Spying on the scammers - The most detailed exposé of a tech support scam

blackwasp · 29th April 2020, 21:30

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who shared these videos. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing them with other enthusiasts via this page!

Quote:

Recently came across the video links below wherein the Scammers are scammed.

Series for 4 videos wherein the person Jim Browning goes to the extent of spying on them and getting hold of the evidence and handing over to the Law.

Reason for Sharing - This person has a lot of information and also in the last video he did mention that similar things were done on other scammers however waiting for a response from authorities.

Am sure that there are members in our Team who can recirculate this within their circle and get to the right people. Also am hoping that some law enforcement authorities are also part of this group or follow this group.

On a different note, this video shows how vulnerable our security is towards the CCTVs network is. Though Jim might be a professional hacker still we need to be careful in choosing the right set of security equipment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le71yVPh4uk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-qa9M-o4E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTXN9iTKHc8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G15xjQM-rGc

Infact, when Jim approached the authorities, there was no action taken. It was only after he approached BBC that the authorities swung into action. He also highlights that raising a complaint on the respective Police department's website was impossible as well. Cops are not well-versed with these kinds of offences nor do they have the resources for solving cybercrime complaints of this magnitude without the proof being given as well.

Also read the TOI report on the same.

The BBC documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rmvhwwiQAY

I've been following Jim's Youtube channel for a while now, but these videos last month came as a shock as to how well run these scam operations are. I'm sure this is barely the tip of the iceberg and the authorities need to take very stringent action on such scammers.

GutsyGibbon · 29th April 2020, 22:04

Another YouTube channel on this topic is Karl Rock
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtf...QcxjHJjk5wXLFg
He also befriended and interviewed the people who worked there.

BRV · 23rd March 2021, 22:44

Scammers are being tracked and arrested with the help of authorities by using some really cool gadgets. These guys are finding innovative way to deal with scammers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKW58MS12g

naveen.raju · 24th March 2021, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Another YouTube channel on this topic is Karl Rock
https://www.Youtube.com/channel/UCtf...QcxjHJjk5wXLFg
He also befriended and interviewed the people who worked there.

He does find scammers everywhere and in many cases, he does fight back. Guess he's feared in Delhi now

.

Some interesting scammers here. There's a lot of interesting videos on his channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKJoMO0vJ5c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPq0fbnYPOE

Surprised to see this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0njuYFGeO0

It's not all negative on his channel, here's a nice one. Kudos to the auto driver:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IYd5GPOK6g

AZT · 24th March 2021, 14:01

I've been following Jim Browning for a while. His most recent video gave me some hope, the US department for Homeland security has made an exclusive website to report these and also gave him a direct way to reach them if sees a scam underway.

It's shameful how these scammers are all based in India and prey on old people in the US, in one case an old lady had lost her husband that week and also got scammed twice in the same week. She said this to the scammers but they made her think she made a mistake in typing some amount and made her transfer money to them.

Both videos below go together and two of these did a collab to try and teach the scammers a lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvjjpzyiig4

JoeTheWanderer · 24th March 2021, 16:46

These tech-support scammers are fairly advanced and really tech-savvy. I work for a VoIP provider and have dealt with them in the past (sometimes even now).

Here's some information based on my experiences over the years.

1. The way they trap their victims varies a lot.

- Some have access to lists that contain the name, physical address, contact info of regular people. They'll cold call them posing as someone who has a reason to call them (tax authorities, customer support for Apple, Microsoft, etc) and tell them that there's something wrong with their taxes, computer, etc.
- They also use SEO to their advantage - they sometimes open help threads in forums for Microsoft, PayPal, etc with text that shows up when someone searches for "microsoft support number" or something similar on Google, Bing, etc. Many of them have legitimate looking websites with different plans and service offerings as well.

- They also use ad-networks (similar to Google Adwords) to display misleading ads on different websites. Like 'Click here for a free virus scan' and so on. The victim clicks on it and is led to a pop-up that displays some scary warning signs and a phone number to call.

- They're also known to craft phishing emails that look almost real to the untrained eye. The email typically says that the person needs to take an action to ensure their card isn't blocked or something equally scary. This action is usually calling a phone number and entering their card info via DTMF or logging into a fake website.
Many small companies do not take the effort to secure their domains using SPF, DKIM, etc which makes it easier for scammers to spoof emails.

2. Once the intended victim interacts with them, they'll basically try to overwhelm the person with lots of information so that they agree to whatever the scammer says.

