{"id":290951,"date":"2021-07-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/"},"modified":"2021-07-04T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T12:00:00","slug":"no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"#No, Microsoft Won\u2019t Call You About Your Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26bbfa8602f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26bbfa8602f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/#How_It_Works\" >How It Works<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/#The_Tricks\" >The Tricks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/#Moving_In_For_the_Kill\" >Moving In For the Kill<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/#What_To_Do\" >What To Do<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#No, Microsoft Won\u2019t Call You About Your Computer&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<!-- UNCACHED CONTENT --><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/microsoft-telephone-support-scam.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" border=\"0\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi, I\u2019m from Microsoft and we\u2019ve noticed your computer has a lot of viruses.\u201d This is how the Microsoft tech support scam starts. By the end, the victim has probably paid hundreds of dollars and had their computer infected.<\/p>\n<p>This cold-calling telephone scam has been going on since 2008, but shows no sign of going away. If you have any relatives who might fall for it, be sure to let them know Microsoft won\u2019t actually call them.<\/p>\n<p>This scam isn\u2019t just for Windows PCs. A new scam offers \u201cMac Technical Support\u201d that works in a similar way, demanding access via a remote-desktop tool and requiring payment to fix non-existent problems.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update:<\/strong> Just to be very clear, anybody who\u00a0ever calls you saying there is a problem with your PC is a scammer (no matter who they tell you they are). <strong>Just hang up the phone.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_It_Works\"><\/span>How It Works<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>These scammers don\u2019t send out scammy emails or text messages. Instead, they\u2019ll call you on your telephone. It\u2019s not even a recording \u2014 a real person will talk to you and try to trick you. The scammers <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ear to target absolutely everyone; they may be going through every number in the phone book.<\/p>\n<p>When you pick up, the person will claim to be \u201cfrom Microsoft,\u201d \u201cfrom Windows,\u201d or from from something more specific, like the \u201cWindows Service Center\u201d or \u201cMicrosoft Support.\u201d They tell you your computer is infected with viruses and has all sorts of PC problems that need to be fixed. At this point, a less technically inclined Windows user who may actually be facing PC problems may start falling for the scam.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Tricks\"><\/span>The Tricks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you stay on the line \u2014 and you shouldn\u2019t \u2014 the scammers will attempt to demonstrate that they have information about what\u2019s wrong with your computer. They\u2019ll ask you to look at parts of Windows that <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly aren\u2019t accessible to average users. For example, they\u2019ll ask you to look at your Event Viewer, Prefetch folder, and MSConfig utility. Average Windows users aren\u2019t familiar with these system utilities, and the scammers will attempt to deceive them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>What Is the Windows Event Viewer, and How Can I Use It?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For example, a scammer will tell you to open the Event Viewer and verify that errors are present. The Event Viewer lists a variety of status messages for many different things in Windows, and errors are often completely innocuous. For example, below we have a variety of errors in that state Apple\u2019s Bonjour service was \u201ccontinuously busy for more than a second.\u201d This may be helpful to developers debugging the service, but is completely irrelevant to average users. However, the red icon, \u201cError\u201d message, and the sheer number of different errors can look scary to less-knowledgeable users. Scammers will inform you that these errors are proof of viruses.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/event-viewer-errors.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"358\" border=\"0\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>10 Windows Tweaking Myths Debunked<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scammers will often direct you to the C:WindowsPrefetch folder as well, telling you that each file in the Prefetch folder is a virus. These are actually harmless files that are used to speed up application launch times, but they have confusing looking names.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/prefetch-folder.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Scammers also like directing users to MSConfig, telling them that each stopped services on the Services tab represents a problem. To a less knowledgeable user, this might seem logical. In reality, Windows normally starts and stops services as needed. It\u2019s normal for system services to be stopped.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/msconfig-services-stopped.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"416\" border=\"0\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Moving_In_For_the_Kill\"><\/span>Moving In For the Kill<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With their victim suitably scared and terrified \u2014 after all, the person on the phone claims to be from Microsoft and knew there were various \u201cproblems\u201d \u2014 the scammer moves in for the kill. The scammer directs the user to download TeamViewer or LogMeIn, legitimate and useful remote-access programs. After the user downloads the remote-access program, the scammer asks the user to grant them access to the computer.<\/p>\n<p>The victim is then instructed to to enter their credit card information onto some sort of web form and pay hundreds of dollars \u2014 anywhere from $49 to $499 or more \u2014 as a fee to \u201cextend the warranty\u201d or \u201cfix the PC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear what happens if the victim pays. The scammer may install malware on the victim\u2019s computer, take the victims\u2019 credit card number or financial information and abuse it, or do other nasty things.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/teamviewer-remote-access.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_To_Do\"><\/span>What To Do<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you receive a call from someone who claims to be \u201cfrom Microsoft\u201d or \u201cfrom Windows,\u201d the best thing to do would be to just hang up im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely. You can attempt to report the call, but these calls are coming from international numbers \u2014 often from India \u2014 and it\u2019s honestly unlikely that much action will be taken against them. It\u2019s been five years and such scams are ongoing in spite of some attempts at enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>These scams continue because people continue to fall for them. If people stopped falling for the scams, they\u2019d be a waste of time and would stop. The best way to stop them is to spread the word and ensure people won\u2019t fall for these tricks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>How to Recover From a Virus Infection: 3 Things You Need to Do<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you fell for a scam, you should call your credit card company and inform them, telling them to cancel any charges and send you a new credit card. You should scan your computer for malware with a reputable antivirus product and change the passwords on your email account and financial accounts, just as you would if you discovered an actual virus on your computer.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>For more reading on this subject, read <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/redirect.viglink.com\/?key=204a528a336ede4177fff0d84a044482&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.malwarebytes.org%2Ffraud-scam%2F2013%2F04%2Fphone-scammers-call-the-wrong-guy-get-mad-and-trash-pc%2F\">Malwarebytes\u2019 account of playing along with one such scammer<\/a>. Microsoft also has their own \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/deeplink?id=2QzUaswX1as&amp;mid=24542&amp;u1=htg\/176605&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fsafety%2Fonline-privacy%2Favoid-phone-scams.aspx\">Avoid tech support phone scams<\/a>\u201d page that provides more information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/176605\/tell-your-relatives-no-microsoft-wont-call-you-about-your-computer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#No, Microsoft Won\u2019t Call You About Your Computer&#8221; \u201cHi, I\u2019m from Microsoft and we\u2019ve noticed your computer has a lot of viruses.\u201d This is how the Microsoft tech support scam starts. By the end, the victim has probably paid hundreds of dollars and had their computer infected. This cold-calling telephone scam has been going on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":290952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/microsoft-telephone-support-scam.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}