{"id":15956,"date":"2018-12-02T11:07:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-02T16:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/?p=15956"},"modified":"2018-12-02T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2018-12-02T16:26:55","slug":"26-fake-indian-tech-support-call-centers-raided-by-police-arrests-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/26-fake-indian-tech-support-call-centers-raided-by-police-arrests-made\/","title":{"rendered":"26 Fake Indian Tech Support Call Centers Raided By Police; Arrests Made"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">26 Fake Indian Tech Support Call Centers Raided By Police; Arrests Made<\/span><\/h1>\n<div style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2019\/ms-scam.png\" alt=\"Cloudeight Keeping You Safe\" width=\"600\" height=\"425\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Above: A fake Microsoft popup warning of an infected system; a favorite trick of scammers.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">One of the most difficult things we have to deal with is when one of our readers falls for one of the many tech support scams that are ubiquitous on the Internet &#8211; the one we most frequently help people with is the Microsoft support scam where the victim either gets a phone call from someone claiming to be Microsoft and making them believe their computer is infected or spreading spam or malware &#8211; or when a popup window appears on their screen urging them to call a toll-free number because there computer is full of viruses and malware.\u00a0 Every week we get frantic emails from people who&#8217;ve been duped by these scams. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">We&#8217;ve warned people many times about these kinds of\u00a0 tech support scams and written many articles about them.\u00a0For instance:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/tech-support-scams-are-everywhere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Tech Support Scams are Everywhere<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"sKxQtgvWLi\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/tech-support-scams-are-everywhere\/\">Tech Support Scams are Everywhere<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Tech Support Scams are Everywhere&#8221; &#8212; Cloudeight InfoAve\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/tech-support-scams-are-everywhere\/embed\/#?secret=B9fbIUL8RS#?secret=sKxQtgvWLi\" data-secret=\"sKxQtgvWLi\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-support-scams-are-alive-and-well\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Microsoft Support Scams are Alive and Well<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fI5l1pESHk\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-support-scams-are-alive-and-well\/\">Microsoft Support Scams are Alive and Well<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Microsoft Support Scams are Alive and Well&#8221; &#8212; Cloudeight InfoAve\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-support-scams-are-alive-and-well\/embed\/#?secret=9jMElKZkaw#?secret=fI5l1pESHk\" data-secret=\"fI5l1pESHk\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-aint-gonna-call-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Microsoft Ain&#8217;t Gonna Call You<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"QTuuhLE74c\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-aint-gonna-call-you\/\">Microsoft Ain&#8217;t Gonna Call You<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Microsoft Ain&#8217;t Gonna Call You&#8221; &#8212; Cloudeight InfoAve\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/microsoft-aint-gonna-call-you\/embed\/#?secret=BzQfWvQlFo#?secret=QTuuhLE74c\" data-secret=\"QTuuhLE74c\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Over the years, we&#8217;ve helped dozens of people get back hundreds of dollars stolen by these scammers and also helped them clean up their computers after allowing these scammers access to their computers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">According to an article on the BBC website, these scammers were making over $1 billion a year by claiming to be employees of Microsoft and other computer related companies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">We cannot emphasize this enough:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><em><strong>THE MORE YOU KNOW THE SAFER YOU&#8217;LL BE.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Here are two excerpts from articles about these raids and arrests we encourage you to read&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">From the BBC website:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-46357007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Raids mounted on fake Indian tech support centres<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">More than 50 people have been arrested in India for their alleged involvement in fake security warning scams.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The New York Times said that Delhi police made the arrests during raids on 26 call centres linked to the scams.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Software giant Microsoft helped police trace who was behind the large-scale operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It said it received more than 11,000 calls per month about fake security warnings and that many people lost significant sums to the fraudsters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">&#8216;This is an organised crime,&#8217; Courtney Gregoire, an assistant general counsel in Microsoft&#8217;s digital crimes unit told the US newspaper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Microsoft has estimated that fraudsters make about $1.5bn (\u00a31.2bn) a year through fake Windows support calls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Raids on 16 call centres were carried out this week and, earlier in November, another 10 locations were visited by police.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The raids were prompted by Microsoft filing complaints with local police in New Delhi about call centres it claimed were involved in the fraudulent operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Typically, said Microsoft, attempts to trick people revolved around pop-up warnings that falsely claimed that a person&#8217;s computer was infected with a virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Fixing the non-existent virus could involve ringing a tech support centre. An operator would talk a victim through a fake fix and then charge them for the work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In another version of the scam, staff at call centres claimed to be calling from Windows official support saying they had spotted that a person&#8217;s computer has been hacked or harboured a virus. Again, victims were expected to pay to fix the non-existent problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Some people caught out by the scam paid up to $1,000 for the fake tech support, said the newspaper&#8230;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-46357007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Read the rest of this article here&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And also this from the New York Times website:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/28\/technology\/scams-india-call-center-raids.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">That Virus Alert on Your Computer? Scammers in India May Be Behind It<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">MUMBAI, India \u2014 You know the messages. They pop up on your computer screen with ominous warnings like, \u201cYour computer has been infected with a virus. Call our toll-free number immediately for help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Often they look like alerts from Microsoft, Apple or Symantec. Sometimes the warning comes in a phone call.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Most people ignore these entreaties, which are invariably scams. But one in five recipients actually talks to the fake tech-support centers, and 6 percent ultimately pay the operators to \u201cfix\u201d the nonexistent problem, according to recent consumer surveys by Microsoft.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Law enforcement authorities, working with Microsoft, have now traced many of these boiler rooms to New Delhi, India\u2019s capital and a hub of the global call-center industry. On Tuesday and Wednesday, police from two Delhi suburbs raided 16 fake tech-support centers and arrested about three dozen people. Last month, the Delhi authorities arrested 24 people in similar raids on 10 call centers&#8230;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/28\/technology\/scams-india-call-center-raids.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Read the rest of this article here&#8230;<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span class=\"auto-style54\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/donations.htm\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2019\/donate2019.png\" alt=\"Help us help you.\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Donations help us continue our mission to keep you informed, separate the truth from the hyperbole, and help you stay safe online. We provide support\u00a0to thousands of people; every week we help dozens of people via email at no charge. Thanks to\u00a0 your donations, we do a lot more than provide our free newsletters. We help you recognize online threats, scams, protect your online privacy, and provide you with the knowledge that can greatly help you navigate the Web\u00a0 more safely. We help you get more out of your PC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/donation.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Help us keep up the good fight with a small donation<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">.<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">After you donate, you will receive an invitation to become a Cloudeight Booster. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Interested in making a monthly gift? <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/thundercloud.net\/gift\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Visit this page<\/strong><\/a><\/span>. Help us keep helping you! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><strong>Thank you so much for your support!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>26 Fake Indian Tech Support Call Centers Raided By Police; Arrests Made One of the most difficult things we have to deal with is when one of our readers falls for one of the many tech support scams that are ubiquitous on the Internet &#8211; the one we most frequently help people with is the Microsoft support scam\u2026 <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/26-fake-indian-tech-support-call-centers-raided-by-police-arrests-made\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1655,1462,1683,1433,1678,1670,1680,1674],"tags":[123,2829,2828,2443,1739,2830,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15956"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15956"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15960,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15956\/revisions\/15960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}