OT: fake Microsoft tech called me today = Event Viewer Scam

[eddief]

and I almost fell for it and maybe giving him control of my computer. Watch out. I guess it comes in many forms. Quite persuasive.

http://www.howtogeek.com/180514/the-%E2%80%9Ctech-support%E2%80%9D-scammers-called-htg-so-we-had-fun-with-them/

[oldpotatoe]

and I almost fell for it and maybe giving him control of my computer. Watch out. I guess it comes in many forms. Quite persuasive.

http://www.howtogeek.com/180514/the-%E2%80%9Ctech-support%E2%80%9D-scammers-called-htg-so-we-had-fun-with-them/

I got an email today telling me of my court date.....phishing for email address.

Bogus. I've gotten them from eBay, PayPal and Bank of America...all bogus. Be careful.

[mike mcdermid]

I keep them talking for ages till they get reaaly pissed off and start swearing. Karma

[SlackMan]

I keep them talking for ages till they get reaaly pissed off and start swearing. Karma

I did that too. It was a fine time. I have a recording of it on my phone.

First, I claimed that my wife used the computer, and that I didn't even know how to turn it on. I told him that my wife was out running errands (which was true). He thought he had a sucker.

After burning a bunch of time looking for the power button (I told him I didn't see a power button on the keyboard), I acted like we finally got it turned on.

After getting the computer turned on, he asked what I saw. I kept telling him it was just a black screen with orange letters saying "C:\>" He didn't get the DOS joke, so I moved on. "Okay, now I see the icons."

Then he wanted me to visit a website typed into the run command box. I made typos about 10 times. I must have said "wait, wait, wait, slow down" about eight times. After he would give me the address, I would repeat back "ww.-----" He kept telling me it was three Ws not two Ws, but I kept making the same mistake over and over. He was very patient.

I started getting bored, so I asked him if the command was trying to get to some place on the Internet. After he said "yes," I said "Oh, we don't have the Internet." Then he started dropping F-bombs saying that he knew from the beginning that he was being scammed. When I told him he had indeed been scammed, he didn't seem to appreciate the irony.

After hearing the recording, my teenage son thought I was the coolest dad. All in all, I'm glad the guy called. It was truly a fun time. :D

[chiasticon]

^^^ that's friggin' incredible!

I've had an upping of BS calls lately. one of which is the notorious IRS lawsuit scam. got the same robocall from three different numbers in one day. my brain said "OK first of all, why is the IRS calling from Burlington, VT? Second, the voice to text that Radiohead used on OK Computer 20 years ago sounds more realistic than this thing does. And finally... THIS IS A KNOWN SCAM!" :rolleyes:

[gdw]

The guys from Windows called three times last week to let me know that my computer had a virus. I told them that I was old, partially deaf, and don't know much about computers but would try to follow their directions. With my poor hearing it was hard to understand their commands so they had to repeat everything at least twice. They got frustrated and just hung up after realizing they were wasting their time trying to help an old fart connect a 30 year old calculator to the internet.

[benb]

I've had an upping of BS calls lately. one of which is the notorious IRS lawsuit scam. got the same robocall from three different numbers in one day. my brain said "OK first of all, why is the IRS calling from Burlington, VT?

I've gotten this one a lot.. One thing is see how easy it is to permanently block a # on your smartphone. I only have a smartphone, no home phone so this is really easy.

On the iPhone:

Select Phone App
Select Recents tab
Find the scam call
Click the "i" icon on the right side
Scroll all the way down, the last entry is hidden
Select "Block this Caller"

Then they at least have to change #s to call you again. They use the same #s a lot so this gets some good mileage.

[yngpunk]

I keep them talking for ages till they get reaaly pissed off and start swearing. Karma

You need a bot to do the work for you...

http://jollyrogertelephone.com/about/

[bocarider]

I have 2 games I play with these guys:

- first I start speaking gibberish Hebrew to them, basically reciting stuff from my Bar-Mitzvah, but in a conversational manner so every time they say "there is a problem with your computer" I yell back at them with my haftorah. Eventually they get fed up and hang up and I get a lot of laughs.

-my other bit is to go all Cheech and Chong on them and pretend that I am so wasted on drugs and think they are some guy named Steve that sold me some bad meth or acid or something. I tell them that the drugs are making the devil come out of my computer, so I have to smash it or something like that. Again, the hilarity ensues and I get a lot of laughs out of it.

I think it's funny - my wife just wants me to hang up.

[David Tollefson]

I've had fun pretending to be a radio DJ and they've won $10,000 if they can give me the phrase that pays. I'm usually from KSEX radio... It's been entertaining.

[ultraman6970]

That scam is super old. I never answer to phones i do not know.

IRS will never going to call you, Mongolosoft wont call you either, social security dont have to call you and anybody asking for your SSN or interact with your computer or any computer clearly is not your friend and they are trying to scam you. You dont know the number, just dont even bother.

[pdmtong]

I have 2 games I play with these guys:

- first I start speaking gibberish Hebrew to them, basically reciting stuff from my Bar-Mitzvah, but in a conversational manner so every time they say "there is a problem with your computer" I yell back at them with my haftorah. Eventually they get fed up and hang up and I get a lot of laughs.

-my other bit is to go all Cheech and Chong on them and pretend that I am so wasted on drugs and think they are some guy named Steve that sold me some bad meth or acid or something. I tell them that the drugs are making the devil come out of my computer, so I have to smash it or something like that. Again, the hilarity ensues and I get a lot of laughs out of it.

I think it's funny - my wife just wants me to hang up.

Ha...thats funny. I speak my worst chinese to the same effect. Like I ask them if they would like to sit down and have a drink of water or coffee sort of like what I would do when I was five at my grandfather's house. Or, I make my daughter laugh by burping loudly. Or, I just put the phone down and waster their time that way...

I have to admit, the IRS scam content is very threatening and worrisome (if you believe it) but having been contacted by the IRS previously they NEVER call - it is always by USPS. Still, it is shameful they try to scam the elderly.

[zmudshark]

My wife got one of these a year or two ago. The 'tech' asked how she was doing...the conversation that followed was amazing. She told him that yes, her windows were broken, and bugs were flying in, on top of that she had an affair with her boss, and now she was pregnant, and he fired her, so her day was not going well. It went on and on. The poor guy called back for weeks to see how she was doing and prayed for her, gave up the scam angle entirely.

[unterhausen]

I'm pretty sure that if you really have a computer problem that is bad enough to be detected from somewhere else, you would have no internet service. At least that's what happens at work. We weren't allowed to administer our own web server at work, the computer dweebs had to do it for us. Then, one day, we had no internet service, the web server had been hacked and was part of a DOS on a game site in Texas. So the computer dweebs just unplugged our internet. Do I have to mention that they were entirely unapologetic?

The only time I got the mr. softy scam, I told the guy I had an apple II. He laughed, and said "oh, you have an apple II, goodbye"

[skiezo]

I once had a guy calling to waterproof my basement a few times a week.
At the time we had no basement,only a slab. I kept telling him we had no basement but the calls kept coming. I invited him over and he gave me this big sales pitch. So when it was time to see the basement we started walking around the house and opening doors,closet,bathroom etc. At the last closet door I looked at him an said looks like someone stole my basement.
Needless to say he was very upset for wasting his time.

[tuxbailey]

usually I tried to be polite and listen to them for few minutes then I tell them that I used Linux or Mac (true in both cases in addition to Windows.)

[Blown Reek]

I like to have one-way phone sex with them. The nastier the better, and I've even been told that I was on a recorded line and they were going to call the police.