Indian police have shut down several call centres full scammers posing as Microsoft, Google and Apple support staff.
Over the last two months more than 60 people have been arrested and 26 centres closed down, Microsoft said.
"The growth of unregulated call centres in India involved in such scams and frauds is indicative of the scale of the issue," Microsoft spokesperson Courtney Gregoire told the New York Times.
"Victim reports indicate that this is a global problem, targeting victims from most English speaking developed countries."
Most of us would have received at least one of the calls. The person on the other end will claim to be from Microsoft, and say they need to access your computer. Rather than fixing anything however, they'll install malware or lock the computer down, demanding ransom money to release it.
Microsoft says it has had thousands of complaints from 15 different countries about the scams, which typically originate in India. The Windows maker received 153,000 complaints in 2017 alone.
New Zealand is a popular target, with three out of every four Kiwis saying they've been called by tech scammers. Young Kiwi men are the frequent victims, Microsoft says, because of their "tendency towards risky behaviour and overconfidence in their technical abilities".
- Phone scammers using PM Jacinda Ardern's name as bait
- 'Pretty sad scam': How an elderly Waikato man lost $30,000
Despite the phone scams being widely known, the company estimates Indian crooks make about NZ$2.1 billion a year from gullible victims.
Newshub.
