Beware of the 'Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection' Scam

A new scam is being distributed online through malicious spam campaigns. The latest attempt to scam people is called the "Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection" scam.

The essence of the scam is that the malicious email impersonates Microsoft support and claims that the victim has been billed over $650 for a year of Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection use. It should be noted that the email has nothing to do with Microsoft Corporation and is a scam that abused Microsoft's name and branding.

Of course, the victim never subscribed or paid for such a service, so the scammers are providing a phone that the victim can use to contact the fake support representatives. Using that phone number will usually put victims through to a person that works for the scammers. From this point on, the sky is the limit - the victim may be asked to provide credit card details in an attempt to "verify" their fake payment, and they may be told to install a fake support tool on their system that is really malware and so on.

The full text of the scam is as follows:

Microsoft

Dear Customer

Thanks for using Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection.

We thank you for completion of 1 Year.

We tried to contact you on your registered email ID but couldn't get through.

Date:- DD.MM.YYYY
Amount Paid: 650.99 USD

Customer Support Agent on +1(888) 819-2174
Invoice Number: RUY0-6HJEY-5IUK

Description
Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection
Firewall & Network Protection
Amount $650.99
Total $659.99

If you have any queries about this invoice, simply reach out to our Support Executive on +1(888) 819-2174 (Toll Free) for help.

You have 24 Hours to refund this charge from the Date of transaction without being charges.

Our Support Team will gladly assist you with any questions or request.

Regards, Microsoft Support Team

Be aware of similar scams and exercise common sense to stay safe from similar relatively low-effort scams.