The Scam:
The fake service call is a new type of scam targeting home and business users. The scammer will call a home or business and claim they are from Microsoft or another legitimate company. They will say that they have detected a serious problem or virus with your machine and direct you to a website where they will connect to your computer to “diagnose or solve the problem.” The scammer will connect to your computer and install a trojan virus which will potentially steal all of the data from your computer.
These types of scams are effective because there is not much a person can do to confirm the authenticity of the caller. The caller is using social engineering techniques to be very persuasive in trying to convince you that they are from a real company and that something is wrong with your computer.
Don’t Get Fooled:
Software manufactures such as Microsoft will never call you at home or at your business claiming to have identified a problem with your system. If you do receive these calls, hang up; you do not have to engage or listen to their pitch.
More information:
SANS Securing The Human:The Tech-Support Phone Call Scam
Microsoft.Com: Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently
Updated: 2012.07.10
Image:David Castillo Dominici
