Since early in 2009, people have been harassed by telephone scams by telemarketers claiming to represent Microsoft and other vendors such as Dell, McAfee and Norton. The telemarketing scammers attempt to convince the call recipient that malware has been detected on their computer which they can, of course, remove for a hefty fee. The attempted "proof of infection" is normal and generally harmless error messages in the Event Log, completely unrelated to any indication of infection.
With October being National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the timing of the announcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that, at FTC request, a U.S. District Court Judge ordered a halt to six alleged tech support scams pending further hearings and has frozen their assets (see October 3, 2012 List of Commission Actions) was ideal.
The United States has not been alone in being harassed by fake tech support scammers. Australian, Canadian and U.K. citizens have also been targets as has New Zealand and Ireland It was through the combined efforts of the Australian Communications Authority, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and United Kingdom’s Serious Organised Crime Agency that the FCC was able to take this action.
More in my blog post at
FTC Action Against Fake Tech Support Scams including links for reporting scams.
