Scammers in the UK have been sending fake Microsoft Office suite USBs to random addresses that install malware on people’s computers, according to a Tom’s Hardware report.
The ruse makes victims believe they had mistakenly received a legitimate edition of Office Professional Plus worth $439 (R7,330).
Once plugged into a PC, a virus warning appears, prompting the victim to call a fake support line, through which the scammers try to persuade the victim to provide them with remote access to the computer.
They also persuade the victim to provide them with payment information.
Cybersecurity consultant Martin Pitman provided further details on how the scam works.
“As soon as they had plugged the USB into the computer, a warning screen appeared saying there was a virus,” he said.
Pitman said the helpdesk installed some form of remote access software and took control of a victim’s computer as soon as they called the number provided alongside the virus warning.
“Here the hackers ‘sorted’ the problem and then passed the victim over to the Office 365 subscription team to help complete the action,” he added.
Microsoft has acknowledged the issue, saying that it is a rare occurrence.
It said an approach where scammers send product keys via email and then send a link to download malicious software is more common.
