Windows 10: Possible Scam. I want to know is this legitimate email

Cybersecurity threats cost the global economy an estimated market value of US$3 trillion, with 71% of companies admitting that they fell victim to successful cyberattacks. As cybersecurity threats continue to rise in India, we see the importance of having trusted software and systems continuing to be a top priority for business owners.


Companies need to ensure the following to prevent and respond effectively to cybersecurity threats:

• Having strong IT asset software & hardware management to ensure proper usage, maintenance and updates and avoiding old and unprotected/non-genuine software which attracts a 60% cybersecurity risk.
• Securing the company from within with the right usage behavior of IT systems, personal devices and interconnected devices Internet of Things.
• Invest in real-time monitoring systems with modern threat protection technologies.
• Buy only from trusted suppliers and use genuine software.
• Use a trusted public cloud which brings the benefit of enterprise-grade data security and privacy protection.

Microsoft would like to work with your organization to help you optimize your Software Assets and get the right advisory services suited to your needs. Having accurate and complete information on your software assets can also empower you to make strategic decisions to use updated technologies to safeguard and grow your business.


We have designed the process in a manner that allows us to provide more value to your organization through steps that will be relevant to your business and IT setup. The key steps and stages are as follows.


1. Receipt of the Engagement Letter at your end. Subsequently an authorized Microsoft representative will contact to assist you across the entire process.

2. Please fill in the attached format above to capture the Microsoft layout in your Organization.

3. Please share details of OEM/FPP licenses purchased as well as any End User Licensing Agreement, details if any.

4. Details of Subscription of any Microsoft program that your Organization may have.

5. Based on your inputs above, we would draw an Estimated Licensing Position,


As the next step, we would appreciate if you could please complete the below details and share back with us so that we can progress our conversation. If you need assistance in filling up the questionnaire, you may seek our assistance and we will guide you through the process.



Microsoft Product



Edition


Version


Quantity /Deployed/In use


Volume License


OEM


FPP


Example


Visual Studio



Professional

2008​

30

30​

If your software licenses are covered under a parent company, please indicate the same so that we could record it for our future reference.


If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.

Please feel free to contact Mr. Dhaval Joshi 9819993792 or me, in case of further assistance required.

Thank you for your cooperation, we look forward for an early and positive response from you.



Regards,

Krishan Kant

v-krkan@microsoft,.com


ISE - SMB

:)

 

Sophiisticated scam or legitimate service?

This is obvious scam. Google employee would never call you.

"I just like to inform you that we are a legitimate company. Without your
permission we cannot control your device because if we need to control your
computer, we have to call you to run TeamViewer software, when you will
share your Teamviewer ID & Password with us, then only it is possible for
us to control your device with your permission. This is the way of a
genuine company."

You need to remember that scammers are always trying to manipulate victims. This is their job. Of course they won't admit that they aren't legitimate or scammers. And them saying that they need your permission for remote controlling "to prove you that they're legitimate" is just another tactic of manipulation, so you think, "oh if they were scammers they wouldn't need my permission."

They are 100% scammers. You must be really very naive to not notice it. Anyway, all you need to do now is to block their number, put them in spam. They will probably try to call you again from the different numbers. Anytime they will call you, straightaway hangup. If they don't stop, I would suggest you to change your number. Also there is another way. I don't know if they were calling you to your smartphone or landline phone, but if it's a smartphone, then most smartphones have this ability where it blocks all unknown numbers automatically. I know it's not an ideal option, but it's the only thing to do if you don't want to change your phone number. For example my android phone has a feature to block calls from the strangers and also block calls from hidden numbers and even from contacts. Anyway, they somehow gained your personal information (number, email and etc)... And also remember, there are whole departments in the world that obtain, collect & then sell such information to scammers.

Next step after blocking and putting them in spam (& also report their emails to google) is to clean install of your windows if there's even a small suspicion that they had remote control of your computer. Disconnect your computer from the Internet. Format your disk and clean install Windows. After this change passwords of your important accounts & increase security as much as possible (very important to enable 2-step verification wherever you can).

And lastly, remember few golden rules:

• Never give your credit card information to anyone! Even if God descends from the sky and asking your cc number.
• Never make a transaction to some company you have not enough information, that has not reputation and name, in short in some shady companies and remember, even reviews can be faked and fabricated.
• Never send money to strangers.
• Never give strangers remote control of your computer.

P.S. I suggest you to use password managers like Lastpass or Bitwarden, definitely use strong password and enable 2-step verification for them & also use strong and complex passwords (You can use this site for generating strong passwords: Strong Random Password Generator or you if you're using Chrome, it also can generate for you and also lastpass and bitwarden also have this ability).

 

Sophiisticated scam or legitimate service?

That number was an old number (no longer in use) for a travel firm in India. A typical scam trick is to 'borrow' a legitimate number.

Not proof of hacking, well, not on your PC anyway. More likely one or more of your email addresses have been pwned. Your details have been stolen in a data breach on one of the sites you used it on.

';--have i been pwned? | haveibeenpwned.com

 

Sophiisticated scam or legitimate service?

Do a Google search for that phone number. It appears on several results and appears to be used by a couple of travel companies and a car hire business as well:





It wasn't 'Google Security Services. Texas' that called you, it was an Indian scammer.

TeamViewer IS a legitimate program... but it can also be misused by scammers. It has nothing to do with the remote desktop services you mentioned... so disabling them would be a really bad idea.

The text of the email is just the usual nonsense that scammers use to try to worry you into paying for a scam service.

It's a well-known scam... so don't fall for it.