Tech support scams @ AskWoody

Tech support scams

Posted on September 3rd, 2018 at 23:07 Kirsty Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

It’s great to see that Google have finally acknowledged their part in dodgy tech support ad scams – on The Register today (by John Leyden):
Google cracks down on dodgy tech support ads
Verification programme aims to weed out the miscreants

So what do you do if you do get caught by one of these scams?

Microsoft have a Tech Support Scam info page, which details what these scams are, and how to best protect yourself from them. I was surprised to find in this page that they want to hear about such scams, whether the caller pretends to be representing Microsoft OR some other company:

Help Microsoft stop scammers, whether they claim to be from Microsoft or from another tech company, by reporting tech support scams: www.microsoft.com/reportascam.

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit uses customer reports to investigate, take action against criminals, and make referrals to law enforcement when appropriate.

In addition, the page has a list of known tech support scam phone numbers – this is not just a list of U.S. numbers, either.

Another Microsoft Secure blog, Teaming up in the war on tech support scams, dated April 2018, gives background on the problem, including social engineering aspects.

Your government may also have a portal for reporting such scams, such as:
U.S.: https://www.ftc.gov/complaint
Canada: http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
U.K.: http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
Australia: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/
N.Z.: https://www.netsafe.org.nz/report/
For Europe, see: https://www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online

In addition, other companies also have scam reporting options, such as:
Google: https://support.google.com/faqs/answer/2952493?hl=en
TinyURL: https://tiny.cc/contact
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/security
Dell: https://blog.dell.com/en-us/five-tips-help-you-avoid-tech-support-phone-scams/ (does contain links to report)

@swiftonsecurity’s DecentSecurity.com has a great summary of phishing, evaluation, reporting information, that’s well worth checking out. While it’s primarily focused on US reporting, there is a lot of useful information for everyone.

While we need to keep on our toes as citizens of the www, reporting scams may just help to rein in this wild west aspect of it.

Other scams, Tech Support Scams

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