Continuing Warnings of Computer Repair Scams

Even though I personally feel that it would take a very gullible individual to fall for this, it appears that further warnings regarding the pitfalls of computer repair scams are in order; likely due to the proliferation they are having to the multitude of novice users among us and the ease of technology to provide a direct link to the victim.

Yes, even today my colleague received a cell phone call from "microsoft" saying that his machine was compromised and required immediate attention by their skilled technicians to forestall total calamity. The insinuation was imminent failure with total loss of his machine and it's content.

Luckily my colleague is quite experienced with engaging the shysters and decided to engage this fellow for a bit of insult prior to terminating the call. He razzed him regarding his inability to understand the name of the person being requested at the telephone.
 

It would seem that an operational command of the english language is optional among technoscammers of this ilk and after barking at him and his entire approach the call was terminated with extreme prejudice. I might add that there was never a danger for this particular machine and the person the scammer attempted to dupe likely had many times the scammer's experience in machine troubleshooting and repair.

In that sum total of who we are on the internet and our perception of anonymity we should be cognizant of our informational footprint. The more you put out there the more scammers have with which to "get you".

Back up your data, preferably on a removable medium like a USB 3.0 drive or some flash memory component.

If approached in a "cold call" whereby you did not initiate the interaction you should hang up immediately.

Nobody is so benevolent as to volunteer such repair service in the nick of time as claimed by these idiots who would have their way with you.

Watch what you click on when encountering any web page. It's far too easy to click a redirected link and end up with a cryptolocker exploit ... particularly if you haven't maintained an external backup like I keep telling you to maintain.

If you need support, engage someone you trust and just remember that computer services are largely inflated on the cost end of things. Expect to drop some cash.

Learning simple maintenance procedures and exploit preventive measures will go along way to keep you safer over time. I highly recommend the malwarebytes software and personal firewalls available for free. Just be sure of the download source ... they too can be problematic.