Here is an email bulletin I just received from Microsoft. I haven’t seen or heard of this personally, but it’s something everyone should be aware of.

In the last few weeks we have received a number of complaints about a scam that seems to be making rounds in Canada. You receive a telephone call, the person identifies himself as a technical support representative from a company that you trust. They inform you that their software is reporting that your machine has some issues and ask you to open a particular error log file. There are files on your computer that keep error logs for various programs so on opening the file when you find the conditions that were described by the ‘tech support representative’ your guard is down and your level of trust has increased.

From there they can ask you to download a ‘diagnostics’ program or coax you in to performing a series of steps that will give them complete control over your machine and complete access to your data. How do you prevent yourself from these scam artists? Never follow instructions given through an unsolicited telephone call, contact your IT department for verification and use your common sense. When in doubt, verify, it cannot hurt. Do keep on checking www.microsoft.ca/protect and www.microsoft.ca/security to stay informed about the latest threats and prevention techniques.