Calls from someone saying they are from Windows or Microsoft The caller, often with an accent, saying “I’m calling from Microsoft” or “Windows”. They will tell you that they have a report from their ISP of “serious virus problems” from your computer. They will start by instructing to press the “Windows” and “R” Then they will ask you to open a program called “Windows Event Viewer” which lists errors, (some “critical” errors) which causes most people to make the fatal mistake of trusting the caller. (Conveniently, the event viewer will always show some warning or errors which the scammer can leverage to instill fear.) (Seeing errors in Windows Event viewer is perfectly normal and does not mean you have a problem) You are then directed to a website where a download awaits, (Team Viewer ) which is a program that hands over remote control of your computer, and the caller “installs” various “fixes” for the problem. The bogus “Microsoft” /”Windows” rep asks for a certain amount of money for a “subscription” to the “preventative service”. Not only could you be paying for something that’s completely unnecessary, but you may be giving your entire computer over to the scammers. They may even start by running a program called SYSKEY in which they will install a windows boot password which they will tell you.Syskey also enables you to configure the machine to prompt for the computer startup key at boot time (this can be up to 128 characters long) – this is a great option for laptops as it simply takes the form of a password(phrase) that you enter before logging into Windows. However, if you do not pay them, they change the password and NO ONE has access to your computer! IF YOU GET A CALL LIKE THIS, HANG UP THE PHONE!
As of 1/25/2015, There is still a lot of this going around and we are often getting calls from customers wondering if this is a legitimate call. IT IS NOT!