By Jane McCallion 26 Nov 2014
This time, the Microsoft impersonators chose the wrong lady to try and fool into handing over her details
"I'm going to kill you. Do you hear me? I'm going to kill you."
Thankfully, this isn't how most of my telephone conversations end, but the call I received last Friday was different.
Just after lunch, my house phone rang and on the other end was a gentleman in a call centre asking about my computer: was I the owner of the computer in my home?
Yes.
And was I responsible for the maintenance of it? Once again, I told him I was.
"Ok, hello madam. I'm calling from Microsoft Windows Security. We've received a report from your computer that it's infected with a virus that can steal your details and even spread to your mobile phone, iPad or other computers."
This is the standard opening gambit for a particularly cruel ruse that allows the caller, who is actually a malicious actor, to take control of your computer and steal your data. I say it's cruel, because it's reliant on the person not knowing much about computers or security, and abuses their trust to actually make them the gateway for the whole attack.
While I've known about this scam for a few years, this was the first time I'd actually come across it first hand.
My curiosity got the better of me.
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