Microsoft Phone Scam Now Also Available In French And German

Microsoft scammers are people for years by awkward to call them up and say that there are problems with their computer at home, but lately also Web sites and pop-ups used. Which let users believe that their computers with a "virus" is infected or has some other problem.

Next, there must be a specific telephone number to be called in order to resolve the problem. This is the number of scammers posing as Microsoft employee or specialist. Then they try to make the victims pay for the removal of the "virus" or the purchase of a virus. The amounts can run into the hundreds of dollars. Thus German victims at a recent campaign for an amount of 389 euro per person scammed. The ads and pop-ups are distributed through malicious advertisements and are bundled with "potentially unwanted programs".

Multilingual

Previously, the text of the pop-ups and websites was always in English and addressed the scam only English. Now scammers target other countries. There are versions in German, found French, Spanish and Japanese. The crooks who answer the phone speak the language. According to anti-virus firm Malwarebytes organisations behind the scam have probably turned several call centers in these countries and they are given instructions on how they can light up people by phone.

"Non-English-speaking countries were previously safe, but scammers have now realised that millions of potential victims are within their reach, particularly in Europe. Since the scam mainly makes social engineering use, they had to find a way to bridge the language barrier and there they have now succeeded, "said analyst Jerome Segura.

Microsoft: 3 Million People Affected By Phone Scammers

In the first six months of this year more than 3 million people are affected by phone scammers posing as employees of large tech companies and trying to educate people on the phone, so Microsoft has to know. Often these scam artists posing as Microsoft Employee. They call consumers at home that there are problems encountered on the computer.

To solve its users, the scammers access to their computer and then must be paid. There are also variations active with pop-ups and advertisements are used for computer problems or warn occur if the helpdesk of a tech company and thus try to mislead consumers to call the phone scammers themselves. According to Microsoft goes mainly to American companies that use foreign call centers.

In a little less than half an hour Microsoft is organizing a panel discussion in Washington DC where trends are discussed in phone cams. Will also examine how consumers can protect themselves against scammers and what steps they should take if the scammers have gotten access to the computer. The panel discussion is live to follow through this page.

Researcher: Phone Scammers Are Not Innocent

The phone scammers who call people at home and pretend to be Microsoft employees are no innocent call center staff who read a script. This enables the Australian researcher Troy Hunt. He made ​​in 2012 in a video which showed how to work the scammers.

The scammers claim that there is a problem with your computer, and then try to let the user install software so they gain control of the system. Eventually, the so-called problems are solved and the user should pay. Recently warned Microsoft for this type of scam. Hunt was not called for some time, but recently was approached twice on the same day and took two calls on.

In one of the conversations he is at the end insulted and abused by crook. Therefore, there is according to the researcher no doubt that this was going to be innocent call center staff, but these people know very well what they are doing. "These are just annoying people and I have no doubt that they are complicit in these deceptive and illegal activities," said Hunt.