Latest Phone Scam

Kadee

Kadee

SF VIP
Location
Australia
I just received a phone call at Dinner time .The caller was very aggressive as soon as I answered the phone, he said ..We are from Internet support and we are going to delete your internet connection right now ..:confused:

We questioned him to explain to us with whom our internet service is with? .We have pre paid WiFi

He just side stepped the question.. Insisting it had been hacked and we needed to speak to his supervisor to sort it out or our service would not be able to be used for up to three months ..

I Said so, you have changed from being Microsoft to Internet support now and hung up
 

I've never had one of those calls before kadee but I know plenty who have, the best way to deal with them is to say you don't know what they're talking about because you don't have a computer...:D
 
We got a call a couple of weeks ago from someone who sounded Indian saying he was from Microsoft calling about my computer. I hung up. Phoned again about an hour later and hubby answered. Gave him an earful then hung up.
 

Ameriscot said:
We got a call a couple of weeks ago from someone who sounded Indian saying he was from Microsoft calling about my computer. I hung up. Phoned again about an hour later and hubby answered. Gave him an earful then hung up.
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We have had heaps from the ones claiming to be from Microsoft .. This one is new to us ..and the y sound like the same people each time they phone ( Indian accent ) hubby gives them a mouth full prior to hanging up but it never appears to deter them
 
We get a similar one every week or so.. Same thick Indian accent claiming to be from "windows" telling us our computer has been hacked and is sending out a virus and he has to instruct us how to type in code into our computer to fix it. Of course we give him and earful every time and hang up.. but they are certainly persistent. With so many people getting this scam.. you would think they could be traced and shut down.

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...ort-scammers-continue-to-stalk-consumers.html

What's really alarming is that this type of scam shows no signs of slowing down," said Kirsten Kliphouse, the Microsoft executive who heads the company's customer service and support group, in a May 2 blog. "Increasingly, we hear via our front-line support team, and even from friends and family, that these scammers are getting bolder, targeting not only individuals but also businesses."
The scams rely on a combination of aggressive sales tactics, lies and half-truths. Cold callers pose as computer support technicians, most often claiming to be from Microsoft, and try to trick victims into believing that their computer is infected, usually by having them look at a Windows log that typically shows scores of harmless or low-level errors. At that point, the sale pitch starts, with the caller trying to convince the consumer or business worker to download software or let the "technician" remotely access the PC.
The fraudsters charge for their worthless "help" or sell subscriptions to useless services, and sometimes install malware on PCs while they have the machines under their control.
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I've had the same call, but I really enjoy the threatening phone calls from the IRS saying that I'm going to jail. I make a big deal out of it and then slam the phone down. The problem that I have with these guys is that I can't seem to insult them because they don't understand American slang.
 
I don't seem to get those calls any more since I only have a cellphone. I do get all the email scams, though. My all-time favorite email scam came with an extremely official-looking government page that said that child pornography had been found on my computer and a warrant for my arrest was going to be issued. I could get out of it, though, by paying a "fine", using my charge card. Oh, yeah.
 
I just don't answer calls anymore from numbers that I don't recognize. And the number of those calls has gone down to maybe one or two a month if that ...
If it's someone or something important, they can always leave a message. Those weird numbers never do, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything except a good argument.. saves some sanity.
 
Kadee46 said:
We have had heaps from the ones claiming to be from Microsoft .. This one is new to us ..and the y sound like the same people each time they phone ( Indian accent ) hubby gives them a mouth full prior to hanging up but it never appears to deter them
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Same here. Sometimes a ransom virus will pop up with a number that is one of those solicitors. I know a computer idiot who responded to one of those viruses and they charged/conned her 400 dollars to clean & protect their computer. They already had Norton I think and it keeps on clearing a 'tunneling trojan'. A tunnel virus apparently allows another party access and control of their computer. They think the actual scammers/hackers might be from Saudi Arabia of all places. Americans assume the accent is Indian but a seasoned world traveler they think Saudi hackers got them
 
WhatInThe said:
Same here. Sometimes a ransom virus will pop up with a number that is one of those solicitors. I know a computer idiot who responded to one of those viruses and they charged/conned her 400 dollars to clean & protect their computer. They already had Norton I think and it keeps on clearing a 'tunneling trojan'. A tunnel virus apparently allows another party access and control of their computer. They think the actual scammers/hackers might be from Saudi Arabia of all places. Americans assume the accent is Indian but a seasoned world traveler they think Saudi hackers got them
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I'm very familiar with Indian accents, and our caller was from India.
 
Ameriscot said:
I'm very familiar with Indian accents, and our caller was from India.
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I tried mentioning that and they insist Saudis hacked/scammed them. I'm sure a lot of computer and phone scams come from that part of the world. We get an Indian caller a lot as well. "We have detected problems on the computers in your house" But how did YOU detect computer problems in my house, how do YOU know we even had a computer-but that is the key or "in". The naive assume since someone knows they have a computer it's an official call. So with one statement the scammer knows there is a computer at the residence/phone number. They also planted the seeds of fear in someone's mind. But most scams work on assumptions and gaining someone's trust.

