Someone calls, convinces you they are from a professional tech help team and then help themselves to what's on your PC. Fraudsters masquerading as Microsoft or Apple are hard to recognised unless you know what to watch out for. — Marc Mueller/dpa
Tech support scams generally follow the same pattern: Cybercriminals, masquerading as professional help, tell you there's a problem with your computer so they can gain access to steal your data or install malware.
Sometimes a pop-up appears when you're online, pointing out a problem with your computer and giving a phone number you should ring. Other times the criminals will cold-call you on your phone and claim to be from Microsoft or, less commonly, Apple.
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