Alert to Google Chrome users: Don’t fall prey to this fake tech support scam

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CyberWisdom Safe Harbor Commentary on Google Chrome users don’t fall prey to this fake tech support scam
I couldn’t believe this story from techrepublic.com that discovers things we don’t talk about but according to Malwarebytes, fake Google Chrome warnings require users to contact a fake tech support scam hotline, which has seen an increase in the number of Windows users in the past quarter.
Technical support scams may use the API to freeze the user’s browser, prompting them to call the fake support line and share their credit card information.
According to a blog post from Malwarebytes on Tuesday, technical support fraud is increasingly reaching Windows users on Google Chrome, even as it has been upgraded to the latest version.
Fake tech support scam
These frauds take the form of browser alerts that require users to contact a fake Helpline to attempt to obtain credit card information. The attack on Google Chrome is far from reaching the web first: January 2017, when you Google search for “Facebook Customer Support,” the hottest is a scam. And in February 2017, Google search results appear to be an advertisement for Amazon.com, which is actually a malicious link to Windows Support Scam.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently launched a campaign called “Operational Technology Traps” to stop these scams, but as our sister site ZDNet has pointed out, they may still be ubiquitous. This means that businesses must be particularly vigilant in employee training to identify fraud, phishing attacks, and other cybersecurity issues.
According to Malwarebytes, there was an increase in false browser alerts that prompted these technical support scams in the last quarter. Most of these attacks come from malicious advertising and threatened websites, and criminals want to scare users of calling numbers-sometimes even completely locking up the browser.
For example, using the history.pushState API technique, hackers abused HTML5 to freeze the computer. According to Malwarebytes, other tools, known as pop-up downloads, can get users stuck between different tabs.
Since these attacks do not seem to slow down, companies must train end users to recognize them. The best way to deal with this type of attack is to avoid panic and use Task Manager to close the browser. The pop-up window itself is usually harmless, as long as the user does not dial the number provided.
Read More…
Fake browser alerts pushing tech support scams increased last quarter, even in the latest version of Chrome. Engaging post, Read More…
thumbnail courtesy of techrepublic.com

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