Fraudsters\u00a0are gaining access to unsuspecting victim\u2019s banks accounts and draining them of all money within seconds, thanks to a \u201ccold calling technical support scam\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to a report in The Sunday Independent, the fraudsters use tactics similar to the\u00a0Microsoft support scam<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 which allows the perpetrator remote access to a victim\u2019s PC.<\/p>\n The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) said these scammers are targeting local banks users.<\/p>\n Sabric urged bank users to keep their security software up to date, and not allow anyone remote access to their PC.<\/p>\n \u201cYou will receive a call from a number you don\u2019t recognise and the caller claims to be from a reputable computer or software company,\u201d said Sabric.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough skillful manipulation, the caller persuades you that it is crucial that you sort out a problem with your computer.\u201d<\/p>\n The scammer then offers to guide the user through the process.\u00a0Once the \u201cissue\u201d has been resolved after following a set of instructions, the scammer will have remote access to the victim\u2019s PC.<\/p>\n The scammer then asks for a small fee to be paid to them for services rendered, offering the option of a credit card payment or EFT.<\/p>\n Because people are hesitant to give their credit card details out over the phone, they opt for the EFT payment and add the scammer as a beneficiary, stated the newspaper.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scammers then use the remote access to load malware\u2026 and harvest the victim\u2019s banking details.\u201d<\/p>\n Once this is done, the victim\u2019s bank account is cleaned out.<\/p>\n Sabric said the offending calls seemed to be coming from outside South Africa, with the callers\u2019 scripts very \u201cconvincing\u201d.<\/p>\n The full report can be read in The Sunday Independent of 23 August 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n How to check if your e-mail address is in the Ashley Madison hack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nHow the scam works<\/h3>\n
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