At the moment there are more and more cases of a bad rip-off: fake calls that allegedly originate from Microsoft. If the phone rings and a supposed Microsoft employee wants to speak to you urgently, you should be alert. The call is being made because your computer is allegedly infected with viruses and Trojans.
It’s best to hang up immediately! And you should also terminate further telephone calls again and again. The aim of this scam is to cheat you on paid services or viruses & Trojans.
“Support Scam” or “Social hacking” – What is that?
The scam is as follows: Your computer has allegedly reported to Microsoft that some very nasty viruses, malware, Trojans or even worse plagues have settled on your computer. You should act quickly now, because every minute counts.
The friendly fraudster on the phone also has proof for you: Please press the Windows and R keys at the same time and enter “eventvwr” in the input field.
The whole thing then looks like this:
You will then see various warnings and errors from the Windows Event Manager. The alleged Microsoft employee then offers to repair everything and remove the Trojan for the bargain price of only 120€ by remote maintenance. Or you should install a software, so that the fraudster can access your computer.
Support Scam: Please do not accept this offer!!!
Stop these phone calls immediately! Do not install any software by such contact attempts! Never let strangers access your computer! And report the attempted fraud to your local police station!
The warnings and errors displayed there are quite normal and can be found on every computer. It is definitely not proof that something is wrong with your computer! Just try it out on your computer and start the Eventmanager yourself. This is often caused by faulty drivers.
Usually you are still threatened that your license of Windows loses its validity, that you lose your data like vacation photos and other private things or that you become liable for damages. Don’t believe the fraudster! And by the way, you can check the validity of your license yourself at any time with the following command:
slmgr.vbs /dlv
Don’t let them make you insecure!
Unfortunately, the number of cyberattacks is constantly increasing. All calls from big companies like Microsoft, Dell or Vodafone are definitely fake. None of these companies will call you and issue warnings or even threats. Always hang up immediately and don’t get involved in discussions.
By the way: Microsoft definitely does not offer computer monitoring and repair of your computer! On the contrary, with the “Digital Crimes Unit” Microsoft even has its own department to prevent this kind of fraud… Details can be found directly on the Microsoft website:
https://news.microsoft.com/de-de/tech-support-scam-studie-2018/
Support Scam: Precautions
Perform regular backups of your data! Use up-to-date anti-virus software, e.g. from Avast or Avira. Basically, we can also recommend our software First Aid Kit, which you can use to create backups or scan your computer for viruses using the Avira engine.