COMPLAINTS ABOUT TELEPHONE FRAUD

From Cyprus Police: 16/04/2019 13:38:00

Recently, the Office for Combating Electronic Crime has received several new telephone 

fraud complaints, allegedly cyber criminals, claiming to be Microsoft's overseas company and 

guiding users to some actions likely to lead to the interception of data or banking data. 

The mode of action of the suspects is as follows: 

They make calls to subscribers in Cyprus for most fixed telephony and are presented as 

engineers at the Microsoft Support Center. They are offered to help solve computer problems 

to remove alleged malware or even to install specific software for allegedly data protection. 

To that end, they are requesting Remote Access on the computer. The fraudster, having managed 

to become persuaded about his intentions by attempting to "predict" the operating system used in 

the computer and thus gain the trust of his victim through the technique of Social Engineering, 

leads the unsuspecting victims to a specific Internet websites where it can access remote access.

Once it has access to the computer, it can do the following: 
Crying the victim asks for the activation of a specific link to install malicious software that could 

extract sensitive data such as username and passwords, bank account codes, etc.  
It acquires control the computer remotely and adjust the settings so that the computer and 

personal data become vulnerable. 
It infects the computer with malware, blocking all its features. 
With phony representations and the well-known phishing technique he asks for credit card 

information so he can charge for allegedly running a support job or paying an amount to unlock 

the computer. 
It drives victims to misleading websites and asks for credit cards and other personal or banking 

information. 

The public is urged to be very careful and not to respond to these calls and not to give their 

details on various labels.