The police are warning about fraudsters who pretend to be “Microsoft employees” on the phone.

On Monday morning (November 11th) there was a call from an obvious fraudster in Grevenbroich. He claimed on the phone to work for the aforementioned IT company Microsoft. The reason for the telephone conversation was that the called party's computer was infected with viruses. As the lengthy phone call continued, the unknown caller with an Asian accent actually gained access to the almost 80-year-old's online banking.

Although the person called "smelled the roast" relatively quickly and cut off the connection to the computer, the perpetrator managed to debit an as yet unknown amount from the victim's account. There were no further unauthorized access to the account after that. The senior citizen filed a criminal complaint with the criminal police; the investigation into this is ongoing.

An urgent recommendation from the police:

Anyone who receives such a call should under no circumstances respond to the demands. If you end the conversation immediately, disconnect the internet connection immediately if necessary. Under no circumstances should you make any payments or give out bank or credit card details over the phone.

Under no circumstances will Microsoft make unsolicited phone calls offering to repair a defective device. Even for specific user questions, assistance is provided almost exclusively via email.

[mk_ad]

If the caller claims to be an employee of the Microsoft lottery, then this is not true: there is no Microsoft lottery. Microsoft never actively asks for credit card information to verify the authenticity of Office or Windows. Microsoft does not contact users without asking to inform them about new security updates. Contact with Microsoft Support occurs exclusively at the initiative of the user, never the other way around.

If you still become a victim of such a crime, contact the police and report it.

You might also be interested in: Con artists disguise themselves as public utility employees

Source: Police Rhein-Kreis Neuss


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