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Watch For Scams Printer problems bogus help January 05, 2025 |
HelloPrinter problems bogus helpWatch For Scams is dedicated to helping you avoid becoming a victim of fraud. If you like this ezine, do a friend a big favor and forward this to them. If a friend forwarded this to you, and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting the link below: Printer problems bogus helpAnyone who has ever used a printer likely has had a frustrating experience at some point. There always seems to be some kind of issue with the software not responding, paper getting jammed or one of many other possible failures.When people need help, they often turn to Google (and now AI) to look for an answer. This is where scammers come in, preying on unsuspecting and irate users ready to throw their printer out the window. After clicking on a malicious Google ad, victims are redirected to a fraudulent site often using official brand names and logos. The scammers’ end goal is to get people to call them, and they achieve that by tricking them with fake printer drivers that always fail to install. Two of the most popular printer brands are HP and Canon. If you Google for help related to either of those brands right now, you would likely see sponsored results at the top of the search results page. Unfortunately, in the majority of cases these ads are not from trusted providers but instead from tech support scammers. After clicking on a malicious ad, the website instructs you to enter your printer’s model number in order to download the required driver, which it proceeds to “install”. This is entirely fake, and the only thing the website displays is a recorded animation that will always end up with the same error message. This type of error is very similar to those seen in the “Microsoft tech support scam”, typically done via a browser hijack. Scammers want to scare and then get their victims to contact them directly, via phone or live chat. Remote access and extortionThere are many people that fall for these types of scams and entire armies of tech support agents working in poor conditions ready to defraud them. The script is usually standard across scams, with the support agent impersonating a popular brand and requesting personal information from the victim.It is quite common for scammers to request and be granted remote access to the user’s computer. This gives them leverage to do a number of things, such as stealing data, locking the machine or even using it to log into the victim’s bank account. This is why it is so important to be extremely cautious with online search ads, and search results in general. If you believe you have been a victim of this type of scam you should promptly report it to the IC3's website at www.IC3.gov. The IC3's complaint database links complaints together to refer them to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration.Remember - always watch for scams! Steve |
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