Look who’s covered: the amended TSR and tech support scams

Tech support scams can happen to anyone: small business owners, your employees, and family members — especially those over 60, according to reports to the FTC. These scams usually happen when someone searches online, clicks a promising link, and suddenly gets frightening pop-up alerts warning that their computer is infected with malware. The alerts say to call a number to fix it immediately — and that’s when a so-called “tech support professional” demands payment. Thanks to recently-announced final amendments, tech support scams using telemarketing calls like these are now covered by the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The new TSR amendments extend the rule’s coverage to inbound telemarketing calls for “technical support services,” defined as “any plan, program, software, or service that is marketed to repair, maintain, or improve the performance or security of any device on which code can be downloaded, installed, run, or otherwise used, such as a computer, smartphone, tablet, or smart home product, including any software or application run on such a device.” In other words, the TSR applies when a consumer initiates phone contact in response to an advertisement, direct mail solicitation, or, in this case, a computer pop-up or banner for tech support services — or when a consumer is on the receiving end of a cold call initiated by a telemarketer or seller. The updated rule means better enforcement tools for the FTC.

Want to help your employees, friends, and family steer clear of tech support scams? Here are two things to know:

• Legitimate tech companies won’t contact you by phone, email, or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer. That’s a scam.
• Security pop-up warnings from real tech companies will never ask you to call a phone number.

Looking for the details? Check out the Federal Register Notice.

Want to learn more? Read How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams | Consumer Advice.

Encounter a scam? Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.