We’ve all had a family dinner, Netflix binge, or otherwise relaxing moment ruined by a telemarketer trying to sell you something you didn't need – a magazine subscription, insurance, you name it! But recently, people have been getting calls that are much more sinister in nature; people claiming to be employees of Microsoft, or Apple, or Amazon, have been calling unsuspecting victims and urging them to pay the caller in exchange for cleaning their computer of viruses. Viruses that don’t exist. None of these people work for the companies they claim to, but rather are a small cog in a larger machine working to defraud the public. 

On this episode of Security Unlocked, hosts Natalia Godyla and Nic Fillingham kick off a three-episode arc discussing tech support scams. To get started, they speak with Anup B Kumar, Microsoft’s Digital Crime Unit’s Asia lead of investigation and analytics, to get a better sense of who is behind these scams, what their motivations are, and some ideas on how to stop them.  

In This Episode You Will Learn:  

• Who these scammers target and why 
• How the scammers trick victims into trusting them.  
• Why working with law enforcement is crucial to stopping the problem 

Some Questions We Ask:  

• Do the scammers know that they are scamming?  
• How pervasive is this scam? 
• Can we stop the scam by helping to facilitate legitimate employment? 

Resources:  

Anup Kumar’s LinkedIn

Microsoft Report a Scam

Microsoft Security Services

Microsoft Security Blog

Nic’s LinkedIn

Natalia’s LinkedIn

Related:

Listen to: Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson

Listen to: Security Unlocked: CISO Series with Bret Arsenault 

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

Security Unlocked is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of The CyberWire Network.  

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