Tech Support Scam

Basic Information

The Tech Support Scam involves impersonating a tech support professional, usually over the telephone. The usual script for this is:

1. The grifter calls the mark, usually via an autodialer, or takes out an ad encouraging marks to call them. The grifter claims to be official technical support for a hardware or operating system manufacturer.
2. The grifter describes a problem such as a computer virus.
3. The grifter bolsters this claim by finding activity that can be made to look suspicious to a naive user, such as minor errors in an event log or oddly-named system files.
4. From here, the scam can go in multiple directions:
   • The grifter solves the (fictitious) problems, and demands payment.
   • The mark buys a program from the grifter. This may simply be dummy software, may be a working (but subpar and overpriced) antivirus program, or may be actually malicious.
   • The grifter requests remote access to the computer. This can be used to lock the mark out (either to prevent them from interfering, or to hold the system for ransom), take actions using the mark's browser and any credentials stored on it, threaten to delete files or damage the system, download confidential files, upload malware, or create further "suspicious" activity.

Sources

Bibliography

1. full source reference

Game and Story Use

• A classic trick for The Cracker. Even if Charisma is their dump stat, the hardest social thing this involves is snowing the mark with technobabble.
• A scammer from some random call center getting into a computer they really shouldn't and stealing the bomb can kick off a great many plots.