Michigan BEWARE: Sophisticated Microsoft Outage Related Scam

Just a few days ago most of the world came to a screeching halt as one of the largest internet outages the world has ever seen affected many parts of the world. Banks, hospitals, airports, and more were all severely affected leaving people stranded and in danger. The outage was later attributed to an update made by the global cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike.

Since then, companies have slowly started to roll back into their old form and running like normal, but this will still be one of the most significant internet outages the world will ever witness. Some places even experienced interruptions with their calls to 911 or a complete loss of service for the dispatch unit. This was like a lightbulb to scammers as they instantly got an idea and are using the Microsoft outage to take advantage of people.

Over 8.5 million Windows machines were affected but a fix was quickly sent out as most of the machines were back in function by the end of day Friday. Time Magazine hopped on the story quick and was able to sniff out those who were legit from the frauds as they broke the news about the scams.

The Time Magazine article says that scammers are using the outage as an opportunity to steal people's information. They are phishing attacks that are disguised as troubleshooting and other help for computers that were affected by the outage. Most of the attempted attacks are coming via email or text but then they require your personal information before being able to fix your computer.

The other scam that is associated is a malware scam that involves the victim being sent a file to click and open to fix their computer. Once they open the file, malware is installed, and the scammer can take control of the victim's computer and take any information they want.

Here's How To Protect Yourself From Scams Like This One:

• Check the official website and other credible news sources to verify the information in the text/email
• Think logically about the situation and if it makes sense
• Does the email address and URL look real or is there something off about them?
• Syntax- the diction, grammar, and writing style can sometimes unfold a scammer
• Check in with loved ones to ensure no one is falling for scams

Here's how to report or black scam/spam calls and texts: