At least $17.5m lost to tech support scams since Jan 2024
These alerts pop up on your computer screen, warning you of a virus that has infected your device.
They also offer you a lifeline – a phone number for “tech support”.
The person at the end of the hotline picks up, claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple, and informs you that your computer has been compromised.
This is how scammers behind a resurging scam variant operate.
At least 198 reports have been lodged with the police and at least $17.5 million has been lost to these “tech support” scams since January 2024, said the police and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) in a joint statement on Jan 21.
The telephone number is often a Singapore one, to give a sense of legitimacy to the ploy.
After the victims dial the number, the scammers would tell them to download applications to install firewalls on their devices.
These applications, such as Connect Wise, UltraViewer or AnyDesk, allow the scammers to access the victims’ devices from any location.
The victims would then be asked to log in to their online banking accounts, and the scammers would take control of their devices and make unauthorised transfers, said the police and CSA.
In cases where the scammers are met with banks’ request for authentication, they would ask victims to approve the transfers with their digital tokens.
The police and CSA said that legitimate Microsoft messages do not include telephone numbers.
Apple has also advised the public to ignore such alerts by leaving or closing the window or tab.
Those who believe they have fallen prey to such a scam should delete any applications downloaded at the scammers’ instructions and perform an anti-virus scan on their devices.
Victims should change their online banking passwords and remove any unauthorised payees who may have been added.
They should also report the incident to their bank to stop any unauthorised transactions.
But a foolproof way to avoid being scammed is to exit the browser whenever a pop-up alert appears.
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