Cold calling scam gaining momentum - NetSafe

NetSafe - a non-profit whose backers include the Ministry of Education and InternetNZ - today warns of a scam that is gaining momentum in New Zealand.

It involves the scammer cold calling the victim and claiming to be from an IT support helpdesk, and then going on to plant malware on victims’ computers or offer to fix the computer for a fee – paid by credit card over the phone.

NetSafe believe the scammers are beginning to increase intensity of the scam as just yesterday (Wednesday) six calls, and already today (Thursday) two calls have been made to report the scam to their helpdesk.

According to Richard Parlett of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, telephone scams are becoming increasingly popular in New Zealand.

“Scamwatch has recently seen an increase in numbers of scam reports to us about cold-callers from ‘computer fixing’ companies, sometimes claiming to be from an ISP or even representing Microsoft.

“The telephone seems to be the method of choice lately. Reports of telephone scams in Australia, including this type of computer-fixing scam, have recently increased from about 200 to over 2000 a month. We’re seeing an increase in phone call scams from this side of the Tasman too,” he says.

The scammer offers personal information about the victim such as a date of birth or address, even purchase history, to convince the victim of the authenticity of the caller’s background.

Martin Cocker of NetSafe says people shouldn’t worry about the scammer having that information, but to just hang up – and then let someone know about it.

“The information they offer about you will be stolen from websites. If you have been called in one of these scams we would urge you to hang up, and most importantly do not offer any information of your own, or allow them to remotely log into your computer,” said Cocker.

The best way to report a scam like this is to NetSafe’s ORB or to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ Scamwatch. Cocker believes that now the “Nigerian Lottery Scam” is no longer as believable among most computer users, the scammers have moved on to something new in order to dupe people for money again.

“People have been educated to not click on a link in an email from someone they don’t know or doesn’t look quite right – someone over the phone sounds more legit and people are tempted to trust them, more so than an email. It concerns us that people are trusting of a call centre making outward calls.”

MCA’s Richard Parlett recommends that people should treat their computer like a bank account. “In the same way as your bank account, don’t open your computer up to anybody who asks nicely over the phone.”

Martin Cocker also adds that hanging up as soon as you get a hint that the phone call might not be authentic is important. “It’s been reported to us that the scammers have become increasingly aggressive towards people when information isn’t passed over straight away – we advise that you don’t let it get to this point and hang up immediately.”

The scammers are likely calling in from overseas and therefore very hard to trace, Cocker said.