Microsoft tech support scam now also in ransomware variant

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#1

We’ve just posted the following news: Microsoft tech support scam now also in ransomware variant[newsimage]http://www.myce.com/wp-content/images_posts/2016/11/vindows-95x75.png[/newsimage]

The Microsoft scam now also has a variant where ransomware is used to force users to pay. Where the alleged authority of Microsoft employees was previously abused to call people at home, fake Microsoft employees are now used to convince victims to pay for ransomware.

            Read the full article here: [http://www.myce.com/news/microsoft-tech-support-scam-now-also-ransomware-variant-81006/](http://www.myce.com/news/microsoft-tech-support-scam-now-also-ransomware-variant-81006/)

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#2

Malware easier than ever to develop & distribute. The real challenge was always how to monetizing it successfully.

On its own fake support scam is labour intensive. After investing in a call centre, many unsuccessful calls have to be made before finding a sucker who will pay up.

Ransomware on the other hand is the goose that laid the golden egg. Early releases proved the concept worked and required zero investment, but only profited from victims with the technical competence to use Bitcoin. Investing in call centres expanded the pool of potential victims to cover every sucker on earth with access to a computer.

But the real secret of ransomware’s commercial success is its efficiency - instead of spending hours on the phone looking for suckers, they call you!

And only the suckers call. Those with computing knowledge will be too busy restoring their backups. :wink:

Now we have the next logical step - the fake ransomware scam.

The irony is that the more sophisticated ransomware gangs are reportedly offering some the best customer service & support in the entire IT industry. :eek: It’s in their interest as, unlike the mainstream IT companies, they haven’t yet received your money. But in some cases even after paying up, they were offering help to customers struggling to decrypt their files.

But this wasn’t an essential part of the scheme. Indeed, once the sucker’s paid up there’s no need to actually decrypt anything. (Or even encrypt it in the first place, just delete everything and put up a convincing facarde.)

This mirrors the mainstream IT industry, where the product or service provided has gradually been cut back to the bare minimum. Just like fake ransomware, there’s no need for Adobe, Apple, Microsoft & co. to actually supply functional software. The just need to keep the pretence up long enough to part you from your money. :iagree::stuck_out_tongue:

#3

Is that a real screenshot? I almost pissed myself laughing.

#4

I keep getting e mails saying my pay pal account will be locked so I have to click the support button in the mail. The address is paypali or something stupid like that and I checked my account and of course nothing there at all so another scam. Most of them get filtered out by my provider but occasionally one slips through. They could at least learn to spell in the language and area like they are targeting but I’m sure a few click the button or whatever then get all messed up not knowing how to spot a scam.

#5

[QUOTE=Ibex;2784702]After investing in a call centre[/QUOTE] My guess is that those scammers are working from someone else’s call center, where they have their day-job and are scamming as a side-business (or on company time).

Obviously, I don’t know for sure.

#6

[QUOTE=DrageMester;2784738]My guess is that those scammers are working from someone else’s call center, where they have their day-job and are scamming as a side-business (or on company time).

Obviously, I don’t know for sure.[/QUOTE]
You’re probably right.

Phone my ISP’s call centre and you’d be hard pressed to tell if you’re talking to a bunch of scammers or not. Either way, they’re definitely a bunch of ignorant, incompetent, lying con-artists. :Z

#7

I got a call today from someone at Microsoft at least he said he was from them.  I played along until I had wasted a lot of his time then I put the phone to my speaker and played him some very very laud sounds The stupid person call me back three more times each time getting laud sounds played for him and the last time I told the asshole to keep calling back if he wants the laud sound.

#8

The problem is that there are soooo many really stuuuuuuupid user out there. My friend’s son was told to NOT give bank details over the phone to anyone especially someone who has called you. Yet [B]TWO hours[/B] later he had given his bank details to “[I]Microsoft Support[/I]” after they showed him all the wiruses he had on his machine. Maybe I’m just a cynical bugger so I don’t get caught out by these scammers but I know of intelligent people who are getting sucked in by these scam callers.

Dartman, those emails can be crafted really well so I do have sympathy for anyone who gets caught out by one. I have almost be caught with them a couple of times so an unwary person can get done if they aren’t very careful. I had a business get hit by the Crypto virus because someone (the boss) clicked on a cunningly disguised link in an email. I had received the same email a day or 2 earlier and only specific circumstances stopped me from clicking it and resulted in a close examination of the email.

We all need the “spike” command that was used so effectively in GoldenEye. :bigsmile:

#9

Got yet another one today, plus a couple from a author I like that were all scams again. Somebody is harvesting e mail addresses then giving you a link to some wonder drug or something that supposedly Steven Hawking has said was great.
Luckily it appears to just be a link to their testimonials and a link to buy it but is very irritating when the address is from someone you trust and then that crap shows up, I’m sure they have no clue about it either.
The other of course had a click here to fix link so occasionally one of them slips through my ISP’s filters, maybe because whatever nasty they are trying to give you doesn’t show up in just a link. Usually Kaspersky seems to find any bogus mails that actually get through with a live virus that my ISP doesn’t catch first.

#10

[QUOTE=Ibex;2784748]You’re probably right.

Phone my ISP’s call centre and you’d be hard pressed to tell if you’re talking to a bunch of scammers or not. Either way, they’re definitely a bunch of ignorant, incompetent, lying con-artists. :Z[/QUOTE]

Isn’t it what it is all about, give enough bad support to spread the disease of disconnection and insecureness. After all, unless you’re talking to you, me or a small percentage of the internet community, they’re happy to believe them, and that is official support, now for this shit… It seems only an extension :bigsmile:

In all honesty, do you actually believe in Santa Claus? Peter Pan? Anything apart from trusted sources of knowledge? Even with the latter proven approach, I would still be cautious and check it, there simply is no distrust in that, only a check to give due and proven credits for the work. What I would ask each and everyone to join me in is to be a little skeptical. Is it true? You see, I don’t EVER click a link in an e-mail, unless that link is thoroughly referred in the mail with what is there and for what purpose, even then I would be skeptical, why?

If I should ever provide a link, whatever… I can only ever guarantee that Me, Myself, I never found anything wrong with the file… and you choose to trust 3rd-party??? Come on, I would encourage you to distrust and check, prove clean, then make a comment. It is simply nothing personal and trust is a really fragile thing that need checking at all times, it is the only thing it can stand or break from :flower:

#11

[QUOTE=Xercus;2784907]
In all honesty, do you actually believe in Santa Claus? Peter Pan? Anything apart from trusted sources of knowledge? [/QUOTE]
If I had a motto it would undoubtedly be [I]nihil credunt[/I] (believe nothing)[I].[/I] In all honesty, I can’t think of anything I actually believe in.

(Coincidentally, also the name of a rather good situation comedy. Panned by the critics of course, which when it comes to 21st century comedy is usually a good thing. Rik Mayall was magnificent as always.)

By the age of 5 friends parents were asking me not to let slip that Father Christmas was just one of the many lies adults tell children. And one of my favourite children’s TV programmes was ‘Take Nobody’s Word for It’. Although I much preferred staying up late to watch QED, Horizon or Equinox.