New Twist to Online Tech Support Scam and more

This one has been going on for quite a while, but it is definitely spreading like a bad rash. Just to prove it, one of my clients got a call from one of these while I was actually at their home for an appointment to work on their computer. What’s the chance of that happening? It’s certainly never happened before. And they are definitely using some serious social engineering to fool people into allowing them to get into their computers to quote/unquote fix their computers.

Thanks to Windows Secrets and Fred Langa for the link:

Windows Secrets reader Scott Brande was recently on the receiving end of a typical tech-support con. Recognizing it for what it was, he carefully documented the attempted snow job, then sent in his notes as a service to all Windows Secrets readers.

Check out the rest of Fred Langa’s article for the fully documented story.

And from IC3.gov site:

New Twist to Online Tech Support Scam and more – IC3.gov Scam Alerts (Jan 7, 2013)

NEW TWIST TO ONLINE TECH SUPPORT SCAM

The IC3 continues to receive complaints reporting telephone calls from individuals claiming to be with Tech Support from a well-known software company. The callers have very strong accents and use common names such as “Adam” or “Bill.” Callers report the user’s computer is sending error messages, and a virus has been detected. In order to gain access to the user’s computer, the caller claims that only their company can resolve the issue.

The caller convinces the user to grant them the authority to run a program to scan their operating system. Users witness the caller going through their files as the caller claims they are showing how the virus has infected their computer.

Users are told the virus could be removed for a fee and are asked for their credit card details. Those who provide the caller remote access to their computers, whether they paid for the virus to be removed or not, report difficulties with their computer afterwards; either their computers would not turn on or certain programs/files were inaccessible.

Some report taking their computers to local technicians for repair and the technicians confirmed software had been installed. However, no other details were provided.

In a new twist to this scam, it was reported that a user’s computer screen turned blue, and eventually black, prior to receiving the call from Tech Support offering to fix their computer. At this time, it has not been determined if this is related to the telephone call or if the user had been experiencing prior computer problems.

Unbelievable! MICROSOFT DOESN’T DO THAT!

Avoid tech support phone scams

Cybercriminals don’t just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

More here at Microsoft’s article: Avoid Phone Scams

Some more interesting things in the IC3 Scam Alerts:

You might also find the rest of the IC3 Scam Alerts interesting; including a list of the most popular passwords out there. If you are using any of them as passwords, you might just want to change it now!

Also some info on Java Exploit that is for sale for 5 digits! :

Miscreants in the cyber underground are selling an exploit for a previously undocumented security hole in Oracle’s Java software that attackers can use to remotely seize control over systems running the program, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

Might want to check out: How to Unplug Java from the Browser

Computer Virus can equal bankruptcy for small businesses

[tweetmeme source=”franscomputerservices” only_single=false]N.Y. Firm Faces Bankruptcy from $164,000 E-Banking Loss (Krebs on Security):

New York marketing firm that as recently as two weeks ago was preparing to be acquired now is facing bankruptcy from a computer virus infection that cost the company more than $164,000.

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt!

As Mrs. McCarthy found out the hard way, businesses do not enjoy the same protections that consumers have against online banking fraud. Most banks will work with commercial customers to try and reverse any fraudulent transfers, but the chances of that succeeding diminish rapidly after the first 24 hours following unauthorized activity. What’s more, banks are under no obligation to reimburse commercial customers victimized by cyber fraud.

Wow!

Check out what happened with the computer — not all that unusual of late for some folks.

Unpatch Java Exploit Spotted in-the-wild

[tweetmeme source=”franscomputerservices” only_single=false]Unpatch Java Exploit Spotted in-the-wild (Krebs on Security):

Last week, a Google security researcher detailed a little-known feature built into Java that can be used to launch third-party applications. Today, security experts unearthed evidence that a popular song lyrics Web site was compromised and seeded with code that leverages this Java feature to install malicious software.

As I mentioned last time, it is sad that Java is needed to help keep your systems safer through Secunia’s OSI (Online Software Inspector) by helping you keep your Internet facing programs up to date.

For now, if you are not sure if you have Java on your system, you can look in Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs, Uninstall Programs (Vista and Windows 7) to see if it is installed. The best option at this point is to probably uninstall Java entirely on Windows computers until Oracle realizes the dangers this problem poses to Windows users.

Of course if you would prefer, you could use the link to SANS Internet Storm Center (New bug/exploit for javaws) to review your options.

Another option would be to use Firefox with the NoScript Extension and only allow scripting on trusted sites. NOTE: Even though java is not javascript, most plugins use some sort of scripting to wrap their plugins in to work in a browser so using NoScript would go a long way to protecting users and still be able to use Secunia’s OSI noted earlier in this article.

However, note that there is still the possibility that the malware cocktail could still potentially gain access through Internet Explorer even if you are not using Internet Explorer. To prevent this, Windows users might consider installing BillP Studios’ WinPatrol so they are alerted to any changes to their system before it happens and be given an opportunity to prevent it – You can try it out for free, but it is one of the best $19.99 you ever spent ($10 off right now, normal price $29.99). BillP Studios used to have a free version which can still be found on sites like FileHippo.com (note, however that it is not the new version which is apparently only offered in Trial/Buy).

According to the article, popular lyrics site: songlyrics dot com (I did not create a link to it and I would NOT recommend going there if you have Java installed!) the “Crimepack” exploit kit is being used to foist a cocktail of malware on Windows users’ computers.

I mentioned this Java vulnerability in my last posting. If you want more information, please see my earlier post and Brian Kreb’s Krebs on Security article above.

Tavis Ormand tried to get through to Oracle about the danger, but they chose to rate it as not that important. They indicated that it could wait till the normal patch cycle. However, apparently, they didn’t fix it then either because when all the Oracle quarterly cycle patches came out this week it wasn’t in their list of fixed vulnerabilities — which means they apparently intend to wait till the NEXT cycle!

Roger Thompson, chief research officer at AVG says:

the site appears to use the very same code mentioned in Ormandy’s proof-of-concept to silently redirect songlyrics.com visitors to a site that loads the “Crimepack” exploit kit, a relatively new kit designed to throw a heap of software exploits at visiting browsers…

It is hard to say whether visiting sites like the lyrics site would hurt other OSes like Mac OS X (especially Tiger which hasn’t had a Java update in ages!), or Linux because Brian Krebs’ article was geared to Windows users.