Automated honeypot for scammers?

BadgerBadger · 2022-03-15T09:56:43+00:00

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Hello,

Background:

I am a sysadmin that gets about 5-15 scam calls a weeks where they commonly try and get me to install TeamViewer for them to connect to me. I am not a scambaiter but I do like to waste their time as every minute they waste with me is a minute they are not scamming someone else. So I lead them along for a bit and gather information from them in the process.

Then once I have information like account details or URLs I reporting those details to respective service providers. Our office kinda makes a game of it, and getting their account disabled is a win. Best wins are when their accounts are disabled while they are still on the phone with us but there are only a handful of service provider that quick.

Getting the TeamViewer details to report the account from my experience is not the easiest, they need to connect to you to get it and letting scammer into your system is rarely a good idea.

Question:

Is there a TeamViewer honeypot service, where you can give scammers the details and if they connect then their account is logged or flagged?

A way to set up a way to set up TeamViewer so they can try to connect but the connection will fail but log their details? Else I am thinking about setting up a minimal Linux/Android install where it is just a blank screen and all desktop features removed or disabled and the filesystem readonly(except for the log file).

If this already exists or if there are easier ways, I would like to know before I go and re-invent the wheel.

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Esther

Hi there,

Thanks for your question! It is an interesting one indeed, and please know that I forwarded it to our Trust & Safety team internally. The Trust & Safety team is working day in and day out on such security topics and you can help them by sending in the TeamViewer IDs of the scammers via our form at any time: Resolute Misuse Prevention (scroll down a bit to get to the form)

That being said, there is no "honeypot" service available or a TeamViewer ID that tracks or log the potential scammers' details. While this is a pretty good idea, we do not want our users to take any risks.

⚠ Important: Please know that TeamViewer does not recommend

Setting up playgrounds to trick anyone
Allowing anyone you do not know or trust to connect to your devices.

But if you want to set up a remote device yourself, please allow me to show you some customized settings to limit a person connecting to your device's ability to act.

👉 This is a recommendation that everyone can use to limit or restrict access to their devices. Read more here: Restrict access - TeamViewer Support

Restrict Access Control for incoming connections

You can restrict access control for incoming connections via the Advanced TeamViewer Settings under the gear icon (⚙) → Options → Advanced → Advanced Settings for connections to this computer → Access Control

Choose between Confirm all, View and Show to allow access but no direct remote control.

You can also choose Custom settings to define exactly what you want to allow the person connecting to which degree. E.g. allow Connect and view my screen but deny all other actions as seen here:

Additional Options

The above should already be enough, however, you can additionally set up the following:

1.) Enable to option that changes to the TeamViewer Options require administrative rights on your computer

2.) Accessing the Options requires inserting a password. For this option, you need to set a password.

Both settings are also available within the Advanced TeamViewer Options:

Thanks and best,

Esther