The Essential Guide to IT Support Scams (And How to Avoid Them)

Introduction

“Your computer has been infected with a virus. Click here for support.”

“Microsoft has detected a threat on your system. Please call us for help.”

“Urgent threat detected! We must investigate your computer immediately. Call us now.”

These are just some of the messages you may have seen plastered on pop-ups when browsing the web.

The good news is that they never have a grain of truth about them. The bad news is that lots of people – through no fault of their own – still fall victim to these scams.

If you run a business, IT support scams are a topic you should have on your radar, especially if you have a distributed workforce using their own tech for work purposes.

Here’s everything you need to know about tech support scams… and how to avoid them.

What is an IT support scam?

An IT support scam, also known as a technical support scam, is a fraudulent activity whereby a scammer uses technology and social engineering to either trick users into transferring money, or coerce them into paying for IT solutions they don’t need.

The general goal of tech support scams is to convince the user that their computer is either infected with a virus or otherwise at risk. To achieve this, scammers rely on deception by targeting users with flashy, garish – yet assuredly fake – notifications about viruses and computer problems. These pop-ups are usually accompanied by a telephone number the user is directed to call ASAP to resolve the problem.

The goal of the IT support scammer is almost always the same: gain remote access to a user’s computer, then carry out some form of financial crime. This can be in the form of accessing a user’s bank account directly and transferring funds out, charging for unnecessary services to ‘eliminate the virus’, and more.

IT support scammers are generally based overseas, making them difficult to track and prosecute, but there are ways that UK companies can protect themselves from this type of attack – as we’ll soon see.

Which tactics do IT support scammers use?

The best way to protect yourself and your employees from falling for tech support scams is to understand how they operate.

There are some key tactics these scammers use which are tell-tale signs that you’re dealing with ne’er-do-wells and not a legitimate IT support company. If a scammer cold calls you with information regarding a computer problem, or even if you somehow end up screen-sharing with one of them, you can look out for any of the following signals that you’re talking to a scam artist.

• The scammer will ask you to access a tool called Windows Event Viewer to ‘prove’ you have errors on your machine. All Windows machines will have at least some errors and warnings listed here, so don’t believe a word of it.
• The scammer might open up a Command Prompt window and run a few commands which will display what looks like computer code. The goal here is to take advantage of non-technical people, but they’re usually just trying to confuse you by filling the screen with jargon.
• You might be asked to access the Windows Registry, which is simply a list of values, many of which are not set. A scammer might tell you that ‘not set’ means you have a virus or other security issue, but that’s simply not true.
• If you’re asked to access the system32 folder, you’re dealing with a scammer. This is a critical folder for Windows, and editing it in any way might actually cause computer problems – so keep them out.
• A scammer may attempt to block parts of your screen so as to obscure what they’re really doing… which is often typing in things like ‘error found’ or ‘virus detected’ into a Command Prompt.

All of these strategies are essentially confidence tricks, and they rely on the user being duped into thinking they’re a real IT support agent. And, of course, the hope is that you or your employees will never actually get far enough on a scammer call to see any of these techniques in action.

That said, it’s important to be aware of them… just in case. You never know when information like this might come in useful, at work or at home.

What to do to prevent falling victim to a tech support scam

So that’s IT support scams in a nutshell… but how can you protect yourself against them?

First and foremost, remember to trust your instincts. If a phone call or ad feels like a scam, it almost certainly is.

Remember that Microsoft and other big tech companies would never use pop-ups from websites to advise you of a problem with your computer. These issues would always be highlighted within the operating system, not via a web browser pop-up window.

Another step you can take is to contact the company the scammer is claiming to be directly to verify the issue. So, if you’re seeing what looks like a Microsoft notification and you’re unsure if it’s real or fake, you can call Microsoft’s support team to confirm it.

Alternatively, if you’re working with a local IT support company like Get Support, you can call our expert IT team for advice anytime. We’ll always know a real notification from a fake one, and we’re always just a phone call or email away to help you (and your employees) avoid potentially fraudulent situations.

Keep your business safe with expert IT advice from Get Support

We hope this quick primer on tech support scams will help you (and your employees) stay safe online – and understand how to prevent potential breaches.

If you’d like more expert advice, or if you’d like to discover how our dedicated team of IT support experts could help keep your company cybersafe, we’d love to talk.

To start the conversation today, check out our IT support agreements, or call us directly on 01865 59 4000. You can also fill out the form below and we’ll call you instead.