Beware, hackers on prowl
In a shocking incident, a senior citizen here was about to lose a huge amount of money in a hacking attempt, but luck favoured him in the form of an under-maintenance server and saved him from the fraud.
The incident occurred about a few days ago when Wilson, residing at Manama, got a call at 7am from a person who claimed to be a representative of Microsoft Windows. He was told that his computer was under attack from Chinese hackers for a month and 90 per cent of the computer files and applications were completely damaged.
Claiming that Windows has identified it and sent a message to Wilson, who ignored it, and his computer would crash by midnight. The man pretended that he was “intervening on behalf of Windows to protect the interests of their customers”.
Interestingly, he knew the Internet Protocol (IP) address of Wilson’s computer and asked him to check and verify it. He also gave the Customer Licence Secure ID (CLSI) of Wilson’s computer and asked him to verify it. Both matched and the caller easily gained Wilson’s trust
Subsequently, he asked Wilson to check his computer to know the damages caused by the ‘Chinese hacker.’ He also gave Wilson certain commands by which within a few seconds the computer was under his control. To maintain the trust, he instructed Wilson to check a document on the computer, which showed that more than 500 files had stopped working and just four to five files were running. He said Wilson’s PC would completely stop working in next three hours.
“Then he asked me to fill in my personal details on a page that appeared on the screen. Meanwhile, he said that all the services were free, but Windows will charge 300 dollars to provide me a new IP address and CLSI. The hacker also claimed that this service would provide lifetime protection from hackers,” Wilson told DT News.
Finally, Wilson entered his credit card details to make a payment of 300 dollars, but the transaction failed as the website of the credit card company was under maintenance between 7.30pm and 1am.
Then the caller asked Wilson to try payment using another credit card. But Wilson said his card had the credit limit of BD100 (265 dollars) and sought for a fee reduction. The caller readily agreed to reduce the fees to 200 dollars, stating that Windows respects senior citizens. But the second transaction also failed as the second credit card also belonged to the same company. Finally, the hacker asked Wilson to stay awake until 1am, but Wilson declined,
saying he had to go for work early in the morning.
In the meantime, the caller warned Wilson that his computer would not function anymore and asked him not to try to switch it on either. He disconnected the call stating that he would be back next day at same.
Soon, Wilson contacted his son in the United States who told him that it was a fraud and asked him to block all his credit cards immediately.
When he contacted the credit card company, they said that the hacker had already tried to withdraw Indian Rupees 19,000 (about BD108) from his account, but the transaction had failed as the system was under maintenance.
Wilson had to format his computer and the next day he received around 30 calls from the hacker from the same number 0442033180712, but he didn’t attend any calls.
A local suspect?
According to Wilson, a youth holding a tab was lurking on the premises of his building for the past fortnight. Even other residents in the flat had noticed this youth, who was roaming around in a suspicious manner. Wilson suspects this youth might have cracked his wi-fi ID and passed the information to the hacker, who is operating from abroad. To avoid further complications, Wilson changed his wi-fi password immediately after the incident.
He also contacted his telecom service provider, asking that whether calls from unwanted numbers could be blocked permanently. The telecom company stated that they didn’t have such a facility, instead he could block all incoming calls.
‘Secure your Wi-Fi’
According to tech expert Ahmed, Wilson’s theory might be right. The hacker might have got the wi-fi details from the suspected youth. “It is easy to find out the wi-fi address, if it is simple. If the name of the wi-fi user is identified, it is easy to monitor the behaviour of the user,” the tech expert said, adding that the youth too might have done the same. “It is better not to use simple names or signs that could be identified easily by the hackers. Also, use complicated passwords for wi-fi service in order to secure your network,” he said.
He also said that Microsoft would not call customers and alert them of any problem with their computers and asked people to ignore such calls.
“Though the number used by the hacker was traced back to the UK, with the help of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), one could easily deceive the receiver into believing that the call was from the UK, where, in fact, the caller might be operating from Bahrain itself,” Ahmed says.
Similar incidents
Wilson is not the only person who received calls from a hacker claiming to be a Windows representative. Recently, Salmaniya resident Baby George received a call from a person, who claimed to be calling from Microsoft head office and said some miscreants had been misusing his IP address to commit some illegal acts. The caller asked George to log on to his computer immediately. Suspecting the genuineness of the call, George said he was not at home and told he might reach home in half-an-hour. George took the caller’s contact number and told him he would call him back; he immediately contacted his brother, who suspected a foul play in it.
Upon the suggestion of his brother, George contacted his telecom service provider, which said that it was a fraud and suggested him to reject such calls. He made further enquiries on the net and found out that the number given by the caller belonged to a scammer. As anticipated, he received a call from same person, but he did not entertain him.
DT News recently reported that Manama resident Saad Abdul Kareem was cheated in a similar way when a caller ‘informed’ him that certain illegal activities were carried out using his IP address. The fraudster, who asked Kareem to follow certain instructions and took completely charge of his computer, demanded a huge amount of money to hand over the command over his PC, Kareem said.
Microsoft warning
Microsoft has clearly mentioned on its website a warning against cyber criminals, asking customers not to entertain them. It said that the cyber criminals might claim that they belong to Windows Help desk, Windows Service Centre, Microsoft Tech Support, Microsoft Support, Windows Technical Department Support Group, or Microsoft Research and Development Team.
“Cybercriminals don’t just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license,” Microsoft said.
They might trick people into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data. They might convince people to visit legitimate websites (like www. ammyy.com) to download software that will allow them to take control of the victims’ computer remotely and adjust settings to leave their computer vulnerable.
They might also request credit card information so they can bill you for phone services or direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there, the MS said.
“Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes,” it said.
Representative photo: Rising number of hacking attempts in Bahrain is a matter of concern
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