I know I’ve been posting a lot about the Microsoft scammers, but today I decided to explain in more detail why they’re scams, and the tricks scammers do to make people think they have a virus on their system. The reason they’re scams is because Microsoft or any computer company never tracks viruses on a single system. They honestly don’t care if you do. The only time Microsoft will step in if there’s a virus that’s spreading across networks like crazy, such as the new ransomware spreading around (For more information, click here). Even then, they don’t have you call a number and/or call you. If every computer company tracked viruses, we would still be running 98 because Microsoft resources would have been tied up fixing every single infected PC.
Now, below is an image of a typical scam site:
The main reason this is a scam is the fact no major web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Edge, and Firefox) can detect if you got a virus by default. Also, I can load them on my smartphone, which has nothing to do with Windows. If it was a legit threat, your antivirus would throw up a warning way before a browser will. Also, the only way a browser could in theory detect an issue if say you enabled the toolbar or extension your antivirus installs. The closest a browser get to blocking possible issues is warning you if a site is been reported as unsafe, and will stop you from seeing that site unless you ignore the warnings. In fact, the way I triggered that scam site to load by mistyping facebook as facebo0k. A simple typo of a website n the old days would only load a screen saying “Server Not Found”, but today, it might launch the scam.
The other way they can generate is by clicking on the wrong links. The three major sites that generate these pop-ups are Facebook, Google, and email. In email, the best advise is if you don’t trust the sender or the email itself, don’t click on anything and delete it. On Facebook, they are created by the ads on the side, the ones that say something like “17 Reasons” or “Check This Out!”. On Google, they’re mostly caused by searching for computer help, and clicking on a bad link.
There’s also the scam calls where someone calls out of the blue, and tries to tell you that you got a virus or a major computer issue. First, no legit computer company will call you out of nowhere. The way all of them work is you have to make the first contact before they’ll even call. The best way to avoid these is if you don’t know the number, do not answer them. If they’re a legit company, they’ll leave a voice mail. If you do answer by mistake, hang up if they make any type of claim they’re tech support that you didn’t even call. The scammers will do everything to keep you on the line, and it’s all a script. They don’t know anything about your system to the point they’ll call a household that only has Apple products, and will try to say their Windows systems are infected.
The scammers main goal overall is try everything to access your system through legit software, and lock it to the point it can render the machine unless you pay them more than what most systems are worth, or a price that is so high, you can buy 8+ systems. No matter what, NEVER let strangers into your system no matter what nonsense they’re spouting. They’re not hackers because without you installing the software, they know nothing about your machine. If it was truly a legit hacker, they wouldn’t even have you on the phone to install software. They could be in your system, and you wouldn’t know it.
Now, this is more to explain what they’ll do if gained access, which again I’ll stress only allow companies and/or people you trust access your system. Everything I’m showing is built into all Windows since at least 98, and only two can in theory show you if you’re infected. These four things I’m going to show are used to troubleshoot Windows issues and fix performance issues, so most people don’t know they exist. The only way to access two of them is by launching them through a command or know what folder they’re stored in. In order, they are Command Prompt, Services, System Configuration, and Event Viewer.
The first one, Command Prompt, is very simply DOS. Below is what it looks like:
This is the only one you can find within the Windows Start Menu, but has nothing to do with malware or virus checking. Far as I can recall, it could been used back before Windows XP to check for malware, but now, it’s mostly used to check for internet issues. The way scammers use it is type in legit commands, type in wrong commands which triggers an error message, or paste something into it.
The second is called Services. Below is what it looks like:
This is one of two that are buried within Windows that you have to know either where it’s at, or how to load it. The lies you would here is how everything that shows Running is a virus. Services are background applications that are built into every version of Windows. They manage networks, printers, etc. If they weren’t running, Windows wouldn’t load properly. I’m not going to show where it’s located, or how to access it because you only mess with services if told by a company you trust, or know what you’re doing because disabling the wrong thing can crash Windows.
The second one buried deep within Windows is called System Configuration, as shown below:
This is one of the four that can tell you if there’s a virus or malware on the system. This application handles how Windows boots, and what loads when the system fully loads. Like Services, just because it’s running it doesn’t make it a virus. The major use for System Configuration is to disable unwanted programs from running at startup. Some malware will show up here, and a computer repair person can disabling it from running when you boot the PC. Again, not doing into too many details because the wrong thing here can disable critical parts of Windows causing instability.
The final one is Event Viewer:
Event Viewer records anything hat has happened to Windows has had since you first turned on the PC. This one isn’t quite as buried as Services and System Configuration, but it’s buried enough that most users don’t even know it exists. The main reason this is even loaded is to figure out what or why a PC keeps crashing. Again, only computer guys look at this to troubleshoot PC issues. All systems will show errors and warnings if you loaded Event Viewer. Even on my system, which is barely a week old, I have errors and warnings that show up.
The final part of Windows I’m going to mention is what I’m going to call the startup password. This application again is so buried within Windows, you have to really know what you’re doing to even think of messing with it. When enabled, it requires a password to be entered to load Windows. This is what scammers use to basically lock you out of the system unless you pay their outrage fees. I’m not going to show you what it looks like or the actual name because if it’s enabled, and you forget the exact password, you will have to wipe out Windows and all your personal files to remove it. I know what I’m doing, and I don’t mess with it unless required. In other words, you, and even your computer person, should never mess with this startup password.
Overall, I hope this knowledge as enlighten some to how the scams work, and why you should never allow anyone access to your system unless you have their complete trust. Also, the other thing I can stress from this is always keep your security software up to date, as well as run Windows updates whenever they’re available. The updates aren’t sent out to cause your system to take forever to reboot. They’re sent out to fix things that can allow a program to gain unwilling control of your system. Also, if the link looks funny, when in doubt, don’t click on it. The last tip is never Google phone numbers. If the company hasn’t posted on on their official website, they don’t provide one so never one you find on a web search (Perfect two examples: Facebook and Google). One final thing:
NEVER ALLOW ANYONE ACCESS TO YOUR SYSTEM UNLESS YOU TRUST THEM AND / OR THE COMPANY THEY WORK FOR!
