Over 200 million yen in damage… “Virus infection! The shocking tactics of support fraud

You have been warned that you have a virus!

Please contact us within five minutes.

“Please contact us within 5 minutes.” Anyone would be upset to see such a warning message on their computer screen.

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of crimes that take advantage of the user’s mind. It is a “support scam” that makes it look as if the computer is infected with a virus, arouses the user’s anxiety, and demands money in the name of removing the virus. The Cybercrime Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department caught the first perpetrators of this scam in Japan, and three suspects were arrested on January 17, including Imelda Arai, 52, a Philippine national and director of a computer company, and her daughter, Raika Arai, 28.

The victim is a woman in her 60s living in Tokyo. “In May 2007, while she was looking at her computer screen, she suddenly heard a false warning or voice saying, ‘You are infected with a virus or spyware! In May 2007, while the woman was looking at her computer screen, she suddenly heard a false warning or voice saying, “You are infected with a virus or spyware! In May 2007, while the woman was looking at her computer screen, she suddenly heard a false warning: “You have been infected with a virus or spyware.” In addition, a phone number starting with 03 (the area code for Tokyo) was displayed, and she was asked to call the number immediately.

When the panicked woman contacted the call center, she was directed to a call center in the Philippines where a person posing as a staff member said, “An engineer will teach you how to remove it over the phone. When the fake engineer remotely removed the ‘warning,’ he charged her about 30,000 yen as a support fee,” said a reporter from a national newspaper.

Using the logo of a large company in the “warning

It seems that there are many other victims of Arai’s “support scam”. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is continuing its investigation, believing that between October 2006 and July 2007, Arai defrauded more than 400 people out of more than 20 million yen. In response to the investigation, Arai and the other three suspects have denied the charges, saying they had nothing to do with it.

According to the National Consumer Affairs Center, the number of victims of “support fraud” is increasing dramatically every year. According to the National Consumer Affairs Center, there were 473 cases in 2005, but the number increased to 1002 cases in 2009. According to the National Consumer Affairs Center, the number of cases increased from 473 in 2005 to 1,002 in 2009, and the amount of damage increased from about 11 million yen to 220 million yen, the worst ever recorded. The increase in the use of computers at home due to the new coronavirus is said to be one of the reasons for the increase in damage.

The modus operandi is clever and cunning.

Most of the crimes seem to involve foreign organizations, such as those in the Philippines. When the perpetrators display a warning on the screen, they urge the user to call a fake support center. When the user calls, they are told in broken Japanese that they have somehow been infected with a virus, or that there is a possibility that all of their stored data will be lost, and they are asked to pay a support fee of 30,000 to 40,000 yen.

The warnings include logos similar to those of major security companies, and many users seem to trust them. The fake support center may also play a voice message saying, “Microsoft engineers are here to help you. In some cases, the support fee is charged by e-money instead of credit card, which is designed to make users feel less uncomfortable.

In addition to the above, there are many other types of scams. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department says, “Please do not contact the phone number displayed on the screen. If you are unable to turn off the warning screen, please force close your browser or restart your computer.