Typically that means they have you connect to a remote access site, such as so you can give them access to your computer. The scammer asks you to allow them to access your computer. Or they have you open up the event viewer and point out the many, many errors listed there. To prove that there’s something wrong, they ask if your computer has been crashing recently. They claim that they’ve detected that your computer is causing many errors on the internet or that there are “problems with your account”.

Microsoft, your ISP or any of the other companies these scammers claim to be from are not involved in any way. The scam is very simple: someone calls you claiming to be from Microsoft or your ISP or your anti-malware provider, or some other authoritative company.

To start with, let’s not hook up that external hard drive just yet. Unfortunately, your family member having fallen for the scam puts you in a difficult and dangerous position. In recent years (yes, years) I’ve been getting lots of reports of this scam and its variants. Fortunately, many people are rightfully suspicious and cut it off before it goes too far.

Neither do ISPs, security companies, or pretty much anyone else who might have some role of internet authority. Microsoft doesn’t call people because of errors on their computers.

Ultraviewer scams