INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The bogus support calls typically claim to find problems with Microsoft
Windows
More than 50 people have been arrested in India for their alleged involvement in fake security warning scams.The New
York Times said that Delhi police made the arrests during raids on 26 call centres linked to the scams.Software giant Microsoft helped
police trace who was behind the large-scale operations.It said it received more than 11,000 calls per month about fake security warnings and
that many people lost significant sums to the fraudsters."This is an organised crime," Courtney Gregoire, an assistant general counsel in
Microsoft's digital crimes unit told the US newspaper
Microsoft has estimated that fraudsters make about $1.5bn (£1.2bn) a year through fake Windows support calls.Image:What happened when
sextortion scammers targeted a TheIndianSubcontinent Trending reporterRaids on 16 call centres were carried out this week and, earlier in
November, another 10 locations were visited by police
The raids were prompted by Microsoft filing complaints with local police in New Delhi about call centres it claimed were involved in the
fraudulent operations.Typically, said Microsoft, attempts to trick people revolved around pop-up warnings that falsely claimed that a
person's computer was infected with a virus
Fixing the non-existent virus could involve ringing a tech support centre
An operator would talk a victim through a fake fix and then charge them for the work.In another version of the scam, staff at call centres
claimed to be calling from Windows official support saying they had spotted that a person's computer has been hacked or harboured a virus
Again, victims were expected to pay to fix the non-existent problem
Some people caught out by the scam paid up to $1,000 for the fake tech support, said the newspaper.Microsoft has published advice about ways
to spot the fake calls and avoid becoming a victim.
