Cyber crime is becoming more sophisticated…
I remember when a virus would be injected into a computer system using a floppy disk and a lot of hard work. These were mostly quirky programs that did a forgivable and mischievous “look what I can do” type change to the victim’s computer. Not so anymore.
Viruses’ aka “Malware” or “Malicious Software” can be at the bleeding edge of networking and coding, used by intelligent and sophisticated criminals who overall want only one thing – your money.
Malware, hacking and social engineering are a burgeoning industry.
There are companies, often based out of India, that specialise in this type of fraud who routinely call unsuspecting computer users, posing as legitimate companies such as Internet Service Providers and Microsoft Technical Support.
The scam often begins by informing the victim their “Internet bill hasn’t been paid”, they have a “virus on the computer”, or their “IP address has been compromised” and the only way to get in the clear is to part with your hard-earned cash and follow their instructions to the letter. Of course these claims are completely unsubstantiated and made purely to scare the user into engaging with the fraudsters.
Often these criminals will instruct unsuspecting victims to install remote access software giving them remote access to your computer or mobile devices, and subsequently all of your stored personal data, files, and even passwords.
Just considering the customers who come to ask us for help after such an event, the problem is growing!
Things we can all do to help guard against computer or phone-based fraud and threats:
If you receive a suspicious text or email…
- Read it carefully, looking out for anything suspicious, ie spelling mistakes? which number or email address did it come from? were you expecting contact from the company in question?
- Don’t click any links within or reply.
- Mark as spam and delete it.
If you receive a suspicious phone call…
- Don’t engage or give out any personal information, do not even confirm your name if they already have it.
- If you aren’t sure if the call is legitimate, hang up and call the company in question back. So if they claim to be from your bank, hang up and call the banks customer service number directly to check if your bank is indeed trying to contact you.
- Report the call to action fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
Some great websites to check the legitimacy of phone numbers are https://scam-numbers.co.uk/ and https://who-called.co.uk/ . You can use these sites to gauge if the number that called you is legitimate, and you can even report a suspected spam caller so other people don’t get caught out.
To see how these fraudsters operate we recommend checking out the Scammer Payback YouTube Channel where hackers are fighting back against these criminals. It’s enlightening to see how these scammers operate, and great to see hackers fighting to take these companies down and bring about criminal prosecution.
For computer security, we recommend and sell products by Eset and Malwarebytes.
The products made by these companies can greatly reduce the chances of your computer becoming infected by malware and are widely used around the world by both Governments, companies and private individuals.
These products wont stop you falling victim to scams, or prevent remote access software being installed, but when combined with caution and common sense they serve to provide that extra level of protection.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of your digital security at home or at work, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.
