First published: 14th January 2011
David Harley, senior research fellow at ESET, has highlighted the "cold call support scam" in his blog. In the scam, a user receives a call from a fake "support technician", claiming to be from a well-known brand-name (Microsoft, an anti-virus company, an ISP, etc.). The caller then instructs the user to look at technical parts of the operating system, such as the Event Viewer, where the user finds large numbers of warnings. Capitalising on the user's fright, the caller encourages the user to buy support services or install fake anti-virus software or allow remote access to their computer, so the caller can "fix" it.
The scam has been particularly prevalent in Australia and the UK. The recent introduction of the icode, a voluntary scheme where ISPs contact customers they have identified as having computers infected with zombies, in Australia has lent legitimacy to unexpected phonecalls offering technical support. However, David Harley is predicting that the scam will spread.