Be Vigilant Against Scammers

A Blaine County resident reported last week that she had been scammed by someone claiming affiliation with Microsoft. Unfortunately, these and other tech support scams are fairly common. Unscrupulous cybercriminals have built a multi-million-dollar industry by preying on everyday consumers and PC users by impersonating tech support. The incident was reported to Blaine County Law Enforcement, and the individual cancelled and replaced her compromised credit card. The sheriff’s department reminds county residents to be vigilant in order to avoid falling for these scams.

The impacted resident was online looking for homestead recipes when suddenly “a bunch of blocks came up that I couldn’t exit out of. They were accompanied by an alert to call Microsoft immediately to repair this horrendous issue. I called the number, which originated in Clearwater, Florida, and this person claiming to be with tech support took control of my computer. . . . I could see him on there! He ‘verified’ that my computer was infected with viruses and said he had someone in the area who could remove them. He gave me a three-hour window to buy some gift cards to clean-up my computer.”

Once her computer was cleared of its problem, the resident—who wishes to remain anonymous—contacted her daughter who helped her to rectify the impact of this exploitation. “I felt so violated; like my life was ripped away. It was awful,” the individual reported.

Awareness is a consumer’s weapon against such vulnerability. According to technicians with Microsoft Build, “tech support scams are an industry-wide issue where scammers use scare tactics to trick users into paying for unnecessary technical support services that supposedly fix contrived device, platform, or software problems.”

Because Microsoft’s error and warning messages never include a phone number, consumers are advised to not call any numbers that appear in pop-ups. Additionally, Microsoft does not send unsolicited email messages nor make unsolicited phone calls to repair a computer. Further warning anyone targeted by scammers, Microsoft encourages the implementation of the following steps:

1. Get rid of the tech support scam caller as soon as possible. It’s not a legitimate call. Ideally, just hang up at this point.

2. Never give any personal information during any unsolicited call. And certainly, never give out your bank details or credit card information.

3. Never let an unsolicited “technician” or stranger guide your PC or Internet activity. Do not change any settings or download any software they suggest.

4. Report the tech support scam. Contact your local police for instructions about where to report scammers.

5. Run a full computer scan with up-to-date and fully featured security software. Make sure that your computer, antivirus, firewall, and other software are all updated.

Microsoft also encourages the use of Microsoft Edge when browsing the internet. It blocks known support scam sites using Windows Defender SmartScreen, which is also used by Internet Explorer. Furthermore, Microsoft Edge can stop pop-up dialogue loops used by these sites.

Finally, to detect and remove known support scam malware, PC users can enable Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 10.