Scam

Tech support phone scams

by certifiedbug on March 16, 2012

in Internet Security

Microsoft Safety & Security Center
Computer Security, Digital Privacy, and Online Safety

Avoid tech support phone scams

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

Telephone tech support scams: What you need to know

Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you’re using.

Once they’ve gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a website to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information is vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

Will Microsoft ever call me?

There are some cases where Microsoft will work with your Internet service provider and call you to fix a malware-infected computer—such as during the recent cleanup effort begun in our botnet takedown actions. These calls will be made by someone with whom you can verify you already are a customer. You will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft or our partners to charge you for computer fixes.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx

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Technical Support

by certifiedbug on March 16, 2012

in Internet Security

comantra.wordpress.com

In a recent interview with the Cyber Law department, Comantra officials carried out a quick recovery channel strategy in how effectively Comantra scams can be delimited. Microsoft in the meantime has agreed to provide advanced far end support to its trusted partner by offering quality benchmarks to Comantra based online computer tech support. Comantra as we all know has been a leading player in deployment of online technical support to a competitive global client base. This has faced a serious jolt in reputation management wherein future service disruption can be a major issue. Comantra scams, as is being cited by major news media worldwide has once again brought in the widespread notion of how effective online computer tech support is in view of fraudulent channels of web technology.

http://comantra.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/how-comantra-fights-brand-recognition-affected-by-scams/

:?:

September 2011: Microsoft removes Gold Partner Comantra

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Fake Product Support

by certifiedbug on March 15, 2012

in Internet Security

KrebsOnSecurity
Aghast at Avast’s iYogi Support

The makers of Avast antivirus software are warning users about a new scam involving phone calls from people posing as customer service reps for the company and requesting remote access to user systems. Avast is still investigating the incidents, but a number of users are reporting that the incidents followed experiences with iYogi, the company in India that is handling Avast’s customer support.

A follow-up investigation by KrebsOnSecurity indicates that Avast (among other security companies) is outsourcing its customer support to a third-party firm that appears engineered to do little else but sell expensive and unnecessary support contracts.

Complete article: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/03/aghast-at-avasts-iyogi-support/

Avast! Blog
iYogi support service removed
https://blog.avast.com/2012/03/15/iyogi-support-service-removed/

We had initial reports of this behavior a few weeks ago and met with iYogi’s senior executives to ensure the behavior was being corrected. Thus, we were shocked to find out about Mr. Krebs’ experience. As a consequence, we have removed the iYogi support service from our website and shortly it will be removed from our products. We believe that this type of service, when performed in a correct manner, provides immense value to users. As such, over the next weeks, we will work with iYogi to determine whether the service can be re-launched.

Re-launched? :-o

ESET Threat Blog
Fake Support, And Now Fake Product Support

I first became aware of the plague of Indian companies operating PC and anti-virus support scams because one of our competitors advised me that one of them was apparently carrying out unethical marketing on ESET’s behalf. (They weren’t, of course, anything to do with ESET: see this blog series and this paper.)

I recently learned from my colleagues at ESET UK that cold-callers from Mumbai have developed a new twist on this cold-calling scam, calling people in the UK and apparently claiming to offer paid support in response to problems that don’t exist,

Complete article: http://blog.eset.com/2012/03/15/fake-support-and-now-fake-product-support

Of interest
Microsoft MVP Troy Hunt’s Blog:
Anatomy of a virus call centre scam
Scamming the scammers – catching the virus call centre scammers red-handed

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx

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“AOL Administration Center” spam comes from a spoofed email address this is a classic example of Canadian Pharmacy spam.

Full text of the bogus email, the # in the subject line changes.

From: “AOL Administration Center (R)”
To:
Subject: AOL Administration Center Notification #73916

Hi,
You have 1 notification (#73916) from AOL Administration Center
Please follow the instructions to continue.
Thanks,
The AOL Mail Team

Click here to opt out of receiving future promotional e-mail messages from AOL or go to AOL Keyword:
Email Preferences and unsubscribe. This screen name cannot respond to replies.

Click here for other Important Information about Commercial E-mail from AOL or visit http://about.aol.com/email_information.
AOL Email, PO Box 65627, Sterling, VA 20165-8805.

——————————————
“UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET” spam has been around awhile and continues to do the rounds. The email has an attached file which contains a malicious Trojan horse.
http://garwarner.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-york-city-uniform-traffic-ticket.html

Full text of the bogus email, the ID # in the subject line changes.

Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:42:23 +0530
From: “N.Y. State Department of Motor Vehicles”
To:
Subject: UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET (ID:89254305)

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles

UNIFORM TRAFFIC TICKET (ID:50385056),

POLICE AGENCY
NEW YORK STATE POLICE
Local Police Code 5278

THE PERSON DESCRIBED ABOVE IS CHARGED AS FOLLOWS

Time: 7:25 AM
Date of Offense: 10/10/2011
IN VIOLATION OF NYS V AND T LAW

9690 Description of Violation
SPEED OVER 55 ZONE
TO PLEAD, PRINT OUT THE ENCLOSED TICKET AND SEND IT TO TOWN COURT, CHATAM HALL., PO BOX 117

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Shady Reshipping Centers

October 14, 2011

Krebs On Security offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at a organized crime operation that uses stolen credit card numbers to purchase and launder high-end electronics. Shady Reshipping Centers Exposed, Part I There are dozens of businesses in the criminal underground engaged in merchandise laundering, known as “Drops for stuff” on cybercrime forums. The “drops” are [...]

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Rejected Federal Tax Transaction Scam

October 4, 2011

A malicious scam which continues to do the rounds with three caught by my spam filter, the transaction ID changes. How does IRS e-file work?A. You or your tax professional, prepare your tax return. In many cases, the tax professional is also the Electronic Return Originator (ERO) who is authorized to file your return electronically [...]

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Microsoft removes Gold Partner Comantra

September 21, 2011

Graham Cluley Naked Security Blog Comantra, based in India, are said to have cold-called computer users in the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere, claiming to offer assistance in cleaning up virus infections. The bogus support calls came from Comantra employees who claimed to be representing Microsoft, and used scare tactics to talk users into opening [...]

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Facebook-You have been made an Administrator

July 18, 2011

Uh Huh, thanks but no thanks “Madlen” This isn’t the first scammer on Facebook using this technique, I report such “events” as spam.

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Australia National Lottery 419

June 21, 2011

This old scam is still making the rounds looking for victims, one arrived in my mailbox. If you receive a similar email please do not respond to the scammer, just delete. http://www.419baiter.com/_scam_emails/lotto_scams/australia-national-lottery-fake-lotto-scam.html http://certifiedbug.com/blog/2006/12/29/consumeraffairs-top-10-scams-of-2006/

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Federal Reserve Spam and Scam

March 15, 2011

Caught in my spam filter. Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 From: info@federalreserve.gov Under “click here” was federalwiresuppliersglobal.info Domain ID:D37217046-LRMS Domain Name:FEDERALWIRESUPPLIERSGLOBAL.INFO Created On:15-Mar-2011 11:05:23 UTC Last Updated On:15-Mar-2011 11:05:35 UTC Expiration Date:15-Mar-2012 11:05:23 UTC More at Gar Warner’s Blog. Last week the big malware-spreading spam claimed to be from NACHA and warned about problems with [...]

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