How To Know You’re Being Affected By Technical Support Scam — CIOReview

Technical support scam

Perhaps you’ve received one among these calls. A friendly computer technician informs you that your infected PC is attacking their network. They won’t sue you, and they’ll even assist you to stop the attack for free; they only need you to put in this “security” program first. For somebody who isn’t tech-savvy, this will be a confusing and sometimes a good frightening experience, which is strictly what these scammers hope for.

We’ve even known some otherwise tech-savvy people who’ve fallen for this scam. Why? Because they’re not actually targeting technology, they’re targeting people using fear tactics. The IT security field calls this “social engineering.” As many variations on this scam exist because the scammers doing them, but you’ll recognize a scam by trying to find some important clues:

scam alert

Signs you would possibly Be Facing a Scam

1. You’re pressured to act immediately: This is often a symbol that the caller doesn’t want you to think through what they’re asking of you.
   The caller asks you to supply account passwords. If the caller were really from the corporate they claim to be from, then they might have already got access to your account information with them.
2. You’re asked for financial, personal or otherwise sensitive information: almost like passwords, if a corporation representative contacting you needed information from your account, they might have already got access there too.
3. They ask to attach to your PC: Never grant unexpected caller access to your computer. There are many legitimate needs for granting remote access for support, but you ought to always be the one initiating those requests with a corporation with whom you’ve got an existing relationship.
   They ask to resolve the difficulty for a fee or promise to waive fines: mentioning money may be thanks to scaring callers into making an emotional reaction.

What you’ll Do

What to do

1. Hang up immediately: As soon as you think that the decision may be a scam, simply hang up. On the off chance that you’re mistaken, and therefore the call was from a legitimate company a few real technical issues, they’re going to take the trouble to contact you again. Scammers usually just move onto the subsequent targets.
2. Contact your ISP: If you’re still unsure whether the difficulty was real, report the interest of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Their contact information should be available on your account statements or other correspondence with them. Never believe the contact information provided by someone calling you out of the blue.
3. Contact your security software vendor: The FTC recommends that if you’ve got purchased security software from a reputable vendor, contact that company on to confirm your PC is safe.
4. Report the scam: you’ll report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). this is often the agency tasked with preventing unfair and deceptive business practices. they need to understand about these scams.
5. Use the National don’t Call List: Add your telephone number to the don’t Call registry. Be warned: Scammers are always trying to find loopholes that permit them to call you, but having your telephone number on the registry will eliminate an outsized amount of telemarketing and scam calls.