Fraud Feature - Microsoft Phone Scam

Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (G.B.F.I.) will highlight details of a scam that is currently active in the Irish marketplace.  Irish consumers are receiving telephone calls from persons claiming to be from Microsoft, or working on behalf of Microsoft, to tell them they have a virus on their computer.
 
Details of the Scam:
 
Consumers are cold called from someone claiming to be from Microsoft and told there is a problem with their computer and offered help to solve the computer problems.
 
Once the caller has gained the consumer’s trust, they ask consumers to log onto a website to download a file to help solve the problem.
 
They then ask for credit card details for a package which will fix the virus. They also potentially attempt to steal from the person by accessing personal information on their computer. In addition to gaining access to your personal details, they can also infect your computer with damaging viruses and spyware.

Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation                                           Telephone 01 6663776