The Swiss police force in Schaffhausen has issued a warning to residents after several scam calls from criminals pretending to work for tech giant Microsoft were reported in just a few days. The advice from the police: Microsoft will never call you, so end the call as soon as possible to prevent scammers from getting your information.
The police issued their warning after a sharp spike in the number of reports relating to scam calls from people pretending to be from Microsoft. The supposed “employees” use non-Swiss mobile phones or landlines and usually ask victims to hand over their personal information and online credentials.
According to Blick, scammers have also posed as employees from other hardware and software manufacturers. The police recommend that if someone suspects a call could be from a scammer, they should promptly terminate the call and refrain from disclosing any personal information.
The police told Blick that the scammers follow a specific method to try and trick people into handing over their details. Many victims were told that Microsoft had received an error message from their computer, and that the scammer could fix it remotely by using their details.
According to the police, many of the scammers also try to persuade people to download programs from the internet, visit malicious websites or allow access to their devices by changing passwords. For more information on how to keep your devices safe and prevent fraud, visit the website of the National Cyber Security Centre in Switzerland.