{"id":1659,"date":"2020-08-07T13:04:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T13:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2020-08-07T13:04:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T13:04:07","slug":"what-are-tech-support-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Tech Support Scams?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A scam that has caught on as our reliance on technology has increased is the ever present \u201cTech Support Scams\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>If you know what you are looking for with tech support scams than you will likely not ever become a victim however the problem, clearly, is that millions of people find themselves embroiled in scams and fake \u201cpros\u201d who are looking to pilfer your hard earned money. Tech Support Scams are a multimillion-dollar industry globally and they rely on you not knowing what to look for. They rely on you to not be that tech savy. And they rely on fear.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_28 counter-hierarchy counter-disc ez-toc-grey\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/#Tech_Support_Scams\" title=\"Tech Support Scams\">Tech Support Scams<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/#How_Does_This_Work\" title=\"How Does This Work?\">How Does This Work?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/#How_Can_I_Stay_Safe\" title=\"How Can I Stay Safe?\">How Can I Stay Safe?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tech_Support_Scams\"><\/span>Tech Support Scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Most of us walk in a digital world with analog understanding. After all, it\u2019s enough to know how to use a piece of technology, and you can\u2019t be bothered with learning about why it works or how it works. You certainly aren\u2019t alone and your stance on tech is completely understandable. If we were all tech gurus, what would the Geek Squad even do?<\/p>\n<p>That said as time marches on its getting harder and harder for these types of scams to work on the everyday Joe. As the everyday Joe now includes a good amount of millennials who are way more tech savvy than previous generations. So this leaves our elderly the most vulnerable for this type of scam. The elderly is presumed to be much less tech-savvy and easily trusting. According to the FTC people over 60 are 5x more likely to be taken advantage of in this way.<\/p>\n<p>Not only are they attempting to milk money out of you for their \u201chelp\u201d with providing you tech support, but often times they\u2019ll also try walk you through an install of a malicious virus of their design aimed at an ongoing attack to extract as much money and data from you as possible.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Does_This_Work\"><\/span>How Does This Work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Typically there isn\u2019t one favorite way of getting their victims. However more often than not it can fit into one of these scenarios.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You start receiving popups on your screen that states your computer has been compromised.<\/li>\n<li>Scam sites that are most often accidentally accessed by common URL typos.<\/li>\n<li>Phishing emails that state you have an infection<\/li>\n<li>Spoof Caller IDs so that the caller looks as though they are from a legitimate company.<\/li>\n<li>Online ads for tech help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The number one technique shared amongst all of the scenarios is the use of Fear to manipulate and motivate the target. Our lives are on our personal devices and the thought that something could happen to all our files, our connections, our personal data is enough to put you in a home for the mentally unwell.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Can_I_Stay_Safe\"><\/span>How Can I Stay Safe?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Security Software \u2013 While there are great free services for virus protection and security, we suggest you use a paid app. They are quite affordable and the peace of mind they provide is well worth it.<\/li>\n<li>Ignore unsolicited Calls \u2013 If you don\u2019t recognize a caller, do not answer it. It\u2019s that simple. If you want further information on that caller\u2019s identity try using <a href=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/reverse-phone-lookup\"><u>Check Peoples Reverse Phone Lookup<\/u><\/a>. If you recognize the company, call them back and see what they need.<\/li>\n<li>Delete\/Close\/Don\u2019t open emails or popups that you do not recognize. It may seem very targeted, as they know exactly who you are and that you are already a customer. But do not take the bait. Close it out. You know who your providers are, you can call them directly.<\/li>\n<li>Hang up as soon as you think you might be speaking with a scammer. It\u2019s possible you are paying for every minute they get you to stay on the line. Cut it off immediately.<\/li>\n<li>Never give any payment information, even gift cards. If you didn\u2019t seek them out specifically to use their service you should never give your credit card information over the phone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is easy to become a victim if you don\u2019t know what to look out for. If you have family or friends who might be susceptible to these types of scams, you should make them aware and tell them what to look out for. There is a good chance they\u2019ve already been taken advantage of and still don\u2019t realize it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A scam that has caught on as our reliance on technology has increased is the ever present \u201cTech Support Scams\u201d. If you know what you are looking for with tech support scams than you will likely not ever become a victim however the problem, clearly, is that millions of people find themselves embroiled in scams [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16],"tags":[2029,288,77,2028],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reverse-phone-lookup","category-safety","tag-elderly","tag-ftc","tag-identity-theft","tag-tech-support-scams"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.3 (Yoast SEO v19.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Are Tech Support Scams? - CheckPeople Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A scam that has caught on as our reliance on technology has increased is the ever present \u201cTech Support Scams\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Are Tech Support Scams?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A scam that has caught on as our reliance on technology has increased is the ever present \u201cTech Support Scams\u201d.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CheckPeople Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-07T13:04:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-07T13:04:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/CP-What-Are-Tech-Support-Scams.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michelle Wilson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michelle Wilson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"CheckPeople Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/checkpeople.com\/blog\/what-are-tech-support-scams\/\",\"name\":\"What Are Tech Support Scams? 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