Recognising Tech-Support Scam Calls

Phishing isn’t limited to email — a fake tech-support call or a scary pop-up claiming your computer is infected is the same trick over a different channel.

What these scams look like

• A phone call claiming to be from Microsoft, your bank, or “your IT department,” saying they’ve detected a problem and need remote access to fix it.
• A pop-up window, often while browsing, with a loud warning (“Your computer is infected!”) and a phone number to call.
• An unexpected caller asking you to install remote-access software (like TeamViewer or AnyDesk) so they can “take a look.”

All three rely on urgency and unfamiliarity — most people don’t know exactly how their IT is monitored, which makes “we detected something” hard to disprove on the spot.

Caution

We will never cold-call you asking to remotely access your device, and we will never ask for your password over the phone. If a call like this claims to be us, it isn’t.

What to do if you get one

1. Don’t install anything or give remote access, no matter how official it sounds.
2. Hang up (or close the pop-up without clicking anything inside it) — you don’t owe a caller a polite explanation.
3. Contact support yourself, using a number you already have on file, not one given to you by the caller or shown in the pop-up.

Why this works on smart, careful people

These calls are designed to sound plausible and to create urgency (“your data is at risk right now”) specifically so you don’t have time to stop and verify. Nobody is exempt from that pressure just by being generally careful — the defence is a fixed rule (“I never give remote access to an unsolicited caller”), not judging each call individually in the moment.

If you already gave access or installed something

Contact support immediately, the same as with a lost or stolen device — speed matters far more than how it happened, and there’s no penalty for reporting it quickly.