Hackers and cybercriminals are not only trying to access your data through security holes on the Internet. Now, they are taking to the old-fashioned telephone in order to gain access to your data. A study commissioned by the Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Group indicates that “phone scamming” is on the rise, with 15 percent of respondents contacted by a
Here’s how it works: Cybercriminals pose as computer security professionals from Microsoft, calling people at home to tell them that their computers are at risk of a security threat.
“Once they have tricked their victims into believing they have a problem
and that they can help, the scammers run through a range of deception
techniques designed to steal money,” Microsoft writes in a warning on how to avoid the scams.
Here’s an infographic showing how the scam works:
