By Charles Miller
If Microsoft calls you—HANG UP! That is the official advice from Microsoft. The same goes for Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Whatsapp, and so forth. The reason it is okay to hang up, the reason you should hang up, is that none of these companies’ tech support ever cold-call consumers. If you receive an unsolicited phone call from someone pretending to be from tech support at one of these companies the call is always a scam.
Phony tech-support scams can also be initiated by a pop-up, email, or error message that appears on your screen with a phone number for you to call. Do not call that number! If you ignore my advice and call anyway, here is what you should do. If the error message on your screen said to call Microsoft at this number, start your call by asking the tech, “Is this Apple tech support?” The crook with a foreign accent will probably say, “Yes, this is Apple tech support,” even though you called the number for Microsoft tech support. The telephone boiler rooms operated by criminals will pretend to be employees of many different companies.
If you receive a fraud alert on your smartphone from your bank, do not call the number in the message. If you just cannot restrain yourself because the fake message said it was from Chase Bank where you have an account, then start by asking, “Is this Bank of America?” Then listen to someone say “yes” with a foreign accent. Then HANG UP!
I really hope nobody reading this will ever have any conversation with these crooks, but if you do there is still one more red flag to watch for. Legitimate companies will never ask that you pay for services in a difficult-to-trace form like Bitcoin, or Amazon gift cards.
The procedure for handling unsolicited phone calls is slightly different if you receive a call allegedly from your bank or investment company. Ask the caller for their name, employee ID, or telephone extension number; then immediately HANG UP! Now, dial the phone number printed on the back of your credit card or printed on your bank statement. When you tell the bank you were just cut off and would like to be connected to the person to whom you were just speaking, do not be surprised if you are told there is no such person or extension number at the bank.
Scam phone calls are a worldwide problem. An article in the Australian news media reports that in 2021 Australians lost an estimated AUD$2 billion (US$1.3 billion) to cybercriminals, nearly double the amount of losses in 2020. And Australia is a small country, population wise; meaning that in other more populous nations the losses to cybercrime could be considerably greater.
If you are targeted by a scam call or pop-up pretending to be from Microsoft, you can report it to microsoft.com/reportascam. Any information you can provide might help law enforcement find and stop these thieves.
You can save yourself a lot of grief if you remember this: in order to get tech support, you have to call Microsoft, or Apple, or whoever—they do not call you.
Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 415 101 8528 or email FAQ8@SMAguru.com.
