http://www.computerworld.com/article/3026243/security/symantec-partner-caught-running-tech-support-scam.html
By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld
Jan 25, 2016
Tech support scammers are known for their cheek -- making unfounded claims
that PCs are infected to scare consumers into parting with their money --
but a Symantec partner took nerve to a new level, a security company
claimed last week.
According to San Jose, Calif.-based Malwarebytes, Silurian Tech Support
ran a scam in which its employees, who billed themselves as support
technicians, used obscure but harmless entries in Windows' Event Viewer
and Task Manager to claim that a PC had been overwhelmed by malware, then
leveraged those bogus threats to sell overpriced copies of Symantec's
Norton security software and an annual contract for follow-up phone
support.
That tactic was a hoary one, often deployed by technical support scammers.
So was the resulting outrageously-priced software and "support."
What was unusual about the scam was that the original bait for the scheme
-- a browser pop-up -- was designed to look like an alert from Symantec's
Norton Antivirus, including displaying the product's logo. More
importantly, the scammer was an active Symantec partner, as Malwarebytes'
senior security researcher Jerome Segura pointed out in a blog post last
week.
Although tech support scammers frequently claim affiliations with the
companies whose products they abuse in their cold calls and scary online
pop-ups, it's rare that an actual partner with an established relationship
dare pull such stunts.
[...]
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