You've been scammed (social engineering)!

[britechguy]

It never ceases to amaze me how even the brightest people can be taken in by scammers. Someone I know, a very intelligent professional, now retired, just e-mailed me saying:

I got one of those emergency messages about my computer and it locked up. They gave me a number to call and the tech told me I has\d been hacked and I basically gave him control of my computer. Then he sold me Symantic for thee years and guaranteed it would protect me. I asked lots of questions and he had lots of answers. I tried not to stereotype because he had an indian accent. Now I am scared. The computer does run better but… Should I be worried? I checked bank accounts several days later and they seemed fine. Any advice will be appreciated. The company is called Geeks Library LLC,

This is the last person in the world that I would have believed could ever, ever have been so foolish, but, yet another demonstration of why the person sitting at the keyboard is the weakest link in the computer security chain. I really don't know how he would ever have fallen for this!

My advice:
1. Disconnect from the internet and stay that way.
2. Promptly change your passwords on any of those accounts FROM A DIFFERENT DEVICE.
3. Keep an eye on all accounts FROM A DIFFERENT DEVICE.
4. Prepare to have your computer "nuked and paved."

It's just maddening and stupefying that anyone can be taken in by this sort of scam, which has been so well publicized, again and again and again, for decades now!

And I stand by my contention this is absolutely not a case of having been hacked. None of this would have occurred had that false flag "emergency message" been ignored and the machine promptly shut down without touching it. The damage was invited in with the end user opening the door and preparing a "nice cuppa tea" for the scammer!

 

[GTP]

Its frustrating, annoying, stupifying and a whole lot more.
I have one client (discussed previously on the forum) that has been scammed the exact same way multiple times.
It doesnt (and didnt) seem to matter what I tell/told them, they fall/fell for it every time.
At least they are at the stage of shutting down the PC and calling me immediatly afterwards.
I just can't seem to get them to say "no" to the voice on the phone before they allow them access.

 

[britechguy]

Well, at least I do know I won't be faced with that.

But the victim said to me, "I have a new appreciation for people getting scammed."

 

[NviGate Systems]

I watched several videos from anti scammers (ones who track and often get in scammers ways).

Based on what they have been presented in the videos, the scammers install a silent client so they can spy on victims at a later date, much like having client machines as part of MSP. This is interesting because in the past they used to use free trials of many connection clients, but they seem to be "going legit" at least on the software side as this will give them greater freedom to do nasty stuff.

Before, years ago when we faced these scams, we told our clients, format and re-install, did they want to risk any chance that the scammers would be able to re-connect or contact them again? Also when I was in GeekSquad, scammers were able to remote control a PC even when Agents were trying to remediate it. So, once you fall for a scam, unless you want to play Russian Roulette, Nuke & Pave.

 

[GTP]

Well, at least I do know I won't be faced with that.

But the victim said to me, "I have a new appreciation for people getting scammed."

Lets hope your client has learned a lesson. At least it will be one down...

 

[nlinecomputers]

Good luck. Science has started to determine why older people are more gullible. It’s a breakdown of the area of the brain called the anterior insula. It controls your ability to judge risk, assess danger etc.

 

[Cambridge PC Support]

I've got an old chap who's been caught out 6 times this year already. I think he's slowly beginning to realise what's going on. Poor chap

 

[lan101]

Good luck. Science has started to determine why older people are more gullible. It’s a breakdown of the area of the brain called the anterior insula. It controls your ability to judge risk, assess danger etc.

Yeah there's some people that I think at a certain point just can't be helped. Good to know there's some science behind this that explains it a little better.

 

[Mike McCall]

I have a client's machine in the shop now because he received an email saying Amazon was going to charge his account for a large sum unless he called the number in the email. He did, and then gave them access to his machine. Believe me, we've had the conversation multiple times. Still, he not only made the call but he also had to download the file that gave them access. I don't discount for stupidity.

 

[Nathan Igo]

I have one small office client that so far has had 4 different people fall for a variant of it straight through email. They send an email masking as the owner asking them to go buy a giftcard for $300 for a company event. 4 times over the last 2 years an employee went out and bought it with their own money. Luckily they figured it out before sending the info back in the email and the company has reimbursed all of them for stupid mistakes.