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Security vendor Malwarebytes has accused Silurian Tech Support of offering bogus IT support and overpriced software.
The Symantec partner program member has allegedly been using scare tactics and social engineering to convince people to purchase services such as Symantec’s Norton Antivirus.
According to researchers at Malwarebytes, Silurian Tech Support has lured unsuspecting users with fake warning displays stating ‘System Critically Infected. If you are not able to click on this button, immediately contact support toll free helpline 1-855-637-1900’.
Jerome Segura, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes, commented: “We decided to call the toll-free line to see what kind of support we may get. Our expectations were not very high but we were not prepared for what we would eventually find out.”
Segura said he was directed to a support page where they allowed a Silurian ‘technician’ take control of a machine.
“Once the technician was logged in, he wasted no time in going for the most infamous trick used by tech support scammers, the Windows EventViewer. Sadly, Microsoft’s central log and error reporting tool can all too easily be leveraged thanks to those yellow and red warnings, which the majority of the time are perfectly normal. Of course, for a scammer it’s the perfect way of claiming those are infections or viruses,” he explained.
A Symantec spokesperson has issued the following official statement to TechWeekEurope:
“While we can’t say conclusively who was behind this particular scam, we can confirm that this particular site has been taken down and that we are also in the process of terminating our partner agreement with Silurian. After identifying any abuse of the Norton or Symantec brand, we pursue our rights and defend our intellectual property, and where necessary will work with law enforcement.”
The article is part of our PCR Trader Trust campaign. We’re calling on vendors, disties, retailers, resellers and more to inform us of anyone that may be selling illegal or counterfeit goods, conning customers and partners, or acting unethically.
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