TeamViewer and scamming - TeamViewer Support
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p><br></p><h2 data-id="general">General</h2><div class="blockquote"><div class="blockquote-content"><p class="blockquote-line"><em>This article applies to everyone. Stay safe!</em></p></div></div><p>Unfortunately, there have been some instances of malicious use of our software, “TeamViewer”. Scammers attempt to sell their services via phone by claiming that your device is infected by malware.</p><p>TeamViewer Germany GmbH is a legitimate software development company. We take the <a href="https://www.teamviewer.com/en/trust-center/security/" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">privacy and security</a> of our customers’ and partners’ personal information very seriously.</p><p><br></p><h3></h3><h2 data-id="starting-statement">Starting Statement</h2><h3 data-id="we-can-assure-you-teamviewer-germany-gmbh-is-not-associated-with-or-responsible-for-any-of-these-instances.">We can assure you, TeamViewer Germany GmbH is not associated with, or responsible for, any of these instances.</h3><p><br></p><h3 data-id="-1"></h3><h2 data-id="advice-to-everyone">Advice to everyone</h2><p>We advise TeamViewer users to be careful with unsolicited phone calls and <strong>to not grant access to your devices (e.g. PC or mobile) to anyone you do not know or trust</strong>. </p><p>TeamViewer does not provide remote support services of any kind. Our activities are limited to developing and selling the software tools that providers use to offer remote support services.</p><p>TeamViewer provides various features to prevent unauthorized access and to ensure your privacy and security:</p><ul><li>Access to a device is only possible with both its TeamViewer ID and password.</li><li>For data protection reasons, it is not possible to invisibly control a computer. A small dialog is displayed in the bottom right corner of your desktop after you grant access to your device.</li><li>One-time-only passwords for TeamViewer connections. A new password is generated with every software start. Therefore, repeated access is impossible if you shut down TeamViewer after a session ends.</li><li>Additional confirmation is required for security-relevant functions like file transfer. It is impossible to transfer files to your device without your knowledge.</li><li>Highly encrypted sessions (using the same standards as HTTPS or SSL). TeamViewer is considered completely safe by today's standards and is used by financial institutions and government facilities.</li><li>Two-factor authentication for your TeamViewer account. Protect your account credentials with an optional factor in addition to name and password. (If you do not do that, the feature <a href="https://community.teamviewer.com/English/kb/articles/13954-what-is-trusted-devices-for-your-teamviewer-account" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Trusted devices</a> applies)</li><li>Use the Block- or Allowlist in the TeamViewer full version to restrict access to your devices. Deny incoming connections for specific TeamViewer IDs or only allow connections for defined TeamViewer IDs.</li></ul><p><br></p><h3 data-id="-2"></h3><h2 data-id="report-a-scam">Report a scam</h2><p>If you have experienced or suspect a case of malicious use of TeamViewer, please contact our privacy team via the report a scam form on this page: <a href="https://www.teamviewer.com/en/report-a-scam/" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">https://www.teamviewer.com/en/report-a-scam/</a></p><p>We also recommend you to change all your passwords on all platforms to be on the safe side.</p><p>Please see also this post about scammers to find some additional information: </p><div class="js-embed embedResponsive" data-embedjson="{"recordID":839,"recordType":"comment","body":"<p>Dear Andy,<\/p>\n<p>We are sorry to hear that you have been contacted in this way. TeamViewer strongly condemns any criminal activity and we are appalled by the behaviour of such people and their actions towards TeamViewer users.<\/p>\n<p>TeamViewer is working together with many major tech companies and also the international and local authorities to mitigate this type of fraud.<\/p>\n<p>TeamViewer recommends that users who have been the victim of criminal activities get in touch with their local police departments, in order to report their case. This is particularly important because TeamViewer is subject to very strict data protection and privacy regulations, and can release sensitive data only to authorized individuals and authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Although TeamViewer is a commercial product, it may be used for free if it is used in a private, non-commercial context (for example, for helping friends or family members with computer problems).<\/p>\n<p>There have been several cases of systematic fraud calls using our software reported to us. In most cases, the victims are private people from the UK, USA or Australia who are contacted by telephone by an unknown caller.<\/p>\n<p>The callers or scammers may use different strategies, like in your case claiming to be from an Internet Service Provider. As far as we know, most fraud cases follow a similar model:<\/p>\n<ul><li>A call by an unknown person with many times a strong foreign accent is received<\/li>\n<li>The caller misleads the recipient of the call by telling them that he\/she is calling from a tech company such as e.g. Microsoft or certified by Microsoft (more information can be found here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/reportascam\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/reportascam\/<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li>The caller then tries to make the recipient of the call believe that error reports from the victim's computer (caused by viruses etc.) have been sent to the alleged tech company the caller claims to be working for<\/li>\n<li>In most cases, the victims are then asked by the caller to open the Windows Event Viewer (Start -&gt; Run -&gt; \"eventvwr\").We believe that the callers do this to make their victims feel insecure about the security of their personal computer.