#Windows r scam how to#
#Windows r scam Patch#
#Windows r scam windows 10#

#Windows r scam Patch#

Microsoft Patch Tuesday: 55 bugs squashed, two under active exploit.

Average ransomware payment for US victims more than $6 million.

Exchange Server bug: Patch immediately, warns Microsoft.

Costco customers complain of fraudulent charges, company confirms card skimming attack.

This malware could threaten millions of routers and IoT devices.

#Windows r scam windows 10#

Windows 10 is a security disaster waiting to happen.He then explained the services provided by his company - always referring to himself or his company as 'Windows certified technicians' - all of which are tailored based on what he 'diagnosed.' This would be utter nonsense to to those in the know, but also convincing enough to those who know no better.ДЄll of these 'issues' could be easily fixed in just a few minutes, said the technician. There will be hundreds if not thousands of entries in here as standard for any ordinary user and is generally no cause for alarm, yet these events were positioned as hackers gaining access to the computer's files. Then, he pulled up Windows' Event Viewer, which logs issues relating to the computer's performance and stability. Again, nothing untoward here, but he claimed it was 'hackers' piggybacking the connection for cybercrime, which is nonsense. (For what it's worth, our virtual machine was woefully out-of-date, which didn't exactly hurt his cause.) Then, he pulled up a command window to display the computer's local and foreign IP addresses. The technician then pulled up the Windows Action Center to show which security services were enabled and which weren't.

#Windows r scam how to#

The 'technician' asked various questions about the computer to gain trust and walked through how to give him remote control access to the computer. Over the course of a few days, we called the number numerous times from several phone numbers using the same script and talked to different people at various times of the day and night. We put a few dummy files on the desktop to make it look like it wasn't a new virtual machine we had pulled directly from Microsoft. We were using an isolated Windows 7 virtual machine hooked up to its host's Mac network connection. If all goes to plan, the scammers get paid and the caller gets peace of mind.Д«ut when things don't go their way, things can quickly turn nasty. With the threat of losing their files at the hands of hackers (who don't exist), the caller is pressured into turning over their credit card or checking account information. Then, using as little energy but with as much bluster as possible, they drown the caller in either fake or non-relevant information to raise the sense of urgency on the matter.

The scammers wait until victims call them, putting the onus of responsibility on the caller. But we thought this would be a reasonable exception.ДЄnd so we went back to call the number on the website to see exactly what they wanted. There's a saying in journalism: 'Don't feed the trolls.' In other words, don't engage with someone you know to be malicious. We wanted to see how these scammers operate and the tactics they used so we could offer some advice to potential victims.