When carrying out
online fraud, scammers and organized crime groups target a specific group of
users for their illegal operations. They formulate particular tactics and
schemes that would be most effective in tricking users and luring them straight
into their cyber traps. That's because users have different interests, habits,
devices, preferred Web platforms, social networks and applications that they
use for their day-to-day activities. This is why fraudsters make it a point to
identify the most relevant things about the devices, habits, Web platforms and
applications of their intended victims, in an effort to improve the
effectiveness of their social manipulation tactics, malware technologies and
fraudulent schemes on the Internet.
ActionFraud recently reported an alarming rise in cases of
online fraud where users of the new Microsoft Windows 10 OS (operating system)
were victimized by fake tech support scams. They were fooled into paying a
considerable amount of money for fake tech support subscription services.
Many victims claim that pop-up messages started to be
displayed in the screens of their Windows 10 computers right after they visited
a suspicious website, while others say they got these pop-ups after they
clicked a link in a phishing message. This online fraud has victimized a lot of unsuspecting users in the UK, most of whom are in their senior years.
These pop-ups are caused by malicious applications that have
been automatically downloaded and installed in the victim's computer without
the user's consent. The authors of this online fraud set up websites with
automatic download functions, and the downloaded malware program secretly
executes in the background without the user's knowledge. Once activated, these
pop-ups are displayed each time the user opens the Web browser of the
compromised computer.
The messages in these pop-ups are laced with fake urgency
claims and scare rhetoric. This is why a lot of unsuspecting users are
successfully tricked into participating in this online fraud. They're fooled
into calling a phone number that's falsely advertised as the official tech
support number of Microsoft.
Scammers who work for the authors of this online fraud pose
as tech support agents of Microsoft. They convince users that Microsoft does
not cover hacker attacks and Internet-related security breaches caused by
downloading illegitimate content, visiting suspicious websites and opening
tampered digital goods like software products, document attachments in emails,
videos and the like. They are then offered premium tech support subscription
services at discounted prices.
Some victims reported that their credit card accounts were
compromised right after they gave their financial details to the scammer when
they paid for the fake tech support subscription. That's because they noticed
unauthorized transactions in their credit card statements, which appeared a few
weeks after they paid for the fake tech support service.
How to Avoid Tech Support Online Fraud
What you need to do when you receive these pop-ups in your
Windows 10 computer is to call the official tech support agents of Microsoft.
Keep their correct phone numbers handy, just in case. They'll be able to help
you resolve the effects of this online fraud without costing you anything.
To avoid this online fraud, you should never open suspicious
emails. Do not click links in dubious websites and messages. Also enable the
anti-phishing and anti-spam features of your Web browser, email client program
and instant messaging application (if any).
You should also install a reliable system security tool with
malware removal functions and a real time threat-scanning engine in your
Windows 10 computer. It might also be in your best interest to sign up at
BigScammers.Com, in order to receive instant alerts and notices straight in
your email inbox about the newest tactics and schemes that are currently being
used by the authors of tech support scams and other similar types of online
fraud.