Note there fake are microsoft security pop up virus alerts as well.
 
Got a new one today. (I know this is an old thread, but I hate to start a new one just for one entry)

Girl calls saying she's from Medicare, and her purpose is to verify the data in their database. This makes no sense to me, but has me curious, so I play along at first.

1st Question: Is this your correct address? (she states my correct address)

"Yes" (anyone can find that from a phone number)


2nd Question: "Is this your correct age and were you born in...?" (she states my age and correct birth year)

"Yes" (you can guess that from Intellius)


3rd Question: "What is your birthday?"

Hmm.... I said, "I don't like to give out information like that over the phone."


She says, "Well, we'll just keep calling back until you give us the information."

I hung up.

I'd love to hear what her other questions would have been, but couldn't get past the birthday, apparently. If they call again I'll try asking if we can skip that question and go back to it later.
 
Thank you Nancy for bringing this latest scam to our attention ,I know about it ..( heard about it on talk back radio ) but there may be members who don't.

I believe they can be quite aggressive and frighten people into revealing their personal details
 
I get multiple scam calls every week, probably because I pick up (I can't see caller id). One actually called me by a name I haven't had for over 40 years.

I am embarrassed that I actually fell for one (I thought I was more savvy about scam calls) I got a call from the electric company that they were shutting my service for non-payment. If I didn't pay right then, I would have to come to the office and also have to pay a $175 reconnection fee. This was in the middle of a cold snap, I had no way of getting to the office, so I stupidly gave a credit card number. Fortunately I got my head together in a few minutes and called the electric company....there was no problem with my account. I immediately called the credit card company and they closed the account. There was a $312 charge already there but thank goodness I was not held responsible. I still can't believe I fell for that.
 
NancyNGA said:
Got a new one today. (I know this is an old thread, but I hate to start a new one just for one entry)

Girl calls saying she's from Medicare, and her purpose is to verify the data in their database. This makes no sense to me, but has me curious, so I play along at first.

1st Question: Is this your correct address? (she states my correct address)

"Yes" (anyone can find that from a phone number)


2nd Question: "Is this your correct age and were you born in...?" (she states my age and correct birth year)

"Yes" (you can guess that from Intellius)


3rd Question: "What is your birthday?"

Hmm.... I said, "I don't like to give out information like that over the phone."


She says, "Well, we'll just keep calling back until you give us the information."

I hung up.

I'd love to hear what her other questions would have been, but couldn't get past the birthday, apparently. If they call again I'll try asking if we can skip that question and go back to it later.
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Careful here..I have heard that some are recording the "yes" to use elsewhere!!!!
 
Ken N Tx said:
Careful here..I have heard that some are recording the "yes" to use elsewhere!!!!
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I've seen that on the evening news. You say "yes" and they record that to come back at you later and say you agreed to something.
Some also may ask ... can you hear me? .... hang up!
 
Bonnie said:
I've seen that on the evening news. You say "yes" and they record that to come back at you later and say you agreed to something.
Some also may ask ... can you hear me? .... hang up!
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Exactly!
You should not be answering any questions. Doesn't matter if they could have gotten the information somewhere else, you just verified it! Your address, age, anything, it doesn't have to be a phone scam. It could be burglars looking for an old person as an easy mark. They tell you not to talk to the people at all, let it go to your answering machine. If it's a friend they will leave a message. Why would you want to argue or play games with a stranger on your phone? At the very least when you answer your phone, the person/machine calling now knows it's a good phone number. This is why you still have people being scammed, stop thinking you are smarter than the scammers.
 
Good for you! I had something pop up on my Mac about a virus. It gave a number to call which I did mostly because I was curious. As soon as I heard the instructions....allow him to remotely access my computer...I said no thanks.
 
For those still using a landline (and I'm still in that group for now), I'll pass along the name of free service that has helped me to eliminate this type of scam call. Most scammers are using a computer to dial your phone. There is a free service offered (only in the US as far as I know) where if you have phone service over the internet (meaning that your cable provider provides the phone signal), those calls can be blocked. I read about it last year, set it up through my cable provider (Comcast/Xfinity) in less than ten minutes. Now when a computer-dialed phone calls my number, this service detects it automatically. The phone rings once and hangs up. No more having to block specific numbers or listen to the phone ring four times before my machine picks up. Other calls from family or local vendors/government still come through as before, as long as a person on the other end is manually dialing. Worth checking out. It's free and easy to set up. No long and involved registration process either. Service is through http://www.nomorobo.com.
 
Caller ID is your friend, if you don't recognize the number don't answer it.

You can give his ears a treatment if you blow aloud whistle into the phone.
 
I'm pretty cynical and tend to believe that everything is a scam until proven otherwise, however, I hate to admit it, but I actually got suckered into one a while back.

It was one of those quizzes where you answer a set of questions and they tell you which Game of Thrones character you are most like.

It seemed like a pretty harmless fun thing at the time, ( I came out as Cersei by the way:D ) but then later I saw a warning that scammers were using your answers to profile you.
 

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