<\/li>\n<li>After intimidating the victims, the callers offer \"support\" or (fake) service contracts to the victims<\/li>\n<li>To undermine the credibility of their offer, the callers then install remote control programs such as TeamViewer or other free online remote support solutions and connect to the victim's computer<\/li>\n<li>In most cases, the callers then install free anti-virus tools or so-called \"scareware\"<\/li>\n<\/ul><p>Those above mentioned scam callers are using free products like TeamViewer and several other free anti-virus systems, charging the customer for installing these. TeamViewer takes this matter very seriously and therefore we have already contacted all affected vendors of the anti-virus programs used and they are also investigating this matter.<\/p>\n<p>We have taken the necessary steps to make sure that the remote IDs can no longer be used for illegal purposes and we are constantly working on new methods of finding and blocking such users. TeamViewer will display a warning message if an incoming connection with a potential fraudulent background is detected to warn our users of the risk of a potential scam.<\/p>\n<p>We strongly recommend that affected victims contact their bank, a consumer protection organization and a trustworthy IT support company. In most cases, the payments that have been made can be refunded by the bank, and any malicious software installed by the callers can be removed by the IT support company. We can also determine and block the TeamViewer ID used by the scammers if we are provided with the victim's ID.<\/p>\n<p>To ensure that it is safe to use your computer again (for example, for online banking), we recommend having it checked by a local IT support company or a person you can trust.<\/p>\n<p>Please find below the list of national institutions to contact in case of fraud:<\/p>\n<p>United Kingdom:<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.actionfraud.police.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.actionfraud.police.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Please also get in contact with the Telephone Preference Service (a link can be found below). Unsolicited calls are a great problem and reporting them would be a great help, as this is a difficult issue in the UK.<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tpsonline.org.uk\/tps\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.tpsonline.org.uk\/tps\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Australia:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/report-a-scam\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/report-a-scam<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Telemarketing and cold calls are managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA):<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.acma.gov.au\/WEB\/STANDARD..PC\/pc=PC_100642\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.acma.gov.au\/WEB\/STANDARD..PC\/pc=PC_100642<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Canada:<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.antifraudcentre.ca\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.antifraudcentre.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<p>USA:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usa.gov\/stop-scams-frauds\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.usa.gov\/stop-scams-frauds<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Europe: <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europol.europa.eu\/report-a-crime\/report-cybercrime-online\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.europol.europa.eu\/report-a-crime\/report-cybercrime-online<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Please also consider submitting a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant, which can be found by following the link below:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Report a Scam to TeamViewer: <a title=\"TeamViewer Report a Scam\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teamviewer.com\/en\/report-a-scam\/\" rel=\"noopener noopener noreferrer nofollow\">https:\/\/www.teamviewer.com\/en\/report-a-scam\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If there is anything else we can help you with or if there are still any open questions, please feel free to contact us again.<\/p>\n<p>Best regards,<br>Eduardo Bernal<br>Senior Director Customer Satisfaction and Tech Support<\/p>","bodyRaw":"<P>Dear Andy,<\/P>\n<P>We are sorry to hear that you have been contacted in this way. TeamViewer strongly condemns any criminal activity and we are appalled by the behaviour of such people and their actions towards TeamViewer users.<\/P>\n<P>TeamViewer is working together with many major tech companies and also the international and local authorities to mitigate this type of fraud.<\/P>\n<P>TeamViewer recommends that users who have been the victim of criminal activities get in touch with their local police departments, in order to report their case. This is particularly important because TeamViewer is subject to very strict data protection and privacy regulations, and can release sensitive data only to authorized individuals and authorities.<\/P>\n<P>Although TeamViewer is a commercial product, it may be used for free if it is used in a private, non-commercial context (for example, for helping friends or family members with computer problems).<\/P>\n<P>There have been several cases of systematic fraud calls using our software reported to us. In most cases, the victims are private people from the UK, USA or Australia who are contacted by telephone by an unknown caller.<\/P>\n<P>The callers or scammers may use different strategies, like in your case claiming to be from an Internet Service Provider. As far as we know, most fraud cases follow a similar model:<\/P>\n<UL>\n<LI>A call by an unknown person with many times a strong foreign accent is received<\/LI>\n<LI>The caller misleads the recipient of the call by telling them that he\/she is calling from a tech company such as e.g. Microsoft or certified by Microsoft (more information can be found here: <A href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/reportascam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/reportascam\/<\/A>).