Technical support scam: Difference between revisions

A '''technical support scam''', or '''tech support scam''', is a type of [[fraudscam]] in which a scammer claims to offer a legitimate [[technical support]] service. Victims contact scammers in a variety of ways, often through fake [[Pop-up ad|pop-ups]] resembling [[error message]]s or via fake "help lines" advertised on [[website]]s owned by the scammers. Technical support scammers use [[Social engineering (security)|social engineering]] and a variety of [[confidence trick]]s to persuade their victim of the presence of problems on their [[computer]] or [[mobile device]], such as a [[malware]] infection, when there are no issues with the victim's device. The scammer will then persuade the victim to pay to fix the fictitious "problems" that they claim to have found. Payment is made to the scammer through ways which are hard to trace and have fewer [[consumer protection]]s in place which could allow the victim to claim their money back, usually through [[gift card]]s.