Indian Call Centers Raided for Fake Virus Scam
Last week, 16 fake virus scam call centers in Gurgaon and Noida, India were raided. This led to the arrest of 39 people for allegedly impersonating technical support representatives for companies like Microsoft, Apple, Dell and HP. In the raid, police officers found various pieces of evidence including call scripts, voice recordings, live chats and customer records.
This is the second raid in the last two months. The first took place in October, after Microsoft filed complaints about customers falling for fake virus scams. The initial raid led to the arrest of 24 alleged scammers. After the second raid, there were still thousands of victims filing complaints with Microsoft regarding the tech support scam.
It’s Progress, But…
Not to sound dismal, as this is progress, but there is still a long way to go.
Customers still need to be wary of these scams. Just because sixteen call centers were raided, doesn’t mean the scam has been extinguished. If you’re wondering whether or not a notification is legitimate, please remember Microsoft, or any other tech company will never include a phone number for them to be reached at. Therefore, if a phone number is included, it is often a scam.
Also, if you’re concerned about potentially being infected with a virus — please contact your security solution provider. It is their job to protect your device. They will either confirm it’s a scam or determine how the virus wormed past their protection. You are paying them after all — use their resources!
