“Microsoft Support Scam” hits Dubois County

A reader — who wishes to remain anonymous — sent us this audio of a call he received Monday on his home phone.

The would-be victim decided to play along with the scammer and recorded the conversation that occurred. Once the scammer realizes the victim is playing him though, he immediately hangs up. A call to the number on the caller ID reveals an automated message that states “I am sorry, all circuits are busy now. Please try your call later. Explorer seven one”.

The number the call came from has a Seattle, Washington area code — Microsoft is headquartered in Seattle — but it is listed on a scam alert message board as being used for a computer scam.

As heard in the audio, the scam utilizes an individual with a foreign accent who calls people up, pretends to be from Microsoft, and claims there is a problem with the victim’s computer. The caller will then confirm the problem by having the victim look at an error file created by harmless Windows programs which record the computer’s events.

In the recording the scammer realizes he is being played when the victim states there aren’t any errors being shown on the screen. There are nearly always errors or warnings shown by this program. Here is what nearly every Windows 7 computer will show (click to enlarge).

Using the error and warnings shown by the program, the scammer then attempts to sell the victim antivirus software that can be found for free from Microsoft’s website. They will then helpfully install it using remote access to the victim’s computer.

This scam has been around since about 2009 and recently a UK scammer was sentenced to repay thousands of dollars to victims in the UK.