The Guardia Civil keep us advised on Twitter with the latest scams going around. This time it is a well-known scam that is doing the rounds once again. The Microsoft technical service scam has returned.
Over recent months, it appears there has been an increase in people receiving calls and notifications seemingly from Microsoft technical service department.
These cybercriminals pretend to be technicians from Microsoft offering false technical support services.
They want your personal data
They may attempt to contact you in several ways; however, the result is the same. They talk to you about router problems, antivirus… They don’t want to help you; they want your personal data.
You could receive a telephone call either in English or in Spanish. The callers identify themselves as a technical support service for Microsoft. They will inform you that your devices are at risk, and urgent action is required.
⚠#ALERTA❗Detectada nueva campaña de llamadas 🗣📞 de los supuestos "soportes técnicos” de Microsoft
Te hablan de problemas de router, antivirus… No quieren ayudarte quieren tus datos personales#NoPiques
👇https://t.co/7Ksi1Yl7K1 … pic.twitter.com/5X1J5sQtIe— Guardia Civil 🇪🇸 (@guardiacivil) June 3, 2022
You may also see an error message on your web browser, a system warning, or a pop-up. This will contain text asking you to call the help line number to solve the problem.
Helpful, friendly and credible, or are they?
They will sound very helpful and friendly and may even use your name. They may drop details into the conversation about Microsoft to make them sound even more credible. But they will insist that you follow their instructions.
Normally, the scammers begin by indicating a series of technical data. Once again, this is to add credibility. Then they tell you there is a very serious error that need immediate attention. To enable them to fix this problem, they ask to instal a remote access app.
Remote access
Once they have remote access to your laptop or mobile devise, they have access to everything. For this reason, you should never grant remote access to anyone unless you are absolutely certain that it is a known and trusted person.
They can take everything! Documents, photographs, and social media networks can be accessed (especially if you have saved the passwords to your laptop). Perhaps you even have online banking that they could access. They could even instal a virus, and later ask for money for them to remove.
Cybersecurity helpline
As with all such scams, Microsoft and other banks or organisations would not contact you unless you have asked them to. Therefore, do not do as they ask! The best thing to do is to hang up and check your laptop or mobile device just to confirm that it was part of a scam, and that there is not a real problem. You can also contact the cybersecurity helpline at the Internet Security Office (OSI).
Also read: Interpol launch new CyberCrime Security Campaign #YouMayBeNext
