Oops. Technical support scammer accidentally calls the police

Technical support scams are where a crook will try to trick an innocent victim to download malware onto their own computer by pretending they’re a technical support agent trying to help them fix their computer.

These scams are often carried out over the telephone, in which case the crook will usually search for victims by calling phone number after phone number until someone answers and falls into their trap. In most cases, the scammers don’t really know who they’re calling. They just hope the person who picks up the phone will believe their lies and follow their instructions.

So this is why a technical support scammer wound up calling a police department in New Zealand.

Despite the New Zealand copper immediately knowing the caller was a scammer, he lets the scammer read from his script for a short while. As with many of these scams, the crook attempts to lure their victim to a website that installs remote assistance software on their computer, which would give someone else access to the computer.

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In the case of these scams, you’d be handing a crook access to your computer should you follow the instructions provided.

The recording of the phone call can be listened to below. Once the cop reveals that he is in fact a police officer, the scammer quickly – and abruptly – end the call.

Remember, technical support agents will never call people out of the blue. If you get such a call, and you were not expecting it, just hang up the phone. Read more about these scams in our blog post about them here.