Microsoft and law enforcement in India partner, shutting down alleged “virus alert” call centers

[nir]

Simulated virus scam popup. (Wikimedia Commons / Atomicdragon 136 Image)

There may be very slightly fewer disturbing — and fake — virus infection pop-ups in your web browser or phone calls to your home or office.

 

Police from two New Delhi suburbs raided 16 so-called tech-support centers this week, arresting about three dozen people thought to be responsible for some of the scams. Working with Microsoft, the law enforcement agencies in India reportedly were able to pinpoint locations where call center workers pretended to be Microsoft employees, selling services to “fix” hacked or infected computers.

 

You’ve likely seen the scams: a pop-up appears in a browser window, telling you your system is infected by a virus or malware, and to call a number for support. It may sport a poached Microsoft logo. Or, a robocall with a similar message arrives on your mobile phone, and you simply have to press a number to be connected to “tech support.”

 

 In 2010, Microsoft began receiving reports of scammers making phone calls or sending emails to people.

 

In all cases, there is no real problem — but you’re out hundreds of dollars if you take the bait.

 

The latest action, reports the New York Times, follows efforts by Microsoft and law enforcement that traced many of these operations to New Delhi, which is a global hub of the call-center industry. The raids Tuesday and Wednesday follow earlier raids in India last month on 10 call centers that led to 24 arrests.

 

Microsoft consumer surveys cited by the Times find that one-in-five recipients actually talk to the fake support centers, and 6 percent cough up cash to try and fix something that isn’t broken.

 

The fake tech support scams have a long history. “In 2010, Microsoft began receiving reports of scammers making phone calls or sending emails to people,” a spokesperson for Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit told GeekWire — five years ago. Even back then, the average loss from those who were taken was pegged at $875 by the company.

 

Source

[Matrix]

They were behind many popup 'virus alerts'

 

 

 

In brief: The web is populated with popup ‘virus alerts’ urging people to call the included phone numbers so the issues can be fixed. Tech-savvy users know these are scams, most of which originate from India, yet 20 percent of viewers call the fake tech-support operators, and some end up handing over money. But the New Delhi police, with help from Microsoft, is fighting back.

Much like the scam ‘tech support’ phone calls virtually everyone receives, popups that claim a computer is infected with a virus are a common occurrence, especially when visiting some of the more shady websites. These often appear to be from large companies such as Microsoft or Apple but are usually the work of scam artists working out of India.

Most of us know to ignore these alerts, but one in five people end up calling the numbers on the screen, and 6 percent of those pay fake operators to ‘fix’ the non-existent problems, according to a Microsoft survey. While it's hard to imagine anyone falling for such scams, it’s usually the older members of society who fall victim, paying anything from $99 up to $1000 to the scammers.

To try and combat the problem, police in the Indian capital of New Delhi worked with Microsoft to identify 16 fake tech-support centers. The locations were raided this week, leading to the arrest of almost three dozen people. The move comes after authorities arrested 24 people in similar raids on ten call centers last month.

Microsoft says its monitors spot around 150,000 popup ads for the fake services every day. According to the New York Times, the success of India’s outsourcing industry, much of which is made up of call centers, makes it an ideal location for the scammers. The fact that many of Microsoft’s genuine operators are based in the country also benefits these criminals.

Fake call centers aren’t just a problem for the tech industry. More than 15,000 victims in the United States lost “hundreds of millions” of dollars in a scam that saw Indian call center agents impersonate IRS tax collectors, leading to multiple arrests in the US and India earlier this year.

 

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[orbystorm]

Good newsEveryone I know has had a microsoft Indian scam call...

[DKT27]

Some idiots like these give bad name to the whole 1.3 billion population of the country by doing something like this.