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Unauthorised Offers of Consulting from Non-Dental4Windows/Centaur companies

Published on : 4/10/2019

Centaur Software has again been made aware of a Dental4Windows user receiving a call from someone claiming they were software support staff. They requested remote access to the practice’s computer. The caller was not given access to dial in to the system though they called back a number of times requesting access. Other software companies have also reported similar instances of fraudulent activities to gain remote access into business computers. If a phone call is answered under a business name, it is common for the caller to change from “calling from Microsoft” to “calling from your support company”.

We were unable to confirm any further details other than it was not Centaur Support making the call.  We are unsure what purpose the caller had for wanting dial-in access to the practice’s computers, other than for presumably malicious or criminal intent.

It is, however, important to note that Centaur Software and its customers are not being targeted directly. This is a random scam.

If this does happen to your practice or you have already experienced this, please inform Centaur and also consider notifying the police as recommended below. If you receive or have received a call from someone claiming to be software support staff, we recommend one of the following confirmation methods:

Tell the caller you will call them back. If the number is not either of the Centaur 1300 855 312 or 02 9213 5000 numbers, call Centaur Support and explain the situation.
Fax Centaur direct on 02 9213 5093 or email support@centaursoftware.com.au to confirm
Ask the caller questions only Centaur Support could answer, such as “Confirm my customer ID”, “Computer Identification Number (CIN)” or “What was my last call to support about?”

Do not provide dial in access unless you know the caller personally, you have confirmed the call has come from Centaur using one of the above confirmation methods or you have called Centaur yourself and specifically arranged to provide remote access for a specific support function. If you would like to set up a more secure authentication method, please call the Support Department on 1300 855 312 and your IT Technician.

Please be aware, occasionally Centaur Software will call our customers to arrange remote access to setup new features such as the AutoClient Upgrade feature that is needed before the new Internet Upgrade feature can be used.

Our Support Manager, David MacDonald has previously contacted the NSW Police to request how we might advise our users in dealing with these calls.

If you are confident that the support call is not genuine, the police advise you:

Contact Crime Stoppers directly on 1800 333 000

OR

Report the incident through the following website: www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam
PLEASE NOTIFY ALL YOUR STAFF OF THIS SITUATION, INCLUDING THE CORRECT PROCESS TO FOLLOW SHOULD THEY ENCOUNTER ONE OF THESE CALLS.
Please inform Centaur by return email if your practice has already been targeted. Thank you for your consideration and any help you may be able to provide.

Potential Issue for Avast and HICAPS users

Avast has recently released an update to their Anti-Virus software which is falsely identifying a Dental4Windows file (d4w_hconnect.dll) as infected. This file is needed to allow HICAPS claims to be made from Dental4Windows.

If you are affected by this, you should see a message from Avast stating “the d4w_hconnect.dll is suspicious and has been moved to quarantine” (exact wording may vary based on your version of Avast). In addition, the HICAPS button will no longer be visible when making a new invoice.

We have contacted Avast and they will have the issue resolved in their next VPS update.

Until then, in order to fix this issue, that file must be excluded from within the Avast software along with the file being replaced and re-registered.

Please call the Support Department on 1300 855 312 or +61 2 9213 5000 for assistance.

Please note that this requires making changes to your anti-virus software. If we are unable to resolve the issue, you may be required to contact your IT Tech to assist.

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