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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with the Florida attorney general, announced an operation a few months ago that successfully shut down a major computer tech scam that cheated people out of millions of dollars by convincing them that their computer was compromised and they needed to pay for the fix.
The FTC also warned that these types of scams continue to be a major threat to U.S. consumers.
Read more: Warning: The IRS phone scam is back
In fact, there’s a new version of the scam making the rounds that involves a pop-up warning claiming to be from Microsoft. According to a recent report, the fake notification first warns you that your computer will lock up if the alert window is closed, and then it instructs you to call a specific phone number ‘immediately.’ The message from the crooks may also warn that your computer has ‘been infected with a suspicious activity’ and even claim that your information has already been stolen.
This is just one variation of how it can work.
The problem is that these scams come in all different shapes and sizes — including pop-up alerts, fake advertisements and even phone calls — making it difficult for consumers to be able to tell the difference between fake alerts and the real ones.
According to the FTC, the scammers often use ‘deceptive online ads and misleading, high-pressure sales tactics to frighten consumers into spending hundreds of dollars for dubious computer ‘repairs’ and antivirus software.’
To make users think these pop-up alerts are legitimate, hackers create them to look just like real updates you would get from Microsoft or Apple. Typically, the notification then prompts the user to call a toll-free number (displayed in the ad) to make sure their device, and any sensitive information stored inside, are protected.
When you call the number, you’re asked to give a fake tech support worker remote access to your computer by downloading a software.
Read more: Beware of new ‘can you hear me’ phone scam
In one case, fake ‘technicians’ sitting in a call center in Florida would then allegedly ‘run a series of ‘diagnostics’ that inevitably discovered the existence of grave problems that must be immediately fixed at a cost of $200 to $300,’ according to the FTC.
On top of that, consumers were encouraged to spend an additional $200 to $500 to replace their existing antivirus software, which they were told was outdated and useless. And when people did purchase the ‘updated software,’ it was typically something that’s already available as a free download, according to the FTC.
If you fall for it and download whatever software the crooks give you, they can then secretly track everything you do on that device — just waiting for you to enter any password or payment information that they can steal.
On top of that, once you give the scammers remote access to your computer, they can then hold it ransom until you pay them a large sum of money — which may or may not actually get you your device back.
These scams have become such a big threat that the FTC now has a page on its site dedicated specifically to informing consumers about tech support scams. And since it can be difficult to determine whether an update or alert is legitimate, the FTC has provided some tips on how to spot this type of scam, how to avoid it and what to do if you think you’ve been a victim.
Here are some common tactics a scammer may use to try to get money and/or sensitive information from you:
What to do if you get a call from someone claiming to be from tech support:
Read more: 3 things you can do right now to protect your computer from malware
What to do if you’ve responded to an alert or other notification that you think could be a scam:
Watch: Scam alert: Is that job posting real?
This post was last modified on May 24, 2017 7:16 pm
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