Blogger turns tables on cyber-scammer

The scareware message told Mr Kwiatkowski to call technical support

A French security researcher says he managed to turn the tables on a cyber-scammer by sending him malware.

Technical support scams try to convince people to buy expensive software to fix imaginary problems. But Ivan Kwiatkowski played along with the scheme until he was asked to send credit card details.

Scareware messages are designed to spook novice users

He instead sent an attachment containing ransomware. He said he wanted to waste the man's time to make the scheme unprofitable.

Technical support scams are designed to scare people into buying useless and sometimes harmful software. Scammers send out emails, create fake websites or place advertisements online, falsely warning people that their computers have been infected with viruses.

This scareware advert looks like a genuine Google Chrome warning - but is fake

They encourage victims to contact "technical support" via a supplied telephone number or email address.

"In most cases, the scammer's objective is to convince you that your machine is infected and sell you a snake-oil security product," Mr Kwiatkowski told the BBC.

When Mr Kwiatkowski's parents stumbled across one such website, he decided to telephone the company and pretend he had been fooled. The "assistant" on the telephone tried to bamboozle him with technical jargon and encouraged him to buy a "tech protection subscription" costing 300 euros (£260).

Mr Kwiatkowski told the assistant that he could not see his credit card details clearly and offered to send a photograph of the information. But he instead sent a copy of Locky ransomware disguised as a compressed photograph, which the assistant said he had opened.

"He says nothing for a short while, and then... 'I tried opening your photo, nothing happens.' I do my best not to burst out laughing," Mr Kwiatkowski wrote in his blog.