From our Friends over at Manifest Destiny Triforce
Author: Aaron L Meileiac
Let’s all face it here, we are currently in the Age of Information and online scamming is at its prime. In early years the “caliber” of scamming was minute and lackluster in creativity. Some of the older scams that were trendy were as such:
Old School Scams that we fell for:
– Winners International Sweepstakes
– Tech Support offer free “security” scans
And let’s just face it the list does in-fact go on and on.
New School Scams that we should not fall for:
It’s rare that any technician from a PC manufacturer or tech support company would cold call non-client computer users and tell them that there’s an immediate threat to their computers and that the company needs remote access to fix the problem. Yet, many people fall for this scam.Operating usually out of India, scammers call victims and allege that they’re with a big name tech company. Victims are told that their computers are either already infected or about to become infected with malware that can cause significant damage, such as operating system corruption or identity theft. The “technicians”then urge users to allow them to have remote access to troubleshoot and fix related issues.
Scammers use these opportunities to infect systems with malware or perform other damage; or send users to third-party websites that cause damage. All of these actions are focused on the singular goal of giving scammers access to computers so they can cause errors and then charge for unnecessary repair services.
We have added Tech support Scams in the New School Scams criteria for the fact we are still falling for it. This is why its listed as number #1. -Meileiac
