http://fishercapitalmanagementnews.com/2012/03/06/fisher-capital-management-news-blog-microsoft-phone-scam-to-blame-for-70-of-reports/
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports a scam where callers pretend to be Microsoft employees offering a solution for their computer problems now accounts for 70 per cent of all fraud complaints in Canada.
There are fraud artists claiming that they are with Microsoft and lending a hand to people to rid the malwares on their computers. In the process, they charge as much as $400, collect credit card information and gain access to all of the Fisher Capital Managementpersonal data and contents on their victim’s hard drive. Typically, the caller then asks the victim to download a small piece of software. Then, the software allows the caller to fix the system errors remotely by giving the caller access to the victim’s home computer. Most often, the intended victim is asked to pull up a program called Fisher Capital Management Windows Event Viewer, a program not intended for average computer users. Event Viewer helps computer technicians by logging a number of advanced routines performed by the Windows Operating System. The viewer will show a number of system errors and other issues, even the computer is properly working. The fraudster uses the errors contained in that file to help substantiate his claims and then offers to help the victim to “fix” it.
According to the RCMP, the scam has been in commission since February 2011. “It’s a big one. It hasn’t gone away,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Proulx, manager of the Anti-Fraud Centre (formerly Phone Busters).”It was in (Britain) before it came to Canada,” he added. “There are all kinds of different people out there. Some people go all for it, others don’t.”According to him, stopping the scam, which is believed to originate in India, has become a top priority for anti-fraud teams around the world. He said that the scam is difficult to Fisher Capital Management to shut down because it is being perpetrated from an international location, away from Canadian laws and Canadian law enforcement.
Ottawa resident Connie Balderson said a caller phoned her home one afternoon last week. The caller sounded professional, pointing out errors on her computer and claiming they were from a virus. When she asked how they knew about the virus, the caller stated that Windows automatically reports errors to Microsoft and they were simply following up on those automated reports.”It sounded really authentic,” she said. “I questioned them a lot. I am not usually taken in by this kind of stuff. I almost got hooked. It was pretty close”, she claimed. Suddenly, the caller requested her to pay $400 as a payment for their services that she hung up and disconnected her computer from the Internet as she really feel bad. So, as soon they talked about money she immediately cancelled the connection. Then a number of similar situation happened again and again in the area.
Microsoft has come out swinging against the Fisher Capital Management fraud, setting up a website dedicated to the scam.
“We do not send unsolicited email messages or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or fix your computer,” said the company’s statement on its website. “If you receive an unsolicited email message or phone call that purports to be from Microsoft and requests that you send personal information or click links, delete the message or hang up the phone.”
In an emailed statement, John Weigelt, national technology officer for Microsoft Canada, said the phone scam is growing fast.”Microsoft and the rest of the Fisher Capital Management software industry are making more secure software. As software becomes more secure cybercriminals are increasingly using deception and confidence tricks. One of the fastest growing threats is phone scams,” said Weigelt. “Microsoft will never call you in this way and ask for money related to fixing a computer problem.”
The RCMP said fraud has been elevated to new levels thanks to the Fisher Capital Management in the materialization of the digital era. It is believed that Canadians are defrauded of between $10 billion and $30 billion annually. The amount earned by scam artists is now equal to the money made by drug dealers. With slighter penalties coupled with fraud, as well as the ease of setting up operations in foreign countries where these scams are hard to impede, large criminal organizations are increasingly turning toward fraud to fund their operations.
