Sometimes it feels like the internet is filled with nothing but cats and con artists. Whether you like cats or not is up to you, but nobody likes con artists.
One of the most common scams involves a con artist claiming to be from ‘Microsoft Support’ calling an unsuspecting victim and claiming that person’s computer has been infected with some kind of virus or malware. They clam that if the victim gives them a credit card number, they can fix the ‘problem.’ If the victim gives them the number, the scammer then directs the victim to download and install a ‘fix.’ Of course, the ‘fix’ is actually some kind of malware, typically opening up the victim’s computer to further mischief while the scammer happily uses the ill-gotten credit card number.
Protecting against this scam is easy – BE SKEPTICAL!
Ask yourself “Does it make sense that Microsoft, a massive company with software used by billions of computers all over the world, would be calling me? Would they really employ someone to call up any one of their customers with troubleshooting advice? Have they ever called me before? Is is sensible to think they can identify who is running my computer and can find a way to call me?”
The answer to all of the above is “No.” None of it makes sense.
Ask yourself those questions and then ask them to any caller who says they’ve found a problem with your computer.
Be skeptical! Be curious! Ask the questions and demand clear, sensible answers.