Millennials (aged 24-37) and Gen Zers (aged 18-23) have the highest exposure to tech support scams.One out of six consumers was tricked into continuing with the scam, often leading to victims losing hundreds of dollars to the fraudsters.Three out of five consumers have encountered a tech support scam in the last 12 months.The most interesting results of the survey concern the number of consumers who have experienced tech support scams and the demographics of the consumers who continued with the fraudulent interactions. However, those people who continued with the interaction were more likely to have lost money to the scammers than we saw in our previous survey. The survey results also show that people are generally more skeptical about tech support calls or pop-up messages, which helps them avoid falling victim to these scams. Results from the 2021 survey reveal that, globally, fewer consumers have been exposed to tech support scams as compared to the 2018 survey. This is a follow-up to similar surveys Microsoft fielded in 2018 and in 2016. To measure the scope of this problem globally, Microsoft commissioned YouGov for a new 2021 survey across 16 countries to look at tech support scams and their impact on consumers. But it’s not just Microsoft’s brand that the scammers leverage fraudsters have pretended to be from a number of other reputable tech companies and service providers.

Today, fraudsters have adapted to evolving technology by using more sophisticated tactics or ploys to victimize users online.Įach month, Microsoft receives about 6,500 complaints from people who’ve been victims of tech support scams, which is down from 13,000 reports in an average month in prior years.

This evolved into fake “pop-ups” displayed on people’s computers, again trying to convince them that something was wrong with their computers so the scammers could extract payment for “fixing” fake issues. It started with cold calls, with scammers pretending to be Microsoft employees fraudulently notifying people that they were victims of malware infections or other harmful attacks. Tech support scams are a global problem, impacting people of all ages.

Microsoft onedrive email scam