I know this topic has been covered in various threads, but I still see some posts asking about how to find numbers, specifically for Technical Support Scams. A few people have asked me what to do AFTER they've scam baited the scammers, so I'm creating this thread to help people out.
FINDING NEW NUMBERS
1. Go to Google.com and type in "Tech Support". Press Enter. Click on Tools. Then click on Any time and change it to Past 24 hours.
1a. Go to DuckDuckGo.com and type in "Tech Support". Click on Any Time then click on Past Day.
1b. Go to Youtube.com and type in "Tech Support". Click on Filter and click on This Week.
2. Look for phone numbers in the search results for scam tech companies, such as HP, Canon, Google, etc. They typically post these on various forums, or for sale sites like Craigslist and the like. They essentially spam the heck out of these various forums. Copy these numbers down.
Note: These numbers are usually live in 24 hours, so if you cannot call them, try the next day.
AFTER THE CALL
If you happen to find a website with the scam company's phone number listed, look for a "Report" button. For example, you can flag videos on Youtube.com, Vimeo.com, etc.
If the website is hosted on a free hosting site such as 000webhost.com, search for the words "Report Abuse" or "Abuse" and fill out the form. This will let them know the site is fraudulent, and they can remove it quickly.
If the website has its own domain, such as myphonesupport.com, go to https://whois.icann.org and type in the domain. This will let you know who the Registrar is. Look for Registrar Abuse Contact Email and send them an email with your findings. In the case of myphonesupport.com, the Registrar is abuse@godaddy.com.
If you want to go a step further, install the Chrome Extension from Shodan (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shodan/jjalcfnidlmpjhdfepjhjbhnhkbgleap). Once installed, go to the scammer's page and click on the Shodan button. This will tell you who the hosting company typically is (or if it is protected by Cloudflare). Once you know who hosts the site, find their Abuse Report button on their site and report the website, too.
REPORT NEW SITES TO GOOGLE SAFE BROWSING AND WINDOWS DEFENDER SMARTSCREEN
In order to keep the newly found sites off of Google, Bing, etc., do both of the following
- Go to https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/?hl=en and report the URL that is hosting the scammer's page.
- Type the URL in Internet Explorer or Edge and then click on Tools, Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter, Report Unsafe Website. Select both boxes for "I think this is a phishing website" and "I think this website contains malicious software ".
GOAL: The goal here is to keep the site off the Internet and Search Engines as long as possible.
