives of Windows Helpdesk, Windows Service Center, Microsoft Support or similar supposedly respectable Microsoft representatives. What is know for sure, though, is that these notifications may feature security-related warnings about malware infections or offer you to obtain a subscription of remote technical support to solve your computer’s issues. These notifications always indicate a phone number which the user should call in order to receive or purchase these services. Unfortunately, if you tried calling the number, you would be immediately connected to a scammer rather than a remote professional technician or the Microsoft representative. In such a case, you should hang up at once and scan your computer for malware responsible for generating these warning messages.
3. How can you tell if you are targeted by scammers?
The primary and the main goal of the Tech Support scammers is to extort money from the users. So, a major warning sign that you might be dealing with cyber criminals is an insisting manner of communicating. The scammers may encourage you to let them remotely access your computer and solve the problems indicated in the fake notifications. Once they are connected, they will imitate a system scan and report major problems on your device, even though, in reality, it might be completely clean. Simultaneously, the scammers may install additional malware themselves to back their claims. After reporting issues with the system, the victim will be pushed into purchasing the "one and only" solution which can "fix" the indicated problems.
4. How this virus reaches computers and is there a way to avoid it?
Tech Support scam viruses can infect computers similar ways other potentially unwanted programs do. They may install together with other freeware or shareware applications and silently carry out their activities on the infected computer. To prevent this, you should take your time when installing newly downloaded software and always choose the advanced installation mode. In the software’s setup opt out suspicious or unnecessary software package components, if there are any. Also, be security-cautious online as well. Refrain from visiting unreputable sites, do not click on suspicious links and advertisements. This will help you stay few steps further from getting infected with such malware. However, do not cross out the possibility of getting infected and equip your system with tools capable of indicating and removing the infection.
There is more but I hope this information will help save somebody some headaches! :-) Always be careful what you click on. If you have to, call someone you trust for advice before clicking on something that can be harmful. I have had customers call me that are unsure about something.
