Avast report reveals 2 lakh tech support scams detected in India in Q1 2021
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New Delhi: A report by cybersecurity company Avast has revealed that tech support fraud remains a massive issue in India with the researchers claiming that more than 200,000 tech support scam attacks were detected and blocked in the country in the first quarter of this year.
Alexej Savcin, Senior Malware Analyst, Avast said that tech support fraud is increasingly common and targets some of the most vulnerable individuals through money or personal information.
Savcin also cautioned that whether it's a phone call or a website, legitimate tech support won't ever proactively seek out to the users out to fix an issue. He also advised not to engage, give access to the devices, or share any personal information, when in doubt.
In tech support scams, fraudsters use scare tactics to trick innocent individuals into purchasing overpriced and unnecessary "support services" to fix an alleged computer, device, or software problem.
Once granted access, bad actors can also install malware, or other malicious programmes that damage the data housed on devices, or even worse, harvest personal information.
Criminals with access to this type of sensitive data can leverage it to gain entry into financial accounts, health records, or other essential services.
In addition, fraudsters go to great lengths to convince victims of their legitimacy, including creating web pages that imitate antivirus or firewall software warnings or even setting up fake companies to validate their con.
"Once on the phone, scammers try to convince the callers to establish a remote connection to their computer and sometimes download a second remote management software without the user knowing to keep up a constant connection to the user's PC," the researchers warned.
In addition, fraudsters go to great lengths to convince victims of their legitimacy, including creating web pages that imitate antivirus or firewall software warnings or even setting up fake companies to validate their con.