back to article Tech support scammers use denial of service bug to hang victims

Tech support fraudsters have taught an old denial of service bug new tricks to add a convincing layer of authenticity to scams. The HTML5 bug allows sites to chew up a mountain of processor capacity, causing browsers to hang. Scammers deploy the few lines of code needed to trigger the bug, hang browsers and then display a …

  1. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge

    Ne'er-do-wells *rolls eyes*

  2. Simon Harris

    Breakfast on my mind.

    I was quite sure the strap-line said processed pig until I re-read it for the third time.

    A Denial of Bacon scam - now that would be serious!

  3. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

    Bug

    I'll admit that I'm not up to the level of caffeination required for a Monday morning, but the sample code shown doesn't look like a bug to me - it just looks to be something which will do stuff and tie up CPU cycles.

    Malicious code, yes, but I don't see how this would be categorised as a bug

  4. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
    WTF?

    Millennials?

    But...but...I was told they had all the answers?

    (and work way cheaper than me)

    I'm shocked.

    1. Mark 85
      Trollface

      Re: Millennials?

      But...but...I was told they had all the answers?

      The only ones with the answers have man-buns. The rest... not so much.

  5. e^iπ+1=0

    Wanky story

    "The most likely target of these scams are millennials, according to Microsoft research last month that found that age group are far more likely to fall hook and sinker for the cons than greybeards.

    This could be thanks to the proliferation of blue screen of death tech support scams on popular torrent sites like Kick Ass Torrents and The Pirate Bay."

    This looks very much like cut and paste journalism from this esteemed organ:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/20/millennials_easier_bait_for_tech_support_scams_than_baby_boomers/

    "The proliferation of tech support scams on torrent sites could suggest millennials are more likely to encounter the ruses, though this is not mentioned in the report"

    Incidentally, the aforementioned 'Kick Ass' may have been offline for some time.

    Hence, an onanistic article.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have a little side hobby of messing with these scammers. I'll collect phone numbers and get them to connect to VMs with all sorts of nasty surprises. Used some third-party software to launch GNAA's Last Measure (a browser-crippling shock site with all sorts of nasties) whenever they open event viewer or cmd.exe. Voice changers to pose as female or so they won't recognize my voice after multiple calls, throwaway skype and gmail accounts, leaving nasty pr0n on the screen, the list of tools for ruining a scammer's day is endless.

    Sure, it's an indicator that I have no life, but every minute that I tie up their phones is a minute that they're not ripping off people that don't know any better. And it's quite hilarious.

    1. Mark 85
      Pint

      At least you're using your mad skillz for good and not evil. Have fun and a beer for that.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    HTML5 History API strikes again!

    What's NOT wrong with it?

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like