• Consumers should always be skeptical of unsolicited phone calls
  • Never share personal information 
  • In order to report annoying calls to the police, caller data such as company name, date, time, reason for the call and displayed phone number are necessary

“We strongly warn against calls from alleged Microsoft technical support employees!” says Omar Harb, consumer rights advisor at the Bremen Consumer Center. For years there have been reports and complaints about scammers claiming on the phone that they are Microsoft employees.

Harb knows: “The fraudsters are always coming up with new tricks to get personal data. This primarily applies to email addresses and account details. “The phone number and callers also change constantly, as do the questionable reasons why the data is needed. The callers often speak English or broken German,” explains Omar Harb. Consumers should pay attention here.

Microsoft itself has been warning about the scam on its homepage since the first cases of fraud became known. The company also offers tips for those affected and a form to report attempted fraud.

How those affected can protect themselves

Affected consumers should note the following:

  1. According to its own information, Microsoft does not send emails to its customers or request personal data by telephone without their consent, especially not bank details. 
  2. Anyone who receives a call from a supposed support employee should hang up immediately.
  3. If the sender is unknown, attachments from emails should not be downloaded.
  4. Personal data should under no circumstances be given out.
  5. When making a phone call, no third-party software should be downloaded and installed on your computer, tablet or smartphone.
  6. Consumers should not allow themselves to be intimidated by threats.
  7. The name of the company, date and time as well as the reason for the call and the telephone number should be noted and the fraud case reported to the police.
  8. Fraudulent numbers can also be reported to the Federal Network Agency, thereby protecting others.

Sources:

Bremen Consumer Center

Microsoft: Protect yourself from tech support scams

Related to the topic: Cybercriminals publish source code from Microsoft


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