Yesterday, Microsoft South Africa asked its customers (on the htxt.africa website) to be on the lookout for local phone call scams targeting Windows users. This is not the first time that cyber security issues are reported across Africa; in fact, as per the newly established Cybercrime center at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., cybercrime has been a huge problem in Africa for some time now; even some government websites have been under attack and have been taken down, said Marius Haman, Corporate Attorney, Microsoft Middle East & Africa Digital Crimes Unit.
Haman was quick to explain that Microsoft’s Cybercrime center, which is based abroad, continues to monitor evolving threats and increased risks that come from cybercrime, which is becoming more common, day by day. As discussed last month at the AU (African Union) Convention on Cyber Security, it is important “that countries stay one step ahead of cyber criminals" and find solutions to combat or prevent it in the future, said Dr. Fred Matiangi, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Information Communication and Technology during a recent Cyber Security Conference held at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi.
Microsoft issued the scam warning to South Africans to alert them to be wary of a scammer who attempts to target them by masquerading as a trustworthy entity; the cybercriminal uses a phishing technique carried out by phone, in an attempt to steal identity resources, such as login credentials. The aim is to capture victims’ user names and passwords to access their system and use the persons’ account for fraudulent purposes, conceivably.
Most methods of phishing use some form of technical deception with the attacker able to remotely tap into the victims’ system by manipulating them to reveal information about themselves. Scammers are said to be also capturing sensitive data by means of a keyboard device driver that enables a keystroke logger to gain access to any information they need or want. A keylogger program is able to penetrate the recipient’s computer and obtain their data (only when the subject types on the keyboard as it goes to the operating system). This is a common method of capturing and recording computer users' keystrokes.
As the htxt.africa post points out, it appears that a type of keylogger software is being installed on the victims’ computers; as Daniel Kanya Kamau, Director for Anti-Piracy at Microsoft West, East, Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, asserts that users should remember that if they “use counterfeit software, often [they’ll be sending] the keystrokes to a criminal…”
According to Microsoft SA, “the scam follows the pattern of a typical phishing style attack” with the caller claiming “to be from Windows Helpdesk, Windows Service Centre, Microsoft Tech Support, Microsoft Support, Windows Technical Department Support Group or even Microsoft’s Research and Development Team,” as reported in a different post, by IT News Africa.
The Microsoft Internet Safety and Security Center acknowledges this claim, and states that “cybercriminals don't just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft.” By whatever means, these callers make an effort to convince clients that they can be trusted.
Microsoft South Africa’s PR and communications manager, Ashleigh Fenwick, adds that, in many cases, the scammer is out to only trick unsuspecting consumers into believing that there is a problem so they’ll want to pay for phony services (to charge them for computer security or software fixes, as Microsoft Internet and Security Center explains) and “that paying a fee would be the best way to sort the issues out. Often they will also push clients to purchase a one year computer maintenance subscription.” With that said, Microsoft SA hopes its warning of the phone scam reaches the community in time, before anyone becomes a victim.
Microsoft released the following tips for Windows users on how scams can be avoided (as shown on the htxt.africa post) and how to improve cyber security:
Customers from Africa who feel that a caller is acting suspiciously, should take down information and report them to the South African Police Services (08600 10111 or [email protected]). In general, though, anybody, regardless of location, who fears having been victim of a cyber-scam (whether through emails, text messages or phone calls) by somebody claiming to be from 'Microsoft' should report it to Microsoft’s Cybercrime center. Any unsolicited approach from somebody claiming to be a tech support professional can also be reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.IC3.gov.