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.