Beware – Telephone Tech-Support SCAM

A number of customers have approached me in the last few weeks about phone calls they have received from ‘Technical Support’ in regard to ‘a problem on their computer’.

The way the scam works is this:

A customer support representative, claiming to be from a reputable company (ie ‘Microsoft’) rings and states that they have noticed some problems on your machine.

The (fake) problem that has been identified will be something like a “Virus or Trojan infection”.

The ‘support representative’ will then ask you to go to your computer and switch it on.

From there, they will provide instructions on how you can install an application that will provide complete access to your computer

After this, they will show you ‘virus infections’ and other ‘issues’ which they will charge you to fix after getting your credit card details.

There are numerous documented instances of variations of this scam via Google.

For more information, see

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1200200

CAUTION: If someone you don’t know wants you to give them full access to your computer via the internet, chances are its a scam that will put your credit card details and your personal information into the wrong hands.