A type of computer fraud in which cybercriminals impersonate legitimate customer support teams. The aim is to obtain financial reward for resolving bogus issues. The techniques employed can be either technical (for example, locking the computer screen) or psychological—when the victim is persuaded that their computer is infected with a virus or underperforming.
Sometimes cold calls are made to unsuspecting users with the aim of gaining remote access to their computer or eliciting their bank card details or other confidential information. Remote access to the device can be a means to install malware.