The US Federal Trade Commission has received almost two dozen complaints about websites posing as legitimate Canon driver providers. When an end user is first setting up their printer, scammers are hoping they aren’t familiar with the process and will turn to the internet for some help getting things ready to use. Canon, one of the largest consumer printer producers in the world, has become a target for these nefarious and misleading websites.
The breadth of these scam sites is quite wide and some of the scams can be quite complex. After searching for a particular model, a site with a similar domain to Canon’s own website will come up high in search ranking. These sites can lead to any number of different negative outcomes. Some are simply tricking users into downloading malware. At the far end of the spectrum, there are chat popups and support phone numbers that lead to fake customer service call centers where they offer to fix non-existent computer problems for money or, in the worst case, request remote access to a user’s computer. The tech journalism website Gizmodo filed a FOIA request and found a list of fake website URLs and other information about the complaints.
Canon is not alone in this kind of targeted scam. Many popular online services will have knock-off domains put out to trap the unsuspecting. Now more than ever, is it important to be sure you’re going through official channels for support and assistance with companies you do business with online.
BIT understands the treacherous landscape you and your business face in the digital realm and will help you and your staff harden your defenses.
