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HostChoice.net: Windows Tech Support Scam Posted in: News | by News Team | 2016 Sept 16
Scammer
Description:
You just got a phone call from someone claiming to be a Windows Tech support and tells you that they were receiving error messages from your windows computer.
I get these calls almost every day on my home phone, even though we haven't had any Windows computers plugged in in the last 2 years.
It does not matter that you don't even have a Windows computer or that it's connected to the Internet, it's still sending error messages according to him! (If I had a computer that could send messages to a guy in India without being turned on or having an Internet connection, Wow, would I be rich!)
The first thing he tells you to do is turn on your computer. Then find and press the (Windows and R)
keys at the same time. He will then ask you to go to a website that allows him to have remote access to your computer.
syskey: In what has been called the technical support scam, scammers claiming to represent Microsoft, Windows, Google, the FBI, or another group attempt to extort money from unsophisticated computer users, usually over the telephone. Using various social engineering techniques and pretexts (e.g., claiming that the victims' computers are infected with a virus, contain illicit content, or are about to fail due to ”serious” errors that are in fact normal), scammers often try to fool victims into believing that their computers are in need of support or maintenance which the caller will provide on payment. If the direct approach fails, the scamming party will invoke the syskey command and set a password only known to them, then reboot the computer, thereby locking them out of their own computers at boot time.
Remedy:
It's a scam. Do not give out any personal information about yourself. (and do not allow them to remote access your computer!) Hang up. Microsoft does not call people PERIOD!
In the USA, the target of your complaints should be the Federal Trade Commission. Calls to the FTC on this scam are treated seriously, but you need to have kept a note of the name of the person calling (it's fake, but still important) and the number they're calling from. You should be able to get the number from your handset, or by dialing your regional ”last incoming call” number.
