Security Update from Stuart Strathdee, Chief Security Advisor, Microsoft Australia
Thanks for your comments on my recent blog post on GovTech. You may have also seen my interview recently, published on the Sydney Morning Herald website which also appeared on Brisbane Times, The Age and WA Today. I been reading through these comments regarding protection from fraud and just wanted to give you a quick update.
Whilst these scams are running under many different names and using many other well-known brands, they are all trying to fool you. Providing someone access to your computer is like opening the front door. Handing over your credit card details or product registration codes, is like handing them cash. If you have provided your credit card details, please get advice from your bank immediately. In the short term, you may be able to stop the transaction. Longer term, you may want to cancel the card and get another one.
We have been working with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, media groups, law enforcement and many other government bodies to try to get the message out about this issue. Everyone has been exceptionally supportive in trying to spread the message, but raising community awareness about this scam is a very complicated task on a massive scale.
But you can help. Please, tell your friends, family, and neighbours about this scam. Give them the following facts:
Microsoft does not:
- Cold call customers to provide technical support.
- Share customer data with other companies for the same purpose.
Remember, if you get one of these calls, whether they use the Microsoft name or another trusted brand, just hang up. If you have concerns about your PC then contact your local PC shop, or give the real Microsoft Technical Support a call on 132058.
For further information, please see my blog post and to learn more about scams or to report one visit www.scamwatch.gov.au
We will continue to focus on improving awareness of this issue, hopefully putting these scammers out of business.
Stuart Strathdee
Chief Security Advisor, Microsoft Australia
Comments
- Anonymous
August 08, 2010
I had a call last saturday. The guy was from Sun System Recure. He had my husbands name, our telephone no and knew what Operating System we had. He said error logs being sent to Microsoft server, and as part of Windows 7 customer care, he was fixing via LogMeIn123. He logged on, and when the name didnt say Microsoft up the top, i turned the modem off. My phone rang immediately. I got his phone No. Name and website. Trend marked the webpage as Dangerous. I've since reported it to Microsoft, Consumer Protection, LogMeIn and Do not Call Register. I've blurbed about it all over Facebook and encouraged everyone of my FB friends to repost and Warn. I didnt pay any money, but one of my FB friends did the night before. Consumer Protection advise, once the company realise you've cancelled pymt - they remotely lock your PC until you pay. You really need to track these people down in Kolkata India and put a stop to them - PLEASE !!