Your phone rings. The number? Unknown and suspiciously long. You struggle with whether you should answer the phone at all (by the way, most people obviously find it difficult not to answer a phone call). Ultimately, however, you lose weight. Someone is sitting on the other end of the line and says in bad German or directly in English (preferably with an Indian accent):
“I am a Microsoft worker! Your computer is at risk / Has been exposed to a virus attack / Has an expired license.” But you were lucky, because the same “competent employee” had the solution: he wanted access to your computer in order to correct the problem.
You don't believe him? Then that's a good thing. Unfortunately, these people are so well trained and have mastered the basics of social engineering that many people believe them.
(Screenshot: Sollichankommen.de )
This method of working is a well-known scam that occurs worldwide!
Your goal is to gain access to the computer.
They usually offer to fix the computer problems through this access. This uses third-party maintenance software that is also used by actual computer experts.
In order to prove to the injured party that the computer is at risk, the injured party is shown the event viewer, which often shows a large number of errors and warning messages.
Failure to pay will result in a ban!
They often put the injured party under pressure by telling them that their computer will be blocked if they do not pay.
In some cases, the victims are also instructed to go to the nearest Postbank branch to carry out a cash transaction abroad using “Western Union”.
The callers only want to access credit card data and carry out bank transfers and other transactions through third-party access to the victim's computer.
As soon as fraudsters are allowed external access to the computers, they actually have the opportunity to lock the computer by changing the Windows password.
In addition, they can install malware and also increase the amounts of the supposed fees for license or virus protection.
Microsoft also warns!
The Microsoft company itself warns on its website about fraudsters who call worldwide in the name of the company.
There are hardly any investigative approaches for the police because all of the caller data, including their phone numbers, is completely made up.
The criminal investigations of the affected computers only revealed that the calls and external access came from India. The recipients of money abroad can almost never be identified.
There are no local focal points for the crimes reported in the area of responsibility of the Ludwigsburg Police Headquarters Ludwigsburg and the victims are spread across all communities.
The damage caused varies in individual cases between 0 euros and 3,000 euros.
There was always no financial loss if the person called hung up on time or the transaction was stopped in time by the bank.
The police recommend hanging up on such callers without comment.
If damage has occurred, report it to the police. In addition, the affected credit cards and online banking should be blocked immediately.
If the computer has been remotely accessed, it is recommended to check the affected computer for malware and, if necessary, “clean” it. Always back up your data and keep it in a safe place.
No reputable company calls unannounced by phone to request that third-party access be activated.
In order to protect yourself from similar criminal actions, it is also advisable to enter corresponding terms or contents of dubious emails in Internet search engines.
For example, the hit list for the terms “Microsoft + caller” almost exclusively leads to warning messages about this scam.
Source: http://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/110974/3039970
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )