Support scams and Social Engineering

I posted here some time ago about the misuse of the ESET brand (among others) by fake support centres cold-calling victims and telling them they have “a virus” and charging them hefty fees to fix the “problem.” As I subsequently said in an ESET blog:

I first came across the problem in June when a researcher from another security company brought a specific incident to my attention, and I blogged it here. Subsequently, acting on information from my friend Steve Burn, I was able to add a little more information and lots of links here. Steve and I, and my colleagues at ESET UK have been exchanging information. There’s an update in my latest article for Security Week.

Meanwhile, the Guardian, whose earlier article was cited in my second blog, has also returned to the theme here and here.

Following a related blog by Kevin Townsend, I’ve returned to the topic at ESET, having had a slightly uncomfortable thought about another possible social engineering attack angle.

Talking of social engineering, there’s a good article, also by Kevin Townsend, here.  Well of course it’s good: it quotes me, among others. 😉 But if you’re interested in the general area of scams and social engineering that I sometimes address here, I think you may find it interesting.

David Harley CITP FBCS CISSP
ESET Senior Research Fellow