This just hit a client of ours today. The client called us to see if it was legit and we told them "NO!".
A company calling itself Microsoft E Support or Microsoft U Support Live is calling people and telling them a variety of lies to scam them. Jennifer in this case. Many of the calls will be claiming that Microsoft has detected a virus on your system (they don't do this or really care), or that an ISP detected a virus (possible but doubtful). The goal of the social engineering scam is system access and credit card charges/theft.
Regardless, they will then try to get the victim to enter commands on their system. "Please hold down the Windows Button and press the 'R' key. Now type in 'winver' in the dialog box." (or something similar, maybe inf, or another system file name). At which point the OS version, or some files will appear, and they will exclaim that the system is infected, and how lucky the victim is that they called.
Next they will try to get the mark to install remote control software like TeamViewer or VNC (both nice software if used by someone you trust). This will give them direct access to the computer. TeamViewer and VNC can be set up for 24/7 remote access without local user authorization. Now they are in and can access the machine whenever it is on AND, maybe even when it is off via the Wake-On-LAN feature on some systems. For a mere credit card number they will happily clean up that computer and probably install a bunch of nasty malware that will grab any other cards the mark has.
Great scam.
Anyway, it is a scam, hang up the phone, tell them to get lost, move on with your day.
Or maybe mess with their heads if you are bored.
Scammer info;
Microsoft Windows Usupport Live or E-Support Live
Operator name; Jennifer
toll free number 888 514 1650 - DON'T CALL THIS NUMBER!
May be associated with this site - www.1stopearcade.com
Yes they called me at least 4 times. Once I played with them on my virtual machine first thing they did run syslock command and lock my pc with team viewer app. Luckily I had snapshot in place so I could revert.
ReplyDeleteThey have been calling me for months. Any suggestions as to how to get rid of them.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question. I can tell you positively that it doesn't have anything to do with your computer per se. They normally get the phone number from call lists that they buy or steal from websites. I have a VoIP solution from OOMA that allows me to block phone calls from specific numbers. Not sure if the regular phone company allows that sort of thing though. Once they have your number I don't think there is a way to stop them from bothering you. Maybe the public "Do Not Call List"?
DeleteWe just got a call from a Reves Stamtis, apparently from MA. Phone in the caller ID is 508-257-4621. E Support Live is the company he represented. I told him I don't own a computer in my home and apparently his brain stopped for a few seconds. He then asked me if I wasn't interesting in removing the virus from my computer. I asked him to help me understand how could I get virus removed from my computer if I didn't have a computer. I think this guy will get a headache the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteYour comment just made my day. I am laughing to myself picturing the face of the guy that called you. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteMan with Indian dialect called and said he was with Microsoft for software/computar upgrade...when I told hime to leave me alone, he started calling me a "mother fucker"...please, please, please let me find this man!
ReplyDeleteWow, Sounds like a wonderfully helpful guy... Everyday people are falling for this scam. Please watch out!
DeleteSadly I am a victim of their scam. Took hundreds of dollars from me and just learned today from my banker they tried to transfer $2,000 from my account and out into an offshore account in the Phillipines. Luckily I closed my account right away! They new all the problems I was having with my computer....I feel so stupid :(
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about that. Hopefully your story will help someone else. Thanks for the comment.
Deletethese people got my Mother for 200$ dollars and now they put a virus named Kaboom in her computer theybsaid, And the 200 dollars did not ncover it . After she called for support the computer quit working all together Anyb suggestions neeD HELP?
ReplyDeleteIf it turns on at all and is Windows 7 you may be able to get it to boot to safe mode. Do this by repeatedly pressing the F8 key on the computer right when it is starting up. YouTube "Windows 7 Safe Mode" or "Windows 8 Recovery" or "Windows 10 Recovery" depending on the OS. Malwarebytes from www.malwarebytes.org and/or BitDefender Free Edition http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html will help you out in removing the bug. Do Not Search for these sites. Type them into your browser directly in the URL box. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about (BTW, that is OK, I get it!), find a good LOCAL computer shop. Best Buy and their big box store ilk are very hit and miss with the quality of their techs.
Deletehi friends
ReplyDelete