New twist to the Microsoft scam
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robmar0se
Posts: 1,328 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
The old scam of a cold call, usually a guy from India supposedly from Microsoft (or Windows) saying they have been informed of problems on the recipients PC, has been around for at least 4 years.
In my experience it is usually the elderly (usually novices). that are caught out. It doesn't matter that its been around for years, has been published, been subject to TV comments etc etc. These older people are susceptible to these scams.
I often get called out to address the issues, and is some cases have helped these folks get their money back.
I came across a new twist this week, where the target was being held to ransom. The scammer had put a syskey password on the system, and would not tell her what it was without a fee.
Removing such a key is difficult unless you can guess it; there is a link on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ow0NCpD0bU - which suggests 123. In my case this didn't work. I used Hirens to manipulate the registry and backups.
I only mention this as it may help others who come across this recent twist.
And by the way guys, don't mock the afflicted, its usually someone who is elderly and a novice, give them credit for having a go.
In my experience it is usually the elderly (usually novices). that are caught out. It doesn't matter that its been around for years, has been published, been subject to TV comments etc etc. These older people are susceptible to these scams.
I often get called out to address the issues, and is some cases have helped these folks get their money back.
I came across a new twist this week, where the target was being held to ransom. The scammer had put a syskey password on the system, and would not tell her what it was without a fee.
Removing such a key is difficult unless you can guess it; there is a link on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ow0NCpD0bU - which suggests 123. In my case this didn't work. I used Hirens to manipulate the registry and backups.
I only mention this as it may help others who come across this recent twist.
And by the way guys, don't mock the afflicted, its usually someone who is elderly and a novice, give them credit for having a go.
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Comments
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Variants of that scam has been going on for years too.
A school was recently in the news as files on their network were encrypted and held to ransom.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/25/school_ransomware/0 -
Yup, have been aware of ransomware which as been distributed via malicious emails, and as far as I am aware (haven't come across an infected system), the fix is to (i) restore from backup, (ii) payup, or (ii) give up.
This one is somewhat different, in that it forms part of the supposedly Microsoft dialogue scam with a syskey password. To be honest this is a new twist to me, and you're right has been around since 2013. If the scammer is particularly nasty, he will have also removed the registry backups too. Thus we would be in the same situation as with ransomware above, except the only alternative to paying up is to rebuild the system.0 -
A BillSers on this forum offered a good solution by using a high pitched deterent but other r'sses shot him down http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/16/speakers-corner/4511631/for-those-who-have-had-the-rogue/“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.”
― Groucho Marx0 -
Interesting article on the beeb today about the sale of pensioners data to cold calling companies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32110859Science isn't exact, it's only confidence within limits.0
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