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Tech Support Scammers Used Victims' Webcams To Secretly Record 'Testimonials' For YouTube (gizmodo.com)
A team of scammers sneakily filmed dozens of Australians by remotely accessing their webcams, then uploaded those videos onto YouTube, according to Australian news outlet ABC. From a report: The victims were reportedly lured in through a false tech support operation. One victim, Geoff Sussman, told ABC he looked online for a service that could help him download Adobe software. He says he was duped by a fake Adobe support page claiming to provide "Support for Adobe Australia," and called a 1-800 number on the site. The number led him to an operation called Macpatchers, which told him he had a virus and asked him to download software to give them remote access to his computer. This is a common scam technique, but Macpatchers seems to have taken it a step farther and asked him to read a script that appeared on the screen, claiming he was pleased with the service. Unbeknownst to him, Macpatchers were accessing his camera, and recorded the statement. The group then reportedly uploaded the video to YouTube along with the videos of 68 other victims -- a chorus of fake testimonials recommending the service. A man who describes himself as a "scam-baiter" uncovered the operation and shared his finding with ABC. He told ABC that Macpatchers recommended he check out their reviews.
but Macpatchers seems to have taken it a step farther and asked him to read a script that appeared on the screen, claiming he was pleased with the service. Unbeknownst to him, Macpatchers were accessing his camera, and recorded the statement. The group then reportedly uploaded the video to YouTube along with the videos of 68 other victims -- a chorus of fake testimonials recommending the service.
If you are willing to perform like a trained monkey, I'm not sure anything can help you.
This shit is so evil as to be ... actively funny.
Hey, you know what else would be funny? Tracking down the muppets that pull this crap and breaking their knees on video. It'd be a great testimonial for the baseball bats used. "See, they smash over and over without splintering! Buy Sweet Revenge brand baseball bats today!"
A truly excellent pizza parlor is a delight unto the heavens. Treasure the sauce and the toppings!
But seriously, someone needs help to figure out how to download and install Adobe software?!?!!?
I mean, let's face it, it takes a bit of tech to even be able to USE Adobe software....so, if you're able to use it, I'd think you'd have at least enough savvy to go to the website, follow the instructions to download and double click the installer file...?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Dude, seriously, never let your own understanding of computers make you forget just how little some people know about them. Suddenly they have one and don't know much about it, and it's a big scary thing.
What, like, viewing a PDF for instance?
These tech support scams still work, because obviously people still fall for them. By the time you're setting up a web page to claim to be the people to call, and getting users to unknowingly record YouTube testimonials ... you've taken that to a degree of sophistication that the people who will fall for this kind of scam will be unable to avoid.
I mean, my god, you find it via a Google search, check on YouTube and see testimonials, and then you call.
There are corporate executives who would fall for this.
This isn't cold calling, this is actively building pages that show up in searches so people call you. Short of knowing the initial website is a scam, that's awfully hard for someone to guard against.
The part that weirds me out the most, they read the script out loud?
I mean, they didn't think the webcam was on, and they were asked to read a script which supposedly no one could hear. But they read it out loud? And not even in a mumbling, under-their-breath voice, but a clear enough voice with convicing emotion that could be used in a marketing video? When they thought no one could hear them?
Jesus Fucking Christ. This clown did everything but drive over to the scammer's house and hand them cash. Is it really a crime to take money from someone this gullible?
OSS stuff can "break" also.
The big difference is the right to repair. When proprietary stuff breaks, all you can do is curse the vendor ("tech support" my ass). With OSS, as long as it's not a problem with lousy undocumented hardware (most of the woes these days), you always have the recourse of fixing it yourself, and then sharing your fix with others.
This by the way is my biggest beef with systemd: it's a big tangle of spaghetti code, with no pieces supposed to be user serviceable. Things done the Unix way are easy to fix by a sysadmin with working knowledge of shell and no special programming ability.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
I had a spare VM image lying around when they called my parents. Was curious what they actually 'did'.
Got me to download LogMeIn and guided me to Event Viewer. Pointed out "red crosses" as signs of a virus. They then proceeded to poke around the PC, occasionally firing up Regedit, and just generally looking through folders.
At the end of the process, I explained I'd just been following along as I was curious what the patter was, he attempted to delete My Documents, My Pictures and My Music, and proceeded to swear at me for wasting his time.
I mean, my god, you find it via a Google search, check on YouTube and see testimonials, and then you call.
I don't get that part of the scam. Isn't it cheaper to hire a bunch of fake testimonials? This is really sophisticated but I don't see the purpose.