Indians are getting better at dodging tech support scams: Survey
A survey conducted by Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit has revealed Indians are getting better at dodging scam calls or messages claiming to provide technical support and fooling people into paying money. It is a global problem, with three in five people having experienced such scams in past one year and one of them actually falling for the scam. Here are the details.
Indians falling for less tech scams, dodging them better
The survey, which consulted 1,000 Indians, found tech support scams in our nation have a reduced a bit, falling to 68% in 2018 from 80% two years ago. More importantly, of these, only 14% of the users were actually fooled into paying money this year - a small but notable improvement over 2016, where 22% of the targets fell for such traps.
Heightened skepticism, distrust were the key factors
India witnessed better outcomes due to increased skepticism and sense of distrust toward such callers, the survey revealed. The survey, which looked at 16 countries, found millennials and males were most targeted by tech support scam calls. Their risky online behavior, such as visiting torrent websites, drew the attention of potential scammers, which increased their chances of losing money.
However, monetary loss wasn't the only problem
The survey also highlighted that problems from these scammers go way beyond monetary loss. Essentially, dealing with these calls lead to an incredible amount of stress for the targets. In India, in fact, 84% of the targeted victims suffered from high-stress levels after experiencing these scam calls. This is why the Digital Crimes Unit has been extensively reporting cases of such scams.
Here's what Microsoft said
"Microsoft will never pro-actively reach out to you to provide unsolicited PC or technical support. Any communication we have with you must be initiated by you," the company said while stressing on the importance of dodging such callers.
