JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Microsoft said scammers are using the company's name to convince people to give them money or personal information.
Most of the cybercriminals target users by email, but according to Microsoft, some scammers are using the telephone to bait potential victims.
Microsoft customer Nancy Waters said one of the cyber-scammers contacted her. She said she received a call from a very pushy man claiming to be from Microsoft telling her she had a virus on her computer.
"He wanted to get into our computer system. He said he could walk us through it or we could let him in," said Waters.
According to Microsoft's website, Waters is victim to one of the company's common scams. Other scams include telling people they have won the "Microsoft Lottery," that the company requires credit card information to validate your copy of Windows or the scammers will send unsolicited email messages with attached security updates.
Chistopher Hamer, a computer expert said scammers target companies too. They are after contact information that may be in computer systems.
"They can continue to sell you software or charge you to fix something that was never broken in the first place. They'll talk you into a subscription that you don't need for software that does you no good," said Hamer.
Microsoft said their company does not make unsolicited phone calls to help fix computers or send unsolicited emails about security updates. The company also said there is not a "Microsoft Lottery," and customers should delete the message. Finally, Microsoft does not require any credit card information to validate a customer's copy of windows.