Just because a phone number appears to correlate to where you live i. The second method scammers use is a bit more sophisticated, but fortunately, it is only used by scammers who cold call you. This method uses spoofing technology, which exploits caller IDs, to make it appear that the caller is coming from a well-known source.
This method is commonly used in tax scams, where the scammer spoofs their number so it appears that it is coming from the Internal Revenue Service IRS , for example.
If you see that the call is originating from a trusted source, you are more likely to answer the call than if it was from an unrecognized or unknown number.
To get a deeper understanding of how these scams work, we decided to call a Norton-impersonating scam support line, armed with a fake persona and a problem that did not exist.
Our working hours are from 9 a. Eastern Standard Time. If you are calling us out of our business hours, please call us back within our opening hours. This is a common technique for scammers because the call centers are often providing scams for a variety of different companies. We introduced ourselves and informed him that while we were checking our emails, a Norton AntiVirus pop-up appeared on-screen, prompting us to call support.
The support agent proceeded with a verification process by asking for personal information, including full name, email address, and date of birth. Like, run some security tools for that, to remove all the viruses or something like that.
Once you have activated the card, call back on the same number and ask for my name, David Parker. We obtained virtual credit card details and called him back. He seemed quite happy, maybe a little bit surprised, that we called him back, and he asked us whether we managed to get the card, where we purchased the card, and how much money we loaded onto it. We confirmed all details with him and were asked to provide the credit card number, expiration date, and the three-digit security code for a total of three times.
Once he was satisfied that he had written down the correct details, David prompted us to open a link to a remote support tool that would allow him to log on to our computer.
He explained the steps to us that would grant him full remote access to our computer, a specially created virtual machine.
This level of access would have allowed him to copy files, install and remove software, and even reboot the machine. David continued to open Windows Event Viewer, a built-in tool that allows users to view logs, and filtered for warning messages, to tell us that we have approximately 1, viruses on the computer. Again, to a non-technical person, the warning messages could indicate that something is incredibly wrong with the machine when, in fact, the warning messages are quite a normal thing to see in Event Viewer.
We were placed on hold for around 20 minutes while the scammer was looking through the contents of the computer. He did not perform any additional troubleshooting steps and told us that he would be transferring this call to a level-five technician. The level-five support agent spent another 20 minutes looking through the computer to make it look like he was doing work, while simultaneously combing through the file system, probably looking for any sensitive information to copy and exfiltrate using the backend of the remote client.
Be wary of letting an unknown company or support agent gain remote control over your computer or conduct a remote session on your device. Keep your computer and other devices up to date with the latest version of reputable security software with malware protection. Detecting and disrupting these tech support scams takes time and continuous effort.
Like many social engineering attacks, customer awareness and education are critical defenses. To help protect and educate NortonLifeLock customers, we publish blogs , support articles and resources , and videos on tech support scams. Upgrading to new devices and software can often mean downgrading your privacy and security. Download the full version of Norton Security Deluxe free for 30 days, and test-drive it on up to 5 of your devices — PCs, Macs, smartphones or tablets.
Internet Security Centre. Online Scams. Security Center Online Scams How to recognize and avoid tech support scams. Written by a NortonLifeLock employee. Safety for every device. Try Now for 30 Days. Cold Calls Tech support cold calls are when an individual calls the target, claiming to be from a reputable company and states that they have found malware on the computer.
Pop-Up Warnings Tech support pop-up warnings occur when a user is browsing the Internet. The following are examples on how to make sure that you always select Official Norton Support: Motivation: The main motives behind these scams are to extort the victim to gain money as well as installing malware such as keyloggers or backdoor Trojans in order to gain access to personal information.
How to Identify and Avoid Pop-Up and Cold-Calling Scams: Pop-ups: Examine the message closely- look for obvious signs of fraud such as poor spelling, unprofessional imagery, and bad grammar: You can also do an Internet search for the phone number that is listed in the pop up to verify its legitimacy: There are many websites out there where people report scammers.
People Also Search. Norton Setup Help. Install Norton Norton Antivirus Free Download. Norton Norton Software. Norton Technical Support Images. Norton Security. Technical Support For Norton Banner. Norton Helpline Support. Live Support. Apart from tech spams, the report also highlighted some more cyber safety threats that Internet users are falling prey to today. Online gaming, which has recently gained popularity in the last few months, is the other space where a lot of scammers are attacking innocent users.
In gaming, virtual goods have real value and scammers cash in on this to steal your personal credentials and banking details. The Norton for Gamers is especially designed to protect your devices, gaming accounts and digital assets from threats that you might face during playing.
The other kind of website that one needs to be alert about is online banking. As lockdowns kept us home, many of us have turned to online banking. Norton Labs researchers noticed a phishing campaign that targeted customers of a leading bank, Citibank, where the attackers created a fake website that was a near carbon copy of the real banking webpage. Users of banking services must be aware that the bank will not send you a message to share your login credentials. The advanced security of the Norton range helps protect your devices against existing and emerging online threats and helps protect your personal and professional information when you are online.
The other big area of concern, according to the report, are phishing emails , where you will receive an email that contains a link to a fake website which is very similar to the original one in look and feel.
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