BEE SECURE, an initiative which aims to promote safer use of the Internet to young people in Luxembourg, has warned of telephone scammers.
The BEE SECURE Helpline recently received several requests for advice from people who have been victims of a new telephone scam in Luxembourg.
This particular scam sees scammers call the target individuals from an Irish phone number with the country code +353 (which is very similar to the Luxembourg phone code) and pretend to be Microsoft employees. They claim that the target's computer has numerous viruses or system error messages and that they need immediate cooperation with the target to fix them. The target individual is then asked to install software with which the alleged Microsoft employee can gain remote access to the PC. If the target individual installs this supposedly helpful software, it opens up the possibility for the fraudsters to implement complex and extensive fraud schemes, i.e. to cause damage related to data theft, identity theft, spyware installation, extortion and commercial fraud. In addition, the scammers ask the target individual to make a payment for the allegedly performed service (deletion of viruses / system errors).
BEE SECURE noted that scams of this kind have existed for a long time and are always appearing in new varieties. It is therefore important to remain cautious and to deal critically with unknown numbers or claims from unknown callers. This means not allowing yourself to be put under pressure and taking your time to obtain information from independent third parties or trustworthy sources before even considering responding to any requested actions.
Further tips and information can be found on the BEE SECURE website at: www.bee-secure.lu. For individual, confidential advice, the BEE SECURE Helpline (tel.: 8002-1234) is available Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 16:00, free of charge.