<\/LI>\n<LI>The caller then tries to make the recipient of the call believe that error reports from the victim's computer (caused by viruses etc.) have been sent to the alleged tech company the caller claims to be working for<\/LI>\n<LI>In most cases, the victims are then asked by the caller to open the Windows Event Viewer (Start -&gt; Run -&gt; \"eventvwr\").We believe that the callers do this to make their victims feel insecure about the security of their personal computer.<\/LI>\n<LI>After intimidating the victims, the callers offer \"support\" or (fake) service contracts to the victims<\/LI>\n<LI>To undermine the credibility of their offer, the callers then install remote control programs such as TeamViewer or other free online remote support solutions and connect to the victim's computer<\/LI>\n<LI>In most cases, the callers then install free anti-virus tools or so-called \"scareware\"<\/LI>\n<\/UL>\n<P>Those above mentioned scam callers are using free products like TeamViewer and several other free anti-virus systems, charging the customer for installing these. TeamViewer takes this matter very seriously and therefore we have already contacted all affected vendors of the anti-virus programs used and they are also investigating this matter.<\/P>\n<P>We have taken the necessary steps to make sure that the remote IDs can no longer be used for illegal purposes and we are constantly working on new methods of finding and blocking such users. TeamViewer will display a warning message if an incoming connection with a potential fraudulent background is detected to warn our users of the risk of a potential scam.<\/P>\n<P>We strongly recommend that affected victims contact their bank, a consumer protection organization and a trustworthy IT support company. In most cases, the payments that have been made can be refunded by the bank, and any malicious software installed by the callers can be removed by the IT support company. We can also determine and block the TeamViewer ID used by the scammers if we are provided with the victim's ID.<\/P>\n<P>To ensure that it is safe to use your computer again (for example, for online banking), we recommend having it checked by a local IT support company or a person you can trust.<\/P>\n<P>Please find below the list of national institutions to contact in case of fraud:<\/P>\n<P>United Kingdom:<BR \/><A href=\"http:\/\/www.actionfraud.police.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.actionfraud.police.uk\/<\/A><\/P>\n<P>Please also get in contact with the Telephone Preference Service (a link can be found below). Unsolicited calls are a great problem and reporting them would be a great help, as this is a difficult issue in the UK.<BR \/><A href=\"http:\/\/www.tpsonline.org.uk\/tps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.tpsonline.org.uk\/tps\/<\/A><\/P>\n<P>Australia:<BR \/><A href=\"https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/report-a-scam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.scamwatch.gov.au\/report-a-scam<\/A><\/P>\n<P>Telemarketing and cold calls are managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA):<BR \/><A href=\"http:\/\/www.acma.gov.au\/WEB\/STANDARD..PC\/pc=PC_100642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.acma.gov.au\/WEB\/STANDARD..PC\/pc=PC_100642<\/A><\/P>\n<P>Canada:<BR \/><A href=\"http:\/\/www.antifraudcentre.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.antifraudcentre.ca<\/A><\/P>\n<P>USA:<BR \/><A href=\"https:\/\/www.usa.gov\/stop-scams-frauds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.usa.gov\/stop-scams-frauds<\/A><\/P>\n<P><SPAN data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Europe: <\/SPAN><SPAN data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><A href=\"https:\/\/www.europol.europa.eu\/report-a-crime\/report-cybercrime-online\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.europol.europa.eu\/report-a-crime\/report-cybercrime-online<\/A><\/SPAN><\/P>\n<P>Please also consider submitting a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant, which can be found by following the link below:<BR \/><A href=\"https:\/\/www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov\/<\/A><\/P>\n<P>Report a Scam to TeamViewer:&nbsp;<A title=\"TeamViewer Report a Scam\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teamviewer.com\/en\/report-a-scam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.teamviewer.com\/en\/report-a-scam\/<\/A><\/P>\n<P>If there is anything else we can help you with or if there are still any open questions, please feel free to contact us again.<\/P>\n<P>Best regards,<BR \/>Eduardo Bernal<BR \/>Senior Director Customer Satisfaction and Tech Support<\/P>","format":"html","dateInserted":"2016-11-16T11:00:25+00:00","insertUser":{"userID":14,"name":"Eduardo","url":"https:\/\/community.teamviewer.com\/profile\/Eduardo","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6032394\/uploads\/lithium_avatars\/n14.jpg","dateLastActive":"2021-09-21T13:53:16+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"Senior Management"},"displayOptions":{"showUserLabel":false,"showCompactUserInfo":true,"showDiscussionLink":false,"showPostLink":false,"showCategoryLink":false,"renderFullContent":false,"expandByDefault":false},"url":"https:\/\/community.teamviewer.com\/English\/discussion\/comment\/839#Comment_839","embedType":"quote"}"> <a href="https://community.teamviewer.com/English/discussion/comment/839#Comment_839"> https://community.teamviewer.com/English/discussion/comment/839#Comment_839 </a> </div> <p><br></p><h3 data-id="-3"></h3><h2 data-id="educate-your-loved-ones%3A-a-typical-scam-call">Educate your loved ones: A typical scam call</h2><p>You find this image also attached as a printable PDF. Feel free to print it and hand it over to your friends or family members to raise their awareness regarding scam calls.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6032394/uploads/lithium_attachments/17170iFE662EC86D886E00.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6032394/uploads/lithium_attachments/17170iFE662EC86D886E00.jpg" alt="Anti-Scam-printable.png" height="180" width="320" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p><br></p><p> </p><p> </p> </article> </main>
