We have discussed fake tech support hotlines before, and I have had quite a bit of fun at their expense. But we have talked very little about what actually happens if you let the "technician" have his/her way with the computer. This blog post will seek to remedy that.
The first part of the scam can happen before you even pick up the phone. There are a few websites that these companies have set up that claim that your computer "may" be infected with a piece of malware. These websites then beg you to call a number to get tech support.
I did this test on a fresh install of Windows XP with all updates applied, everything is working properly and there really is nothing wrong with the machine.
I called a tech support hotline and told them that my computer was running very slow, they remote connected to my computer via one of their tools to check and see what the issue was. Once the technician remote connected, he ran a "tool" that he claimed would find what the issue was as well as any other things wrong with my computer.
The tool claimed that there was no antivirus installed on the computer, there were not any system restore points, I did not have a firewall installed, and I did not have critical updates installed.
The fact that there was no antivirus installed was false, I did have an antivirus program on the machine I used in this ploy. So the software lied, Strike One.
I also know for a fact that there was at least one system restore point because Windows makes a system restore point from when it was first installed automatically. Another LIE, Strike 2.
I was using the outbound firewall included with Windows XP Service Pack 3. Lie, Strike 3.
As I said, I had all updates installed and I was using Windows XP Service Pack 3. So, four lies told by the piece of software that is supposed to help the person that needs help. Would you trust a piece of software like that? I wouldn't trust it.
I showed the technician that the software he was using was incorrect on the four points mentioned above. Even when there was ample evidence to the contrary, the technician still said that my computer had issues such as not having a system restore point installed. So the technician also attempted to lie to me even when I had shown him proof that he and his software were both lying to me.
Disregarding the proof that the software was lying, the technician still attempted to sell me a service package. Because otherwise, he would not fix my computer.
I knew I had to make it clear that I knew that it was a scam to get through to him. So I did two things. First, I directed him to the running programs on the computer. Because I was using a Virtual Machine, it showed up that I was running a Virtual Machine in the task manager. I then directed him to my blog where I revealed to him that he had attempted to scam the wrong person this time. Caught in a web of lies, he attempted to talk his way out by still claiming that there was something wrong with my computer. When I told him that he was only digging a bigger hole, he very rudely hung up on me and it was over.
I am not sure where the thought of fudging the results to sell more service packages came from. But I think it came from the fact that one tech support company decided to pay technicians by commission. In theory, this seemed like a good idea at the time. Pay workers for the work they do rather then by the hour. But then technicians decided to fudge the results of scanning in order to sell more packages and in turn, make more money. This can be done by people who need the extra money, so I try to give the benefit of the doubt there. But still, people work hard to get the money they are bulled into paying to the tech support company.
If you got pushed into paying for a service package you did not need, I'm not saying you are dumb or stupid, but you did get scammed and you need to take action.
Thanks for reading, hopefully this answers some questions you may have about these scams. As always, I invite you to comment below if you have any questions or comments.
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