Technical support is a necessary service that helps you access the health of your computers and networks, fix glitches, or update your systems. Support technicians you trust, from reputable companies you employ for tech services, may often be able to complete much of their work and restore your computer to optimal function by remotely accessing your computer and completing the fixes or upgrades needed, without waiting or having to take your computer in for work, or worse yet, mail it in for repairs.
This is a great service, but unfortunately there are criminals who leverage trust in tech support to scam people with claims of needed service and requests for remote access. Understanding the known tech support scams in circulation will help you avoid false claims and protect your systems and data.
- Unsolicited Phone Calls
Tech support scammers often use the phone to contact you and will call claiming to be with a large computer company or brand and deliver the news that your computer needs some type of fix or upgrade, and then offer to do the work for you if you provide them with the details they need to remotely access your computer. They’ll use a lot of technical jargon to try and confuse and scare you into their “services” or try to get you to show them files or complete a download.
You should never give out any information to unknown callers claiming to offer tech support or wanting to work on or upgrade your systems. In fact, if you get a call like this, hang up and alert your actual tech support company. These scammers are simply trying to gain access to your computer so they can steal information or otherwise compromise your data.
- Pop-Up Notifications, Ads, or Offers
Any notification that pops up on your computer announcing that there are issues or threats that need attention can be worrisome. You may receive notifications from your anti-virus software when threats are found or blocked, and crooks capitalize on this by trying to mimic these notifications and get you to click on a pop-up ad (which most likely contains a virus).
You should never click on any pop-up notices that appear on your computer or online. Your tech support team will never use these types of notifications to alert you to potential issues.
- Spam Emails Laced with False Urgency
Urgency or fear-based, spam emails that get into your inbox claiming to be from a computer company or tech support team are most likely fake. Your true tech support team will most likely not send you urgent, fear-mongering emails, and you should look for the signs of a spam email including spelling errors, poor grammar, overly technical details, or odd photos or images.
- Misleading or “Weird” Online Search Results
Savvy cyber criminals will often purchase paid search ads as a way to lure people under the premise of tech services (that are actually false). If a search you do on a computer glitch or tech support returns results that seem confusing or odd, don’t click through the ad or the listing. Clicking through will most likely land you on a page that requires you to enter personal information or payment details that will used maliciously.
Raven Computer has over 20 years of trusted experience in cyber security and professional IT support. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help protect you from scammers and fraud.
