Microsoft (supposedly)

Victim Location 37377

Type of a scam Counterfeit Product

A flashing message, along with an audio message, blocked my computer. Until I dialed (I used a separate phone and did not click on the number provided in the flashing message), I could not take any action on my tablet. The person who responded, "Aram," spoke excellent English and was very polite. He said I had "untrusted publishers" on my computer because my security system was not up to date. The "computer worm," he said, was sending my financial information and emails to the network. After 10 minutes or so, Aram said he had cleaned all the worm but that more were occurring as we spoke. Therefore, I would need to have a Microsoft certified technician, level 5, clean the computer and install security. That would cost $185. At that point, I knew I was working with a scammer because Microsoft does not charge for its support. I told him I would take the tablet to my business for inspection. He persisted, saying it was really important that the technician be a certified, level-5 technician such as they had. I terminated the conversation.

Shortly thereafter, I checked the scammer’s telephone number with that of Microsoft support services and found they were not the same. I called Microsoft support and worked with a technician there for about an hour. She did a complete scan of the computer and found nothing had been compromised.

The screen the scammer used looked very much like a real Microsoft one.