Researchers Find 25,000 Domains Used In Tech Support Scams (onthewire.io)

An anonymous reader writes: Three doctoral students at Stony Brook University spent eight months analyzing internet scammers who pose as remote tech support workers (usually pretending to be from Microsoft of Apple). Their research revealed more than 25,000 scam domains and thousands of different scam phone numbers. "Although victims of these scams can be anywhere, the researchers found that 85.4% of the IP addresses in these scams were located across different regions of India," reports On The Wire, "with 9.7% located in the United States and 4.9% in Costa Rica. Scammers typically asked users for an average of $291, with prices ranging from $70 to $1,000."

The researchers even called 60 of the con artists to study their technique, and concluded most were working in large, organized call centers. They use remote access tools, and in fact two popular tools were used in 81% of the scams, according to the paper. "We found that, on average, a scammer takes 17 minutes, using multiple social engineering techniques mostly based on misrepresenting OS messages, to convince users of their infections..."

Comments

Re:chief enablers

[DoraLives]

> I can only presume local law enforcement is either very lax, is complacent ("hey it brings money into our local economy, that's good right?"), or is on the take..

"So, this is quite the operation you have here, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it is. Here, here's a little something for your wife. And your children. You are a good man and your family deserves to be well taken care of."

"Thank you. And by the way, you wouldn't be using your operation to be contacting any of the citizens of our fine country, would you?"

"No. Certainly not. Not at all."

"Very well then, carry on."