How can I protect someone from support scammers?

Sadly someone I know has been taken by the lovely Microsoft support phone call for the second time.

Last time it happened I just tried to teach them not to trust anyone phoning them but sadly it hasn't worked . Now I'm looking for a more techy solution.

So far Ive rebuilt their PC and removed their admin access however this won't stop RDP programs like join.me or them talking the victim through setting up windows RDP. I believe I can remove windows RDP from group policy and could set up firewall blocks on the popular ones like join.me.

I've signed them up to the call blocking feature via talktalk but it seems to do little good.

Sadly I don't think I'll be able to get the money back as they've authorised the payment .

Any other advice/ideas?

Tell them to stop being an idiot and just hang-up the phone the moment Microsoft or Windows is mentioned. It ain't exactly rocket surgery.

Good job on reading the OP there .

Has this person got some sort of learning difficulty of something?
Can you not block all the domains / websites that allow remote access at router level?

Very very elderly and sadly all too trusting .

I can and that is the main option at the moment. However was hoping for a more catch all solution as I can't find a list of IPs associated with it (I also suspect them to change).

My grandad just received a letter from Barclays today telling him if any fraud is reported and you have given your details over the phone it's "fraud" you will no longer be able to claim the money back and it's your fault for giving them the numbers.

I'm beginning to loose trust in every single company in the world. Makes me think that IT is really a bad thing not a good thing.

mrbell1984 said:

My grandad just received a letter from Barclays today telling him if any fraud is reported and you have given your details over the phone it's "fraud" you will no longer be able to claim the money back and it's your fault for giving them the numbers.

I'm beginning to loose trust in every single company in the world. Makes me think that IT is really a bad thing not a good thing.

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Can't beat the old days, when the bad men had to physically rough up old ladies for their pension.

Mynight said:

Very very elderly and sadly all too trusting .

I can and that is the main option at the moment. However was hoping for a more catch all solution as I can't find a list of IPs associated with it (I also suspect them to change).

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They may be very lonely or suffering dementia?

Set them up as nonadministrative users surely.

What version of Windows? I imagine from anything Win 7 and above the UAC will prevent them from changing anything (like enabling rdp) by requesting a username and password for admin.

wesimmo said:

Can't beat the old days, when the bad men had to physically rough up old ladies for their pension.

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What you mean by this?

hurfdurf said:

They may be very lonely or suffering dementia?

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See this is the thing I would have thought that would be the case but they still appear to be normal bar that amazing ability to link unrelated stories together . They still live with others so it's probably not a lonely thing. Just seems they have an inability to be rude and put the phone down on someone despite that someone wanting to cause them harm and they know it .

opethdisciple said:

Set them up as nonadministrative users surely.

What version of Windows? I imagine from anything Win 7 and above the UAC will prevent them from changing anything (like enabling rdp) by requesting a username and password for admin.

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This will knock out the programs that require installation but wont do anything about portable programs or the ones that don't require installation in the normal sense(or browser based ones). If a program doesn't touch system folders/registry then it doesn't trigger UAC.

It's windows 7.

Edit: I wonder if I could argue a chargeback on the credit card for services not provided. Rather than claim fraud as technically both are correct.

I would do as you suggested and use the firewall to block all known remote support software, citrix, teamviewer etc

You could also lock the ports down that Windows RDP uses, I think it is 3389. hopefully this could stop them connecting even if they get it setup.

Set the desktop wallpaper to a simple white background with "DO NOT GIVE OTHERS REMOTE ACCESS TO THIS PC!"

Blocking access to sites for the firewall would stop them downloading in the first place you could block the software itself but this is probably something they are used to, but anything extra that makes it difficult helps.

Chances are they won't have group policy as it's not on Home edition versions of Microsoft. Editing the registry to stop software running is an option but I've seen some cases where the scammers know how to change registry settings.

I suppose the best option would be a piece of software that ran hidden and closed any known remote connections or remote connection software. The user would have no idea it was running and they scammers wouldn't know about it either. Not even sure if it exists though

Edit:

Scammers may think about firewall/registry, but what about setting the blocks up at the router? Change the router login details and the user won't be able to login and undo anything even if the scammers figured it out.

Could you add all the web pages you know of that provide remote services to the hosts file to redirect to a static page telling them to call you, or to hang up the phone straight away. Should stop the browser based ones if you know the common ones.

Linux os and a non 4 flag Microsoft keyboard should do the trick.

BT call guardian has been amazing for us though, never had a dodgy Indian call us ever sice we bought the handset.

This one was actually Spanish. Apparently it's becoming a worldwide affair .

Steeps said:

Could you add all the web pages you know of that provide remote services to the hosts file to redirect to a static page telling them to call you, or to hang up the phone straight away. Should stop the browser based ones if you know the common ones.

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Thats actually a damn good idea! Thank you.


AHarvey I installed pro since I had a spare key so thankfully group policy is a possibility.

Good idea on the router and changing passwords.

I may actually automate the entire thing I can't imagine I am alone in having such an issue.

Malevolence said:

Tell them to stop being an idiot and just hang-up the phone the moment Microsoft or Windows is mentioned. It ain't exactly rocket surgery.

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I sometimes think if the person is too old, mentally handicapped etc then the best thing to do with only allow said person to use smartphone/laptop/desktop when in your company, I know this doesn't stop all scams but it helps reduce it drastically.

Not sure if this is what OP wants to hear but that is my answer.

i get these clowns phoning my parents up both in their 80s they say we have have detected a virus on your computer, they have never used or owned one and have no net access . have known younger people for fall for it though and hand over bank details.

I get at least one call a week and do my absolute best to waste their time.

Doogles said:

I sometimes think if the person is too old, mentally handicapped etc then the best thing to do with only allow said person to use smartphone/laptop/desktop when in your company, I know this doesn't stop all scams but it helps reduce it drastically.

Not sure if this is what OP wants to hear but that is my answer.

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I do know what you mean but it's not really on the cards yet. Potentially will be the solution should my second attempt fail.

They do an awful lot of communication online and I don't have the time to supervise them. Sadly the person they're living with isn't going to be of any help .

A different approach could be having one of their close family members holding the purse strings? (If they have any that can be trusted!)

Then even if they fall for the fake phone call, the scammers are getting diddly squat.

Call blocking won't help because once they are a victim they get placed onto a list which is sold on to other scammers who try those numbers first before BT etc pick up it's a scam. I had one of these call a home number when I was visiting someone, if they get a sniff of vulnerability they will keep trying. Even with faking BSOD's, slow restarts, internet issues, not finding the webpage in yahoogle, they were still trying an hour later to get me to give them access to the PC. Some of the callers genuinely believe they are providing a service because if you go too far off script you get passed on to someone else to try and get you back on course.

I don't know if it is possible with a re-directed webpage, if it would be possible to send you a notification if they are trying to access a blocked site as it is happening, then kill their router remotely/reboot so their internet goes down.