Beware of the call centre scams

Posted by Alexis Powell on December 28th, 2017

Every other day, we hear about a new technological scam somewhere. It is the time to be cautious as the percentage of scam occurrence can go high  anytime. The malicious act occurs when someone claiming to be from the outbound or inbound call centre of a renowned company holding big brand name, calls you. The reason they are calling you, they say, is to probably warn you about a virus on your system or making you believe that you might permanently lose access to the internet. The caller will then ask you to run some checks on your computer and you will witness some red and yellow signs and exclamatory marks on your screen. Just don’t buy any of it, it’s a trap! These events are just logged by scammers for a myriad of purpose like earning money by asking for it through making you fall for their lies.

The alarming situation-

They might ask you to give them the control of your computer and tell you about a problem or two that you had to face in the past. For instance, how a web page you had requested was down for so long for no justified reason or why your printer that had run out of paper once and failed to print anything later on. We all have come across news of mega internet scam like the much talked about one of- Saburi TLC BPO industry. Such scammers not only rob foreign companies, but also bring shame to our country. The shadowy businesses include illicitly exporting false medication, bogus cash deposits and extorting money from bank loan defaulters by swindling customers with non-existing loan offers. It is sometimes even impossible to trace their ill-gotten millions.

The action to be taken-

These types of scams have been taking place since the early 20s and the eminent impersonated employees of such companies are aware of this problem. However, apart from alerting people about this wrong-doing, there is nothing much they can do about it. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can take care of on a personal level. These unsolicited “cold calls” must be reported as soon as someone encounters them for an instant solution to this teething-trouble. If someone asserting to be from certain company of high repute, offering technical or any other kind of support, asking you get software fixes or computer security services then following guidelines can be followed:

•    Keep in touch with the everyday news of events like this around and stay vigilant.
•    Ask if there is a fee or subscription amount associated with the service.
•    If there is, do not provide any credit card or financial information.
•    Do not purchase any software or services being offered.
•    If the caller persists to call or disturb you any further, hang up and block the number.
•    Take down the caller’s information and immediately report to the concerned local authorities.
•    In the worst case scenario, inform the crime branch to take control of the situation.