Tech support scams are the last death kneel of the dot.com bubble. At least that’s what we thought until India found its niche market, scamming old or uneducated people out of money to fix a computer that wasn’t broken, to begin with. There are so many tech support scams out there and sometimes, despite one’s best efforts, they seem to be unavoidable. But fear not, because we have some tips to help you spot and avoid tech support scams.
1. Don’t click that link!
Email is one of the most aggressive forms of marketing used by tech support scammers. If you find an unsolicited email telling you that your computer is at risk and to please “click here” to get help, for the love of everything that is good in the world, please do not click that link. If you do decide to let curiosity ensue and kill the cat, you will probably come to a page that has loud altered, freezes your computer and list a number to call to get your computer back from hackers. If you just restart your computer the page won’t come up again. To help the community and less educated potential victims, if you encounter a scam you should report it immediately.
2. Don’t call us, we’ll call you!
Often times these scammers will call you and say they are calling from Microsoft because they have been alerted to a hacker or corrupt files on your system. Microsoft does not offer such monitoring services. Microsoft does offer tech support but you have to go through official channels to get it. Furthermore, they do not have time for individual customers. What is more, if you tell them you do not have a PC they will say they are sorry and ask to fix your MAC. They are fishing for information to see how best they can scam you. It is what is known as social engineering and it is an increasingly popular method of scamming. If you should receive such a call, politely decline their help, and report the scam to the appropriate authorities. There are many legitimate companies like Tech Live Connect out there that can help you if you indeed do have a problem with your computer.
3. You pay money for legitimate tech support, and not with gift cards
Another tale, tale sign of the tech scammer is their desire to be paid with gift cards. This is absolutely not the way that you pay for tech support. Please do not engage with these individuals.
4. The PC can only be fixed by me!
Most tech support scammers will tell you that they are the only ones who can fix your computer and they have the “keys” to your computer. This is an outright lie. You can take your PC into a shop to fix or call tech live connect for service.
There are so many scammers out there, but with a little logic, and the tips we have given you here, you can be wise to the scammers next time they ask you to click or call.