US regulators on Wednesday charged 14 firms and 17 people with impersonating major IT companies to trick consumers into thinking their computers were plagued by viruses so they could charge hundreds of dollars to fix the problems.
The US authorities are also seeking unspecified restitution for the consumers affected.The crackdown is expected to lead to a significant reduction in the number of attempted scams in Malta and other English-speaking countries targeted by the IT conmen, including Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
It is understood that hundreds of scam attempts have been reported in Malta but it is not known how many people had fallen victim to the scam.
The US Federal Trade Commission said the action was part of a new international crackdown on such tech-support scams. The agency says a federal judge in New York City has issued an order halting six alleged scams and freezing their assets.
The FTC says the telemarketing schemes mostly operate from India and target English-speaking consumers in a number of countries.
The agency says the telemarketers claimed they worked for companies such as Microsoft and Dell, and said they had detected a virus or malware. They offered to fix the problems remotely for between $49 and $450.
In lawsuits filed in New York, the FTC alleged that the companies and individuals violated a federal law prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices, and the agency’s telemarketing sales rule. They also illegally called phone numbers listed on the Do Not Call registry, the FTC said. It said that the companies used 80 different computer domain names and 130 phone numbers to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities.
The firms named in the suits are Pecon Software Ltd, Pecon Infotech Ltd, Pecon Software UK Ltd, PCCare247 Inc., PCCare247 Solutions Pvt Ltd, Connexxions Infotech Inc., Connexxions IT Services Pvt Ltd, Zeal IT Solutions Pvt Ltd, Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt Ltd, Finmaestros LLC, New World Services Inc., MegaBites Solutions LLC, Greybytes Cybertech P. Ltd and Shine Solutions Private Ltd.
The phone scam apparently originated in 2008, with a criminal organisation based in India managing a call centre that initially targeted the UK but then spread to various Mediterranean countries, including Malta, and even Australia.
This newspaper has received several reports from individuals from all walks of life who have received unsolicited calls over the last month. Luckily, they were suspicious and so were not enticed. Others, however, especially the elderly, may not be so lucky and could very well fall victim to cybercriminals if uninformed.
Last February, Microsoft categorically denied that it had instructed its representatives to contact individuals in possession of its software by telephone to address some errors on the computer. It had warned the public not to heed such telephone calls, as Microsoft never seeks to sell its products over the phone.
Back then these unknown callers were requesting individuals to run some diagnostic tests after purchasing software from them using their credit card. As a precaution, Microsoft had urged the public to use original software, thus avoiding being targeted by fictitious company representatives asking them to regularise their position or risk heavy fines.
Despite this warning, The Malta Independent on Sunday is aware of several recent cases in which unknown people, some of them with an Eastern European or Indian accent, phoned from an undisclosed number claiming to be Microsoft representatives.
In one particular and typical case known to this newspaper, an individual who had been made aware of this phone scam by some relatives who had gone through the same experience some days before, asked the company representative to identify herself.
In her reply which had been preceded by several seconds of silence, as if she was awaiting instructions from somebody, she mumbled a name similar to “Maria” but changed the subject completely. She then kept insisting that the user switch on his computer to diagnose a particular error. Faced with such a request, the individual concerned remarked that he had never encountered such an error and categorically denied submitting a report to seek help from Microsoft. The fictitious company representative kept insisting but when asked for her contact details she refused to collaborate. The phone call came to an abrupt end when it was clear that she had failed miserably in her mission, once she was confronted with the accusation of being part of a phone scam.
Although in this particular case no further contact was made, in other cases individuals kept receiving calls on a regular basis to the point where they started feeling harassed. Others reported that, once they had unmasked the operation, the anonymous caller swore at them and hung up immediately.
According to Microsoft, once cybercriminals have access to an individual computer, they trick users into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might then demand charges for the removal of this software. In addition, they can take control of the computer remotely and adjust settings to leave it vulnerable, and direct the user to fraudulent websites and asking them to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.
Microsoft claims that cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories to have access personal information and they might even guess what operating system the user has installed on his computer.
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