Scammers
Scammers and fraudsters are using team viewer to access computers by explaining they are from the ISP supplier. I have 3 partner IDs that need to be looked into...
Best Answer
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Dear Andy,
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 behavior of such people and their actions towards TeamViewer users.
TeamViewer is working together with many major tech companies and also the international and local authorities to mitigate this type of fraud.
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.
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).
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.
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:
- A call by an unknown person with many times a strong foreign accent is received
- 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: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/reportascam/).
- 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
- In most cases, the victims are then asked by the caller to open the Windows Event Viewer (Start -> Run -> "eventvwr").We believe that the callers do this to make their victims feel insecure about the security of their personal computer.
- After intimidating the victims, the callers offer "support" or (fake) service contracts to the victims
- 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
- In most cases, the callers then install free anti-virus tools or so-called "scareware"
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.
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.
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.
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.
Please find below the list of national institutions to contact in case of fraud:
--
Where to report and seek support
UK and Scotland:
Action Fraud – (Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime):
If you have been a victim of cybercrime you should report to Action Fraud any time of the day or night using their online reporting tool, or by calling 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.
Scotland:
If you are a victim of a Cybercrime in Scotland you should report it via 101 Contact the police | Police.uk (www.police.uk)
Reporting a live cyber-attack 24/7
If you are a business, charity, or other organization which is currently suffering a live cyber-attack (in progress), please call 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please note, if you are a member of the public you must call to report through our core opening hours.
To protect your organization:
Police CyberAlarm is a free tool to help members understand and monitor malicious cyber activity, if you want to improve your organization’s resilience to threats, sign up here for our free tool: Police CyberAlarm.
For cyber support:
You can sign up for your regional Cyber Resilience Centre for ongoing support. Cyber Resilience Centres are non-profit organizations designed to support businesses to protect themselves from cyber crimes and fraud. You can find your nearest Resilience center at: https://nationalcrcgroup.co.uk/regional-centres/
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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.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
Australia:
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
Telemarketing and cold calls are managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA):
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_100642
Canada:
USA:
https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds
Europe:
https://www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online
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:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Report a Scam to TeamViewer:
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/report-a-scam/ or Resolute Misuse Prevention
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.
Best regards,
Eduardo Bernal
Senior Director Customer Satisfaction and Tech Support
13
Answers
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Hi andy,
thank you for your post. We already received your ticket and we will take care of your concern.
Did my reply answer your question? Please accept it as a solution to help others, Thanks.
Reyhan1 -
Dear Andy,
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 behavior of such people and their actions towards TeamViewer users.
TeamViewer is working together with many major tech companies and also the international and local authorities to mitigate this type of fraud.
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.
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).
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.
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:
- A call by an unknown person with many times a strong foreign accent is received
- 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: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/reportascam/).
- 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
- In most cases, the victims are then asked by the caller to open the Windows Event Viewer (Start -> Run -> "eventvwr").We believe that the callers do this to make their victims feel insecure about the security of their personal computer.
- After intimidating the victims, the callers offer "support" or (fake) service contracts to the victims
- 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
- In most cases, the callers then install free anti-virus tools or so-called "scareware"
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.
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.
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.
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.
Please find below the list of national institutions to contact in case of fraud:
--
Where to report and seek support
UK and Scotland:
Action Fraud – (Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime):
If you have been a victim of cybercrime you should report to Action Fraud any time of the day or night using their online reporting tool, or by calling 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm.
Scotland:
If you are a victim of a Cybercrime in Scotland you should report it via 101 Contact the police | Police.uk (www.police.uk)
Reporting a live cyber-attack 24/7
If you are a business, charity, or other organization which is currently suffering a live cyber-attack (in progress), please call 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please note, if you are a member of the public you must call to report through our core opening hours.
To protect your organization:
Police CyberAlarm is a free tool to help members understand and monitor malicious cyber activity, if you want to improve your organization’s resilience to threats, sign up here for our free tool: Police CyberAlarm.
For cyber support:
You can sign up for your regional Cyber Resilience Centre for ongoing support. Cyber Resilience Centres are non-profit organizations designed to support businesses to protect themselves from cyber crimes and fraud. You can find your nearest Resilience center at: https://nationalcrcgroup.co.uk/regional-centres/
--
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.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
Australia:
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
Telemarketing and cold calls are managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA):
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_100642
Canada:
USA:
https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds
Europe:
https://www.europol.europa.eu/report-a-crime/report-cybercrime-online
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:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Report a Scam to TeamViewer:
https://www.teamviewer.com/en/report-a-scam/ or Resolute Misuse Prevention
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.
Best regards,
Eduardo Bernal
Senior Director Customer Satisfaction and Tech Support
13 -
How do we report a victims ID? Who to? What email address?
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Fraud and misuse of the software can be reported to:
Privacy@teamviewer.com - For unauthorised access
-or-
fraud@teamviewer.com - if you have been scammed.Although both addresses will go to the same team.
-Scotty
Senior Moderator
Did my reply answer your question? Why not accept it as a solution to help others?0 -
I did contact the police about all the scammer phone calls that I've received, I got another one today which I have already reported to my ISP. The problem with scammers is that they are notoriously difficult to trace back to the origins. The phone call I received today was another phone number that doesn't work when you ring it back. I just hope that the IDs I gave you have been blocked. Despite being very intelligent I'm also quite vulnerable because of my mental health.
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Hello,
I just got a phone call and although I was alarmed about it, these guys had my landline and the CLSID number (said it is the Microsoft license number).
Once I downloaded the teamviewer and provided (silly me) the access code, Microsoft corporation came up on the correspondence box.
I started googling scam and teamviewer and put the phone down.
Now, I need to inform my bank, the police and don’t know who else.
How they got hold of my landline no and CLSID (if that is license Id), i have no idea.
Joanna
From switzerland0 -
Dear Jojolamp,
Fraud and misuse of the software can be reported to:
Privacy@teamviewer.com - For unauthorised access
-or-
fraud@teamviewer.com - if you have been scammed.Although both addresses will go to the same team.
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A MEMBER OF THIS SITE IS USING THIS SITE TO STEAL MONEYFROM ME.
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I think I just received a phone call from a scammer. He said his name is Albert Williams from Teamviewer and that someone was using my internet. He said he was calling on behalf of Sky. He asked me to go to your website and start downloading. I asked for a number to call him back to confirm he was not fraudulent but he would not give it to me, just saying to trust him. He said I needed more security for my internet and he was going to help me. He became bit argumentative when I challenged him, and requested contact details.
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HI @ckeller
Thanks for your post. I am sorry to hear that this happened to you!
indeed this sounds like a fraudster or scammer was trying to trick you. TeamViewer does not cold call people for support (or at all).
Please see this article for more information TeamViewer and scamming and keep on being careful when someone is calling you (or sending you text messages or similar).
Thanks and stay safe,
Esther
Former Community Manager
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Someone installed teamviewer onto my phone, without my permission of course, to successfully steal all kinds of information from me as well as see absolutely EVERYTHING I had been doing. Now I've got an idea of who it might of been but how do I find out without a doubt it was them, as well as ensure it's removed from my device.
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