They do this by providing a lot of "technical" information using a lot of "technical jargon" (which to a trained professional would sound really funny). They rely on the fact that most people aren't tech-savvy and even if 1 out of 100 calls they make leads to being paid - that is more than enough to cover the costs of at least 1000s of more such calls.

3. Stopping them and bring them to justice is possible - but it is extremely time consuming.

You're dealing with multiple agencies in multiple countries and not all of them are equally responsive. Sometimes local privacy laws make it impossible for companies to share information with police from a different country directly.

I've dealt with law enforcement from various countries investigating these scams. Most of my communication with the police from US, UK, France, & Germany has been great. They understand how the scam works, even have a basic grasp of the technical stuff that goes on behind the scenes. They know what information they need and how they can get it.

I have also communicated with a couple of Cyber Crime departments from India as well. Unfortunately, the communication with them was different - and not in a good way. Most of the times it seemed that the person in contact with us didn't really have a firm grasp of what was going on (how can they trace the scammer, where can they get information, etc). I don't blame the person though - most likely they've never been trained on something like this.

This is what these fraudsters bank on - the fact that it is difficult to investigate these crimes and that people and local law enforcement isn't as tech-savvy as them.

Sorry for spamming the thread - just thought I'd share some insights.

PS: If you're interested - have a look at 419eater.com. There's some really funny stories (and photos of scammers) in there.

29th April 2020, 22:04	#2
GutsyGibbon BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Southern Calif. Posts: 755 Thanked: 4,538 Times	Re: Spying on the scammers - The most detailed exposé of a tech support scam Another YouTube channel on this topic is Karl Rock https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtf...QcxjHJjk5wXLFg He also befriended and interviewed the people who worked there.
	(3) Thanks

24th March 2021, 16:46	#6
JoeTheWanderer BHPian Join Date: Jul 2020 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 103 Thanked: 550 Times	Re: Spying on the scammers - The most detailed exposé of a tech support scam These tech-support scammers are fairly advanced and really tech-savvy. I work for a VoIP provider and have dealt with them in the past (sometimes even now). Here's some information based on my experiences over the years. 1. The way they trap their victims varies a lot. - Some have access to lists that contain the name, physical address, contact info of regular people. They'll cold call them posing as someone who has a reason to call them (tax authorities, customer support for Apple, Microsoft, etc) and tell them that there's something wrong with their taxes, computer, etc. - They also use SEO to their advantage - they sometimes open help threads in forums for Microsoft, PayPal, etc with text that shows up when someone searches for "microsoft support number" or something similar on Google, Bing, etc. Many of them have legitimate looking websites with different plans and service offerings as well. - They also use ad-networks (similar to Google Adwords) to display misleading ads on different websites. Like 'Click here for a free virus scan' and so on. The victim clicks on it and is led to a pop-up that displays some scary warning signs and a phone number to call. - They're also known to craft phishing emails that look almost real to the untrained eye. The email typically says that the person needs to take an action to ensure their card isn't blocked or something equally scary. This action is usually calling a phone number and entering their card info via DTMF or logging into a fake website. Many small companies do not take the effort to secure their domains using SPF, DKIM, etc which makes it easier for scammers to spoof emails. 2. Once the intended victim interacts with them, they'll basically try to overwhelm the person with lots of information so that they agree to whatever the scammer says. They do this by providing a lot of "technical" information using a lot of "technical jargon" (which to a trained professional would sound really funny). They rely on the fact that most people aren't tech-savvy and even if 1 out of 100 calls they make leads to being paid - that is more than enough to cover the costs of at least 1000s of more such calls. 3. Stopping them and bring them to justice is possible - but it is extremely time consuming. You're dealing with multiple agencies in multiple countries and not all of them are equally responsive. Sometimes local privacy laws make it impossible for companies to share information with police from a different country directly. I've dealt with law enforcement from various countries investigating these scams. Most of my communication with the police from US, UK, France, & Germany has been great. They understand how the scam works, even have a basic grasp of the technical stuff that goes on behind the scenes. They know what information they need and how they can get it. I have also communicated with a couple of Cyber Crime departments from India as well. Unfortunately, the communication with them was different - and not in a good way. Most of the times it seemed that the person in contact with us didn't really have a firm grasp of what was going on (how can they trace the scammer, where can they get information, etc). I don't blame the person though - most likely they've never been trained on something like this. This is what these fraudsters bank on - the fact that it is difficult to investigate these crimes and that people and local law enforcement isn't as tech-savvy as them. Sorry for spamming the thread - just thought I'd share some insights. PS: If you're interested - have a look at 419eater.com. There's some really funny stories (and photos of scammers) in there.
	(2) Thanks