Technical support scam

Screenshot of a Recent Changes page from a MediaWiki site affected by customer support scammers promoting their "help lines" through unethical means such as spamming.

Technical support scams can begin in a variety of ways.[3][4] A scam most commonly begins with a cold call, usually claiming to be associated with a legitimate-sounding third party, with a name like "Microsoft", "Windows Technical Support" or "HP Support" .[5] Scammers have also lured victims by purchasing keyword advertising on major search engines (with ads triggered by phrases such as "Microsoft live chat", "Facebook support", or "Outlook login help"), though both Bing and Google have taken steps to restrict such schemes. Other techniques include email spamming and cybersquatting to lead potential victims to web pages containing scammers' phone numbers.[6][7] Some scams have been initiated via pop-up ads on infected websites instructing the potential victim to call a number. These pop-ups often closely resemble legitimate error messages such as the Blue Screen of Death.[8][9]

While normally following a script, the scammer usually instructs the victim to download and install a remote access program, such as TeamViewer, AnyDesk, LogMeIn, GoToAssist,[10] etc. With the software installed, the scammer convinces the victim to provide them with the remote access software's credentials or other details required to initiate a remote-control session, giving the scammer complete control of the victim's desktop.[1][11]

After gaining access, the scammer attempts to convince the victim that the computer is suffering from problems that must be repaired, most often as the putative result of malicious hacking activity. Scammers use several methods to misrepresent the content and significance of common Windows tools and system directories as evidence of malicious activity, such as viruses and other malware. Normally the elderly and other vulnerable parties, such as those with limited technical knowledge, are targeted for technical support scams.

• The scammer may direct users to Windows' Event Viewer, which displays a logfile of various events for use by system administrators and expert users to troubleshoot problems. Although many of the log entries are relatively harmless notifications, the scammer may fraudulently claim that log entries labeled as warnings and errors are evidence of malware activity or that the computer is becoming corrupted, and that the errors must be "fixed".[3][4][12]
• The scammer may present system folders that contain unusually named files, such as Windows' Prefetch and Temp folders, and claim that the files are evidence of malware on the system. The scammer may open some of these files (especially those in the Prefetch folder) in Notepad, where the file contents are rendered as mojibake. The scammer claims that malware has corrupted these files, causing the unintelligible output. In reality, the files in Prefetch are typically harmless, intact binary files used to speed up certain operations.[12]
• The scammer may misuse Command Prompt tools to generate suspicious-looking output, for instance, the tree or dir /s command, which displays an extensive listing of files and directories. The scammer may claim that the utility is a malware scanner, and while the tool is running, the scammer will enter text purporting to be an error message (such as "security breach ... trojans found") that will appear when the job finishes, or into a blank Notepad document.[13]
• The scammer may misrepresent values and keys stored in the Windows Registry as being malicious, such as innocuous keys whose values are listed as not being set.[3]
• The "Send To" Windows function is associated with a globally unique identifier. The output of the command assoc, which lists all file associations on the system, displays this association with the line ZFSendToTarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}; this GUID is the same on all versions of Windows. The scammer may claim that this is a unique ID used to identify the user's computer, or claim that the CLSID listed is actually a "Computer Licence Security ID" that must be renewed.[14][15]
• The scammer may claim that the system's problems are the result of expired hardware or software warranties, for example, Windows product keys, and coax the victim into paying for a "renewal".[4][12]
• The scammer may run the obscure syskey utility and configure a startup password known only to the scammer, thereby locking the victim out of their own system after the computer is rebooted.[16][17] As syskey is only present in Windows versions previous to Windows 10, the scammer may force the user to become locked out by installing a keylogger and changing the user's account password and/or setting a PIN login requirement if the victim's computer runs on Windows 10.[18]
• The scammer may delete Windows critical files and folders such as system32, making the computer unusable until the operating system has been reinstalled.
• The scammer may use their remote access software to surreptitiously download or delete confidential files or documents from the victim’s system while employing distraction techniques or while the victim is away from the computer procuring payment.
• The scammer may block the victim from viewing their screen, claiming that it is the result of malware or of a scan being run, and use the time to search the user's files for sensitive information, attempt to break into the user's accounts with stolen or stored credentials or activate the webcam and see the user's face.[18]
• The scammer may run the netstat command in a terminal/command window, which shows local and foreign IP addresses. The scammer then tells the victim that these addresses belong to hackers that have intruded the computer.
• The scammer may claim that a normal Windows process such as rundll32.exe is a virus. Often, the scammer will search the web for an article about the Windows process and will scroll to a section saying that the process name can also possibly be part of malware, even though the victim's computer does not contain that malware.

These tricks are meant to target victims who may be unfamiliar with the actual uses of these tools, such as inexperienced users and senior citizens—especially when the scam is initiated by a cold call.[1][5][19] The scammer then coaxes the victim into paying for the scammer's services or software, which they claim is designed to "repair" or "clean" the computer but is actually malware that infects it or software that causes other damage, or does nothing at all.[20] The scammer may gain access to the victim's credit card information, which can be used to make additional fraudulent charges. Afterward, the scammer may also claim that the victim is eligible for a refund, and request the user's bank account information—which is instead used to steal more money from the victim, rather than providing the promised refund.[3][4][5][12][21][22] Alternatively, a scammer may attempt to request payment using gift cards for online platforms such as Amazon.com, Google Play, and iTunes Store.[23][24]

Some technical support scammers may surreptitiously open the victim's webcam in order to see what their victim looks like. They may also configure TeamViewer or other remote access clients for unattended access to the user's computer, so that they may return later and try to harass or intimidate a victim.

Unlike legitimate companies, if their targets show resistance or refuse to follow the scammer or pay them, the scammer may become belligerent and insult, threaten[25][26] or even blackmail the user into paying them. Crimes threatened to be inflicted on victims or their families by scammers have ranged from theft, fraud and extortion,[27] to serious crimes such as assault, rape[28] and murder. Canadian citizen Jakob Dulisse reported to CBC that, upon asking the scammer why he had been targeted, the scammer responded with a death threat; 'Anglo people who travel to the country' (India) were 'cut up in little pieces and thrown in the river.'[29][30]

In an investigation conducted by Symantec employee Orla Cox, it was revealed that after Cox paid for the fee for the scammer to remove the nonexistent "malware" infections, the scammers would then merely clear the log in the Event Viewer and disable Windows' event logging feature. This merely means that errors would no longer appear in the Event Viewer, i.e. had malware actually existed on Cox's computer, it would remain intact.[31]