BEWARE – It happens every day… scammers are after your money or personal information. It usually happens one of three ways:

• They call you on the phone – pretending to be from “MicroSoft”, “Windows”, Dell, or a generic techie sounding name.
• They tell you to call a phone number – via an annoying pop-up or voice on your computer.
• You call them – thinking you’ve found a legitimate tech support company via a Google search.

In each case, they’ll tell you a great story that has been honed by thousands of calls to other people. They’ll attempt to convince you there is something very wrong with your computer, or that you’ve been hacked and are at risk of identity theft or worse. In most cases they will get into your computer remotely to “fix things”. Of course, things are worse than they thought, and they will need money to fix things. They’ll scare you in many ways and may even run programs that generate false error messages.

These bad guys will take every opportunity you give them. One of our clients admitted to giving them 3 different credit card numbers, as the crooks kept saying “oh, that one was declined”. Another read them the routing numbers from the bottom of a check. And another realized something was up as she found herself driving to Target to buy $1500 worth of iTunes gift cards!

It doesn’t stop at taking your money. While they are in your computer, the crooks can find names, numbers, account information, passwords, birthdays, and banking information.

A recent Microsoft survey showed 15% of the people surveyed had received fake tech support calls. Of those, 22% admit to falling for the scam, including letting the bad guys into their computers, and even giving them money. The average financial loss was $875, plus over half reported subsequent computer problems.

The bad guys are hard to catch, but thanks to efforts from companies like Google and MicroSoft and Federal authorities, they are being taken down every day. Unfortunately, it seems two pop up for every one taken down.

Don’t become a victim! Don’t fall for the Fake Tech Support Scam!

It usually starts with a client saying “I assume we’re protected”. The hairs go up on the back of my neck, and my pulse quickens. They don’t get it… those 4 words tell me some serious education is necessary.

We’re talking about computer viruses or malware and protecting your computer system. The danger of those 4 words is that they insinuate that some outside force or mechanism is responsible for protecting you from disaster, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth. The truth is that 99% of the protection comes from you and your staff, since most of the infections result from personal attacks against YOU. Computer hackers seldom directly attack computers, operating systems, or browsers any more. They’ve discovered it is far easier to trick you into attacking yourself. And if they can cause you to click on something, your antivirus/antimalware products cannot protect you.
Does that mean you can get rid of your antivirus or antimalware software? Probably not, as they might protect you from older viruses, or maybe new ones. And since the “standard of care” is still antivirus programs, it might be considered negligence if you didn’t have one.

Your best protection against infections and data breaches is education. Understanding that YOU are the first line of defense, and staying educated on the current nature of attacks. For instance, education would alert you to the fact that the attacks have recently been tailored for specific industries. CPAs get pop-ups or email links that seem appropriate for the accounting profession, like Emails saying they have tax information, invoices, or banking information. There are even malware scams embedded in fake messages from the IRS. Lawyers are now getting supposed bankruptcy notices, or fake messages about legal seminars.

The scams are continually evolving, but the target is still the same: Your money or your data. Most recently, they’ve combined into an attack called “Ransomware”, where you pay money to get your data back. It starts with one simple click in an Email message. The next thing you know, you can’t open files stored on the computer or even the firm’s server. All of your data, documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, pictures, videos, music, and even accounting data is encrypted and held for ransom. Pay $300-$1500 immediately or lose everything. And the price goes up as the deadline approaches, usually 24-48 hours.

These ransomware programs can also wreak havoc on systems that make use of “synchronizing” systems like DropBox or OneDrive. Now a local disaster can be spread, or synchronized, to other computers in the firm, city, or across the Country. An infection in the office can now affect home, and visaversa.

And here’s a chilling thought… As long as a bad guy is going through your data  to encrypt it, what’s to stop him from stealing information about you or your clients? Names, addresses, account numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, birthdays, you get the idea. If they don’t use it themselves, they’ll sell it to the highest bidding identity thief.

Which brings up the topic of backups. Depending on the infection, backups may be your only source of recovery. Therefore the importance of backups cannot be overlooked, and having backups that are “off-line” is essential. Some of the infections actually target your backups, too! Those 4 scary words “I assume we’re protected” are also applicable to backups, too. It is your duty to make sure backups are adequate and actually running. Never assume “someone else” is responsible. You need to know what is being backed-up, to where, and how to check the backups. Just because a person setup the backup routines, it doesn’t mean they are responsible for checking on them… make sure you know who is responsible for making sure the backup system is working.

Have you noticed that many entities, Worldwide, have requested that users reset their passwords?  You’ve probably heard about the countless security breaches involving major companies and government offices. Sure, they might involve credit card numbers, or even personal information… but, perhaps more important, HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF LOGINS AND PASSWORDS HAVE BEEN STOLEN. Many hundreds of millions more have been stolen from smaller organizations that you’ll never hear about.
Initially, these logins/passwords may be used directly by the thieves, or sold around the World. Eventually, the information is available, for free, through hacker websites.

Recently, major companies (like GoToMyPC, Carbonite, & LogMeIn) have started reviewing some of the stolen login/passwords that have been circulating in the criminal World. To their horror, they’ve found that many of the stolen login/password combinations work on their websites and, in fact, are noticing specific attacks that are utilizing this stolen information.

Because of these widespread and increasing attacks, many companies are ramping up their security and asking all users to change their passwords immediately. In many cases you have no choice, as you will not be able to access your account without a password change.

Unfortunately, many of us use the same login and simple password for many different accounts. It’s easier that way. Some people think they’ve fixed the problem by using more complex passwords, utilizing upper and lowercase letters, numbers & symbols.

The root of the problem is that we tend to use the SAME PASSWORD. Now that the logins and passwords are out there, it’s easy enough for criminals to try a given stolen login/password at hundreds of websites. Like your bank, Amazon, Ebay, dating sites, or government websites. And in each website they get into, they can find more and more information about you, all leading to potential identity theft or financial loss.

The only answer is: Change all of your passwords, use complex passwords, and DON’T USE THE SAME PASSWORD for all websites!!! It’s your choice: Security or Convenience… you can’t have both.

If you want to see if your email address (and password) are floating around in the Dark Web, just visit the site https://haveibeenpwned.com.   This is by no means a comprehensive listing of all compromised logins… in fact it represents a tiny portion of what’s out there, but it should be enough to give you a good scare.