Phone Tech Support Scammer Threatens to Kill Sceptical Mark

Ten years ago, the most common internet-related scam was the infamous “419” confidence trick, e-mails promising vast wealth in exchange for a small investment. So infamous, in fact, that few people fall for it anymore. So, criminals had to evolve their approach, instead tricking their mark (or victim, to us) into thinking that they are getting a legitimate service for their money.

Thus was born the fraudulent technical support phone call, preying on people’s ignorance of computers to fool them into giving the tricksters unrestricted access to their computer. Thankfully, call victim Jakob Dulisse of British Columbia, Canada, wasn’t naive enough to fall for the fake tech support call he received, refusing them remote access to his PC to install malware and branding the caller a crook; the scammer didn’t take kindly to being called out.

“You do understand we have each and every information, your address, your phone number. We have our group in Canada. I will call them, I will provide your information to them, they will come to you, they will kill you,” the tech support scammer threatened.

Dulisse recorded the call two weeks ago, and the recording was picked up by CBC News:

Dulisse told CBS that he found the threats “chilling, but hard to take seriously.”

“He was still trying to get me to do what he was trying to do with my computer,” Dulisse said. “He was actually threatening me as a tactic.”

Source: Ars Technica