Technical support scams involving the impersonation of Microsoft are on the rise. Victims may encounter a fake Microsoft pop-up alert on their computers, urging them to call a “technical support” number starting with “3”.
After calling the number, victims may be transferred to a “police officer” who would claim that they are involved in money laundering or that their devices are infected.
Victims would then be instructed to provide scammers with access to their devices (e.g. via remote access tools), which scammers will use to make unauthorised transactions from victims’ bank accounts.
Microsoft does not include phone numbers in its error or warning messages.