It is all about trust. They call up knowing your name. Saying that Microsoft have detected problems on your computer. Then then show you where those problems are. They seem to have prior knowledge of your computer, which builds trust very quickly. They also play on people's fears.
Of course they are banking on most machines having errors & warnings in the event-viewer window, which most will.
I was alerted myself immediately when my friend said "Microsoft had just called him", and I said, "I've never heard of Microsoft calling anyone, and I don't think they would... so I would be instantly concerned". He told me they'd known about errors on his machine and known his name and thought it was genuinely them, but I wasn't convinced, so we agreed I'd take the call to vet it for him. Ironically, I had a remote support session to my friend's computer open at the same time, so that I could follow the phone instructions on my friend's computer remotely!
Since I use remote support software regularly to help other people, I know what the software is capable of... in the times when seemingly nothing was happening, it could be that they had the file transfer utility open. On the remote support software I use, it is a hidden Window that pops up at my end only, and gives me full access to the remote computer's drives. I can transfer files in both directions and to & from the person at the far end, it looks like nothing is happening! Of course for legitimate usage, it is very useful feature, but in the wrong hands, it could be potentially very dangerous. It doesn't take a much of a mind leap to suggest that when nothing looked like it was happening for a long time, that they might have been looking through your drives and taking off any that looked like they might give away person info. They could also potentially have put on something malicious that would run the next time the computer started up for example. I'm not saying they did... just that the technology is capable! And that is using the free software that I use, who knows what professional scammers have at their disposal.
As I say, other reports I've read about these guys since suggest they are after more than just your money... but I guess we'll never know. Of course, they might have changed their modus operandi by now, or they might never have been that bad, (the bad reports could easily have been caused by a few more malicious support operatives working on a sneaky side earner alongside the main task they were employed for -
it happens every day in computer repair shops in this country too!)
Mike
