Clicking a suspicious link
I met with a client yesterday whose computer had been under attack from a common internet scam. It’s a terrible feeling to know that your details might be compromised. My client was quick to ring Greyology, and they were back up, running and secure within an hour or two of service. The scam was a very simple-and-easy-to-make mistake of clicking on a suspicious link on the internet. It came from a newsfeed with other legitimate links, and was easily believable. Once clicking, it disabled the mouse and the pop-up window covered the entire screen. It was a 🚨red alert 🚨 from “Microsoft” to say that the computer had (ironically) been comprised from a scam. The message also spoke aloud saying contact must be made with “Microsoft” and disabled most interaction with the computer. If you clicked to close the window, it would keep popping up again.
This type of scam is common and luckily, it wasn’t a ransom scam, instead a pseudo-ransom scam. A ransom scam is one that blocks all movement of your computer, and there are only a few ways to get rid of it, which are mostly compromising to the onboard data. This scam was trying to make the user believe that the computer had been completely compromised, and to contact the fake-authoritative party, being “Microsoft”, to likely pay them a large sum of money or inadvertently grant them access to bank accounts. If the number was called, the scammer might have quickly shut down the ‘alert’ and prompted them to download an application such as TeamViewer to remotely access their system. This could have allowed them access to saved passwords, bank account numbers etc.
Thankfully, my client called me first and asked for my advice, and Greyology was able to solve it promptly, as well as backup data to ensure no future loss was possible, and scans run to ensure there was no compromising malware installed. It’s important in these situations to:
1) Remain calm
2) Question the legitimacy of the window you are seeing - would Microsoft really make spelling errors, or use the colour pink to signify a scam? (Probably not)
3) Don’t let anyone remotely access your computer through a program such as TeamViewer unless they are completely trusted
4) Don’t make outgoing contact the scam-provided phone number
5) Call Greyology and ask for assistance in disabling this scam
It’s always important to keep a backup of your information so that you can restore your computer in the case of a scam. If this happens to you, ring Greyology immediately and we will advise what is best in your situation. We will be able to respond quickly. Thankfully, my client rang Greyology and Greyology was able to resolve the issue.
This is general advice only. Contact Greyology for specific advice.
Edin Read
Chief Technician and Founder
Greyology
☎️ +61 401 018 615
