Ride the Lightning

Beware of Phony Windows 10 Upgrade Scams!

August 4, 2015

As PC World and others reported yesterday, many people are chafing at the bit to get Windows 10. But beware, if you get an e-mail urging you to download an attachment to upgrade to Windows 10 that you don't move too fast.

A post published to Cisco Systems’ company blog outlines how scammers are taking advantage of Windows 10’s launch to push ransomware onto unsuspecting PC users. The emails look reasonably real. Cisco notes that scammers are spoofing the sender’s email address to make it look as if the message is from Microsoft. Also, the blue-and-white color scheme used in the message nearly matches the colors Microsoft is using for Windows 10 marketing materials.

An attached .zip file purports to be a Windows 10 installer, but according to Cisco, the attachment contains a piece of ransomware called CTB-Locker that encrypts your files and requests payment within 96 hours to get the decryption key.

No doubt there will be other scams so be wary of attachments and links in e-mails which want you to get Windows 10. Microsoft is NOT distributing Windows 10 via attachments or links. Your reserved copy of Windows 10 will be automatically downloaded onto your system at some point in the next few days or weeks, and you will receive a notification on your PC when it’s time to install.

Be patient and do not be click-happy!

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