Don’t be snared by new Win10 tech-support scams

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On Security

Don’t be snared by new Win10 tech-support scams

By Fred Langa Online scammers are now targeting those who recently upgraded to Win10, via fake — but highly sophisticated — Windows support sites. Some of these scam sites appear to be authentic Microsoft offerings, complete with the word “Microsoft” or “Windows” in their names, and with layouts, colors, typefaces, and logos that are similar to official sites.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/dont-be-snared-by-new-win10-tech-support-scams/ (opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.

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The article refers to “trusted third-party sources”, but a less-savvy user is not likely to know who those sources are.

I frequently see computers which have driver updaters, cleaners, off-the-wall antivirus, etc. The best answer for all is probably this:

Become familiar with the appearance of built-in anti-virus and cleaning tools; anything which looks different should probably be ignored (“You have an infection, click here!”). Make a note of the apps listed under Settings, System, Apps when the computer is new, and occasionally check the list for new stuff; if you don’t use it, look up the name online to see if it’s safe — if you see lots of results asking how to remove, that’s a hint. Ignore any ads telling you that you need this or that to improve speed, especially if you have a newer version of Windows — there are a number of reasons for your computer to have become slower, and most are fixed adequately with built-in tools and most are prevented by not clicking on ads. Windows has an antivirus built-in, and it’s not called “McAfee” or “Symantec”; if they expire, just uninstall them. If you or your kids are click-happy, consider getting Malwarebytes Anti-Malware or SuperAntiSpyware, and scanning with it once in a while — they’re a good “second opinion”. If you want to buy a software program, look in the Windows Store first — malicious software will have trouble getting approved. If a site is jam-packed with ads, you should probably head elsewhere to a site which cares more about making money by providing good service.

–Scott.

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My sister-in-law recently had her computer compromised with malware, her financial records accessed and got scammed into a yr contract which cost her over $700 and her computer essentially bricked. And how did this happen? If I hadn’t heard it and whats happened since … I wouldn’t have believed it. It started because of her ISP. She had a problem with her Outlook, all of a sudden she started receiving 1000’s of emails from years ago again. She called her ISP at 310-surf as she has always done. They told her a “migration” had occurred. They forwarded her to “Microsoft”, who then forwarded her to a third party Technosoft Ventures. They signed onto her computer, showed she had a virus and for the next 5 hrs “fixed it”. Long story short .. someone at her ISP is working with these scammers. They are getting really devious. Now in case you are thinking this is BS … after many emails and phone calls and lawyers involved, my sister-in-law has had all her costs paid by her ISP. She had to change all her accounts and credit cards but her computer is still useless after being in the shop for a week. Be very careful! Don’t dial any number without double checking who it is. A simple google of the 1 866 numbers she was provided would have shown it is the same scammers calling every week.

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A related experience/warning: when searching for online help, the ones that pop up are often fake. My fairly savvy wife was helping her father fix a printer problem. Searched for Canon help – when they wanted access to the computer, she wised up.

Also, as a Queens resident and out of curiosity, I googled the Queens Village address (without the spelling error) and came up with a “real” company at that address called Geeks Technical Solution. They have a “1” rating (the lowest possible) from Yelp and according to the feedback there, many Canon and Apple users have fallen prey. One commenter said they were called immediately after a BestBuy (i.e. Geeks Squad) purchase.

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I’m my own tech support; if I cannot find an answer to my own computer’s issue using both personal experience and trusted online sites, then it would mean it’s time for both me to get out of any PC related businesses and also no longer participate here. Just saying. Just as a side note, I let no one remote into my system and indeed disabled remote services on my PC. 🙂

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Yes, I was nearly caught by these “operators”. I had just bought a new Tablet which had Windows 8.1 on board, and I contacted the “Help Desk” to see if I could somehow upgrade to W10 even though it was past the “cutoff” date.

I was informed it was impossible, but the agent could offer me a tablet with W10 installed for $US450-00 and they only have one left on hand (Hmmm…suspicious) Then when I asked if I could use Paypal the Agent said they only accept MasterCard and to make it “easy” for me, he asked if I would allow him to connect to my PC and he would put the transaction through for me! …..Woah! Then I thought something was really screwy!

I declined and asked if he could supply me with a website link so I could at least view the product. He then became abusive and indicated that he was unimpressed that I did not trust him.
(The language used was not what an agent would normally use with a client, let me say). I politely told him “No thanks…Goodbye” then disconnected.

I wonder how many people would fall for the trick of letting anyone connect to their PC to go into their banking and put through a transaction. OMG!

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The article states:

“In general, domain registrants are not allowed to be truly anonymous; you can find out who’s behind most websites by using a free whois (“who is…?”) service. Whois lets you access the public portions of domain registration records, such as the registrant’s name and address…”

But registrants can (and do) purchase so-called “domain privacy” services that are available, whereby the domain privacy service contact information replaces the registrant’s real identity when doing a whois lookup.

This is beginning to be a bigger and bigger problem, because we are increasingly unable to know who we are dealing with on the internet. These charlatans can hide their domaim registration identity information at will.

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