UK ISP XILO has informed us about a "quite convincing" new telephone scam that is currently doing the rounds and appears to be targeting their broadband customers and potentially also those of other internet providers. The con is very simple. Customers receive a call from an unknown company, which informs them that their broadband connection has been flagged as having problems. The customer is then directed to a website where they can download a "fix" for the problem.
As some of you might have already expected, this "fix" is completely bogus. Customers who run the software will instead unwittingly be granting the fraudster backdoor remote access to their computers and all of its private personal data.
A similar scam was used against BT last year (here), where the fraudster would phone a customer claiming to be from BT. The caller would inform a customer that their telephone line needs digital upgrade work costing £6 and if it isn’t paid within 10 days then the phone line will be cut off.
It goes without saying that you should never trust somebody who calls YOU to make such claims. The best course of action is to hang-up the phone and contact the ISP directly on its official number to confirm. In addition, no competent ISP would ever unexpectedly phone you first and ask for any kind of personal details.
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Comments: 23
DavePosted: 26 August, 2010 - 10:52 AM
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Ive had a similar call stating that they are working on behalf of microsoft and that my PC is sending errors and they want to help fix it. The worrying thing is they have all my home address details
ShaunPosted: 3 September, 2010 - 4:12 PM
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Just had one of these calls.
They claimed to be broadband technical support, and told me my computer had sent them a signal informing them that I had a virus. I asked them who my ISP was. They said they are technical support for ALL UK ISPs. I said that in that case they should be able to tell me who my ISP is and that this sounded like a scam. Then they hung up.
V worrying, as many less IT-literate people would definitely be taken in. Has this been reported to the police?
billyPosted: 3 September, 2010 - 8:23 PM
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I also got this call and they were very convincing until they asked for £70 to rid me of malware and other things. Thank goodness I came to my senses. I asked for a name and address the guy provided this and I called on my mobile and was answered with "Microsoft technical support" the the number was 01865600544 the web site they wanted me to go to was www.techonsupport.com. This scam made me feel sick.
NameciPosted: 28 October, 2010 - 1:04 PM
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My mother just had one of these calls and luckily she didn't fall for it. He called saying he was from "all broadband support" and told her that her PC was sending out a signal on the internet that it was infected with a virus and asked her to switch her PC on. He knew her details from somewhere which is what makes this scam quite convincing!
FitzyPosted: 30 November, 2010 - 9:49 PM
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Just had a second one of these "broadband support" calls, today it was a concerned follow up call as we had not accepted his help yesterday. He said that our livebox box was telling his system that we had a virus and he had to down load software to our PC to solve the problem.
We said no and made a call to our customer support number and they quickly confirmed that they had not contacted us so this was a scam. He was very convincing and it is most concerning he knew so much about us. Be warned!
KarenPosted: 25 February, 2011 - 6:51 PM
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I had a call today - he said he wast from Broadband Ltd and worked for all the major broadband companies i.e. talk talk, virgin, etc. He then said that there was a virus on my computer which will corrupt my pc. He wanted me to turn on my pc, so he could clear the virus. I hung up and phoned Virgin who confirmed it was a scam. There are some awful people around.
johnPosted: 21 March, 2011 - 11:55 AM
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Just got a call today, some foreign woman talking that my pc giving them problems. I just hung up.
johnPosted: 21 March, 2011 - 3:58 PM
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After that incident this morning, for piece of mind I downloaded malwarebytes anti-malware free prgm which removed about 7 trojans that my free avg prgm did not.
marionPosted: 25 March, 2011 - 6:42 PM
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I had one of these calls today,the woman said that she heard our broadband was not loading quickly and i should put my computer on so that she could go through it with me.i put the phone down to get my computer and then thought it sounded dodgy so i hung up. she phoned staight back and when i said i didnt want to do it she just said ok and hung up. Have also had the one to say that i have a very bad virus on my computer but i just hung up.You cant seem to trust anyone these days.
CarolinePosted: 7 April, 2011 - 5:53 PM
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I have just had one of these calls also which I nearly fell for. I typed in teamviewer like the man said but then clicked off before I did anything and asked him to call back later. It's quite scary to think that someone can ring you and then you let them access your pc. Luckily I didnt download anything and turned my pc off. Told him I was busy and to call back later hope he rings so I can hurl some abuse :)
MikePosted: 10 May, 2011 - 8:54 PM
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I provide tech support and have had 3 calls from older people who have fallen victim to these calls. Got called more than once by the scamsters myself, managed to tape them and make a Youtube video to warn others. Please see http://youtu.be/cueN1-2lANA
MikePosted: 10 May, 2011 - 9:00 PM
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sorry, meant to add that you can also search Youtube for "Windows Service Centre scam" to find warning video.
RobertPosted: 20 May, 2011 - 10:27 PM
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I got a call from someone claiming to be in the Technical department of my internet provider. As any calls from BT to me always have a Scotish accent i was supisious of an Indian one. I asked him who my provided was and he hesitated and then said BT, a good guess. It just didn't sound right so I asked him for his number so I could call him back, again he hesitated and then asked what I needed the number for. Then I knew it was a scam and said to call him after I checked with BT, He hung up.
I could see how someone could be taken in and wonder why there is not more comunication from the ISP about this. I could find nothing on BT website
ianPosted: 29 May, 2011 - 10:43 AM
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some guy turned up this morning to fixed my broadband, to make it go faster he says.
He has a talktalk id card, but was driving a white unmarked van.
He was ringing somebody on the phone about the call i was to have received tha day before. But did not get through.
As my broadband was working and i was happy with the speed, even thought i would like it faster, i told him not to bother.
Was it a scam? Do a technician need to come into my home to make the broadband faster?
I did not want to find out, but i had to share this, just in case it is a scam.
ColinPosted: 4 June, 2011 - 5:46 PM
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Had a similar call recently. I let him talk a bit then told him I was employed by Interpol on IT security and fraud protection. Phone went down like a shot ..............
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