Scammers Distribute Fake Microsoft Office USB Sticks With Malware
One easy way to quickly install malware on a victim’s PC is to trick the victim into thinking you are getting something for free and install everything yourself. This is what criminals in the UK do to steal money from their targets.
Scammers in the UK tricked victims into thinking they had mistakenly received a genuine copy of Office Professional Plus (worth $439) by randomly sending a USB drive containing Microsoft’s Office suite in a seemingly genuine Microsoft package. Send to address. When the victim plugs her USB drive into her PC, she is prompted to call a fake support line instead of her Office boot-up installation wizard. The latter convinces the victim to hand over remote access to her PC and provide payment information. sky news (opens in new tab).
“As soon as they plugged the USB into their computer, they were shown a warning screen that a virus was present,” said Martin Pitman. (opens in new tab), a cybersecurity consultant at Atheniem. “I had to call a toll-free phone number and restart my computer to get help and fix the problem. As soon as I called the number on the screen, the helpdesk did some installation . [remote access program] hijacked the victim’s computer. Here, the hacker “categorized” the issue and handed the victim over to his Office 365 subscription team to help complete the action. ”
Decoy attacks are nothing new, but they target specific victims and rarely use parcels for a variety of reasons. However, according to cybersecurity experts, British scammers used postal parcels to target random people. Send 1,000 counterfeit packages of , steal money from dozens of people, and you’ll get your money back in no time. Plus, people are aware of email scammers these days, so it can be more efficient than sending millions of scam emails.
Microsoft is aware of this issue, but states that this is a rare case. However, it is not uncommon for Microsoft to become aware of it and initiate an internal investigation.Today, the company prefers to distribute software over the Internet, giving customers good support page (opens in new tab) Find ways to avoid scams and scams.