Posted on 01/24/2016 3:25:57 PM PST by KeyLargo
Gotcha: Symantec fires reseller nabbed in tech support scam Malwarebytes sting operation catches out Silurian Tech Support
22 Jan 2016 at 10:52, John Leyden
An authorised Symantec reseller has been caught hoodwinking users into buying security software by employing underhand marketing tactics.
Silurian Tech Support was spotted flinging fake Norton-themed security warnings in an attempt to drum up business by Symantec rival Malwarebytes. The alerts were used to direct users towards a tech support service that researchers discovered offered to fix non-existent problems for a flat fee of $199 or more.
All the well-worn themes of the far-too-prevalent tech support scam were present, including a request to allow a technician to take remote control of a computer and the use of Windows EventViewer to trick people into thinking their PC was hopelessly compromised.
These and other scams were used in the “diagnostic phase†before the technician tried to pressure sell support services to Jérôme Segura, a Malwarebytes researcher posing as a hapless potential mark. It was only at the point payment was requested that the researchers discovered Silurian Tech Support was running the ruse.
Silurian Tech Support, which promotes itself through US dial-in numbers but which appears to be based in and around Chandigarh, northern India, is a member of the Symantec Partner Program.
Malwarebytes reported its findings to Symantec which acted promptly to sever its association with Silurian, as a statement from Symantec to The Register confirmed:
"While we can not say conclusively who was behind this particular scam, we can confirm that this particular site has been taken down and that we are also in the process of terminating our partner agreement with Silurian.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Symantec support scammer turns out to be an official Symantec reseller
By Lee Mathews Jan. 21, 2016 10:32 am
You have got to remain vigilant on todays World Wide Web. Someone is always looking to take advantage of unsuspecting users, and the latest example involves a company that is supposed to help keep customers and their data secure.
Researchers at Malwarebytes stumbled across a site serving up the full page alert you see above. It is not actually a warning from a Symantec product installed on one of their systems, it is a scam. Symantec does advertise online, but they are not in the habit of displaying phone numbers and telling users they are in dire straits and need to call for help immediately.
Like numerous others, this particular tech support scam is trying to mimic a screen from a piece of legitimate software — and one with a brand name on it that a lot of people trust. While more tech savvy users might instantly see through their deception, history has proven repeatedly that there are plenty of folks out there that believe screens like these when they see them.
They offered victims two different support plans to resolve their imaginary issues. For $199, they would clean up the non-existent malware and install Norton. For an additional $50, they add browser and network security and throw in a one-year warranty for your PC which is probably as real as their threat reports.
With Symantecs name and a tollfree number on the alert, it’s that much more convincing. So who would do something like this? A gang of heartless cyber criminals? Maybe even a single scammer renting time from someone elses malvertising network?
It turns out that the unsavory characters behind this scam were actually official Symantec partners. Symantec was understandably pissed when Malwarebytes brought the situation to their attention, and they have booted the company behind the scam (Silurian Tech Support Inc.) and have launched an investigation.
They are not the only tech company to find themselves in this situation. Just recently some Dell customers were contacted as part of a similar scam, and there are indications that it was being perpetrated by the companys own outsourced tech support workers.
bookmark
While connected, I would frequently get "unresponsive script" errors.........
As of this writing, those problems went away yesterday after I removed the free Avast anti-virus software from my computer.........
As a side note, I reloaded Avast and immediately the problems started up again so I again removed it.
Just saying..........
You’re not the only one. I have been using AVG for years, decided to try Avast and it slowed my computer down to an almost unusable state.
Removed, reinstalled AVG and all good.
My friend and I fell for this scam using another trusted company (McAfee). Just realized a few days ago when I heard a presentation on the subject. Doh!
Does Spybot do the same thing as AVG or is it only a malware removal program?
I haven’t used Spybot in quite a while but I believe it has the capabilities of AV protection now.
I use Malwarebytes for cleanups. It seems to catch just about everything.
Washington State AG sues major tech support provider alleging deceptive scam
KOMO News ^ | December 16th 2015 | Connie Thompson
Posted on 12/24/2015, 3:05:18 PM by KeyLargo
State AG sues major tech support provider alleging deceptive scam By Connie Thompson Wednesday, December 16th 2015
State investigators just sued one of the rising stars in the tech-support industry claiming part of the operation is based on a scam. The company, called iYogi, is accused of tricking people into paying for tech support services they don’t need.
According to investigators iYogi engaged in a different twist on the notorious tech support scams where someone call you claiming your computer has problems. What’s significant in this case is workers don’t call you, you call them. And iYogi is one of the largest independent tech support providers in the world.
“Here’s essentially how their scam works,” said state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “I’ll lay it out. First, they have online ads.”
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon Ferguson said iYogi uses online ads to associate itself with major computer companies like Microsoft, Apple and HP.
“When consumers call iYogi, the representative claims to provide tech support services on behalf of whatever company the customer inquires about,” said Ferguson.
After gaining access to the consumers computer Ferguson said iYogi installs diagnostic software known as scare ware, which falsely suggests there are problems. The diagnostic results show up on the consumer’s monitor.
“Once iYogi has alarmed the consumer, the representative proceeds to aggressively sell a tech support plan to fix these non-existent problems,” Ferguson explained.
State investigators say people paid as much as $540 for anti-virus software and long-term protection plans which were not necessary. According to the lawsuit some were even charged $80 to upgrade to Windows 10, a service Microsoft provides for free.
(Excerpt) Read more at komonews.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3376462/posts
Symantec Disavows Business Partner Caught Running a Tech Support Scam
Reseller was scamming users into buying Symantec products
Jan 22, 2016 23:50 GMT · By Catalin Cimpanu
Malwarebytes, cyber-security vendor and one of Symantec’s rivals, has caught one of Symantec’s resellers running a tech support scam that was scaring users into thinking they were infected with malware and then graciously offering to sell Symantec’s security software at inflated rates.
This type of online fraud is known in the industry as “tech support scam,” and most of the times, scammers pose as official support staff for companies such as Microsoft, Google, or Apple.
In this particular case, Malwarebytes was investigating a tech support scam reported by one of its users, which was being hosted on quicklogin.us/norton.
Tech support scam using Symantec’s Norton brand
The page showed a fake Norton security alert that asked users to call a US phone number for technical assistance in removing a malware infection. Malwarebytes’ team played along with the scam just to analyze the fraudsters’ tactics.
After calling the number, a tech support representative asked the caller to allow them remote access to the computer so they could inspect it for malware. This is normal operations in all tech support scams, and if users stopped giving remote desktop access to unknown people, this scam would no longer be used.
Norton Antivirus tech support scam lands Symantec reseller in hot water
David Bisson | January 25, 2016 10:10 am | Filed under: Fake anti-virus, Malware | 4
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