New ‘Microsoft Support’ scam

What’s the threat?

Hackers are bombarding PC users with fake warnings that their computer has been infected by ‘Exploit.swf.bd Virus’ and that their data will be erased from their hard drive. Messages pop up on screen urging people to call a ‘Microsoft Support’ number within five minutes. If you ring it, you’ll speak to a scammer who’ll try to persuade you that he/she needs to access your PC to remove the virus.

Symantec’s Siddhesh Chandrayan, who discovered the scam, said that it’s triggered when the victim visits an infected website. When the message appears a warning tone plays, adding to the sense of impending doom.

It’s one of the more complex tech-support scams seen this year. This is because its creators programmed it using ‘obfuscated code’, which makes it hard for security experts to decipher. Unusually for scams of this kind, it knows what operating system you use. This lets it display warnings that look more authentic – so a Mac-style warning will never appear on a Windows PC, for example. It even uses cookies to ensure that it doesn’t target a person more than once.

Read Symantec’s blog for more details: www.snipca.com/22320.

What should you do?

Antivirus software will protect you against some scams, but the best defence is always to use your wits. Never trust a pop-up message that uses scare tactics to get you to ring a number, or click a link. Like scam emails, these bogus warnings are often written in poor English and ignore the rules grammar. In the hard-drive message (see screenshot), the abundance of exclamation marks indicates that it’s not legitimate.

And remember the psychological tricks that scammers use. They’ll say anything to make the problem appear urgent, hoping to trigger a sense of panic in their intended victim.