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Phone scammers call the wrong guy, get mad and trash PC
Quote:
Have you ever received a call from someone with a heavy Indian accent from Microsoft saying your computer had errors or viruses? The purpose of these calls is to get an easy $299 (or whatever amount they choose) by scaring you into thinking there’s something really wrong with your computer and that they can fix it for you.
These telephony scams have been going on for many years and scammers keep robbing innocent people sadly because their success ratio is still worth their time and effort. It happens that I got ‘the call’ while minding my own business on a regular work day. I immediately recognized what this was all about and decided to play the game to see how far this would go.
Computer type PC/Desktop OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 CPU INTEL Core i5-750 Quad-Core 3.37GHz Motherboard ASUS P7P55D Memory HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz Graphics Card EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 Monitor(s) Displays LG 27MP33HQ 27" IPS Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
PSU ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS, 550W Case ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion Cooling COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 4 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Noctua's Hard Drives Samsung 840 Evo 120GB, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache Internet Speed 85 + Mbps Antivirus Avast Browser Opera
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Build OS Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit CPU Intel i7-3930K Motherboard ASUS P9X79 WS Memory Kingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modules) 1600MHz DDR Graphics Card MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR Sound Card Asus Xonar Essence STX Monitor(s) Displays 3x Asus VG248QE 24", Vizio 32" TV Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080, ?
Keyboard Logitech G510s Mouse Logitech M525 (two in use) PSU Corsair HX750w Case Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified) Cooling Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm) Hard Drives Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer. Internet Speed =< 32Mbps down, 8Mbps up Antivirus AVAST!, MBAM, SAS, Spybot S&D (all but MBAM free) Glary Util Browser IE11 Other Info LSI 9211-8i HBA card (8 SATA III ports), 2.5" & 3.5" Hot Swap Bays, HooToo HT-CR001 PCI-E to USB 3.0 Internal Hub + 6 Slot Card Reader, and LG Model CH12LS28 BD-ROM Optical Drive. Also, ScanSnap S1500 ADF duplexing scanner, Canon 9000F flat bed scanner, Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers, Samsung CLP 415nw laser color printer, Cyberpower PP2200SW UPS
Computer type PC/Desktop OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 CPU INTEL Core i5-750 Quad-Core 3.37GHz Motherboard ASUS P7P55D Memory HyperX Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1866Mhz Graphics Card EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Superclocked 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 Monitor(s) Displays LG 27MP33HQ 27" IPS Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
PSU ANTEC TruePower New TP-550, 80 PLUS, 550W Case ANTEC Three Hundred Illusion Cooling COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus, 4 x 120mm 1 x 140mm Noctua's Hard Drives Samsung 840 Evo 120GB, SEAGATE 500GB Barracuda® 7200.12, SATA 3 Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache Internet Speed 85 + Mbps Antivirus Avast Browser Opera
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Own build OS Windows 7 x64 Professional CPU Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93 GHz Motherboard Intel Whitesburg P55 LGA1156 Memory Kingston Hyper X 1333MHz DDR3 4x2Gb Graphics Card Nvidia GTS 250 ECO 1 Gig 256 Bit Monitor(s) Displays Phillips 22" 221E1HSB LCD Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080
Keyboard Genius Mouse Genius PSU 650W Case Coolermaster HAF 912 Cooling Stock Hard Drives Western Digital 1000GB Hard Drive (SATA 3.0Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache)
Verbatim 500GB (External) Antivirus MSE Browser Firefox Other Info LG OptDrive 24x SATA DVDRW Lightscribe
Have you ever received a call from someone with a heavy Indian accent from Microsoft saying your computer had errors or viruses? The purpose of these calls is to get an easy $299 (or whatever amount they choose) by scaring you into thinking there’s something really wrong with your computer and that they can fix it for you.
These telephony scams have been going on for many years and scammers keep robbing innocent people sadly because their success ratio is still worth their time and effort. It happens that I got ‘the call’ while minding my own business on a regular work day. I immediately recognized what this was all about and decided to play the game to see how far this would go.
Many thanks for this post! I just got one of these myself, and they used the same script.... I allowed them access to my computer, and since they they told me they were Microsoft Windows Repair Albany, I began a google search for that item right in front of them.... the guy immediately took control and said here is where you need to look and went to W3C Validation website and said "see... this confirms our validity." RED FLAG .... Then began the quest to pull up msconfig and note how many services were stopped.... RED FLAG.... then the error log (of course I had a lot - I was drowning in BSODs), but he said that proved my computer was full of viruses but for a small, one-time fee he could fix it for me..... ENOUGH. I hung up/disconnected from internet, and immediately changed the password on my email account. I can't believe I let this guy scam me into allowing internet access to my PC. I thought I was smarter than that.... oh well.
The point is that they are good at what they do.... just like pickpockets and other felons. This post is helpful mainly because it is a perfect capture on their game.
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom OS Windows 7 Pro 64bit CPU Intel Motherboard Intel Executive Series Memory Corsair Graphics Card onboard
Hard Drives Seagate Antivirus Microsoft Essentials Browser IE9
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Home made Desktop OS Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64 CPU Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3 Motherboard ASUS X-99 Deluxe II Memory Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400 Graphics Card EVGA GTX 1070 OC Monitor(s) Displays Asus 27" LED LCD/VE278Q Screen Resolution 1920-1080 or 1280-720 HDMI
Keyboard Das 4 Professional Mouse Logitech M705/MX Anywhere 2-S PSU EVGA Platium 1200W Case Phanteks Luxe Tempered Glass 8 fans/ one radiator Cooling XSPC/ Water Cooled CPU Hard Drives INTEL SSD 730-240 Gb Sata 3.0/ Internet Speed 100 mbits Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials/ Malwarebytes Premium 3.0/ SAS Browser I.E. 11 default/Firefox/ ISP Time Warner Cable/Spectrum Other Info LG BluRay Burner/
Sound system-KLipsch-THX/
Icy Dock ssd Hot Swap bays.
Damn they tried that on me too but I messed around and played with them as I know none of my PC's were doing this they ended up calling a few more times and giving up
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number CoreI7-6700K MrFingerIII Special Builds OS Windows 10 Home Premium 64bit sp1 CPU Intel I7-6700K @ 4.6 Ghz 1.344 volts everyday OC Motherboard Asrock Fatality K6 Z170 Socket 1151 Memory 32GB G-Skill TridentZ 3200mhz 16-18-18-38 DDR4 Graphics Card Sli Gigabyte Windforce GTX 980 G1 Sound Card AC97 Creative Rage Tactic 3D Headphones Bluetooth Monitor(s) Displays 27" Asus ROG Swift PG278Q G-Sync 48" Vizio Smart HD TV Screen Resolution 2560x1440p 27"- 48" Currently Gaming at 2560x1440p Res 2K
Keyboard Logitech wireless keyboard Mouse Logitech wireless mouse PSU HX1050w Corsair Silver 80plus certified crosfire/sli Case Enthod Pro Full Tower Cooling Corsair H110i GT 280 mm High Performance WaterBlock Hard Drives 250GB Samsung Evo840SSD Seagate baracuda 500 GB WD Mybook 500Gb 1TB Seagate Barracuda Internet Speed Cox Cable 100+ mb Antivirus WebRoot Spysweeper with Antivirus Browser IE-10, Chrome, Opera Other Info My Other Rig is a AMD FX8320E @4.6Ghz 16GB Ballistic Sport Ram
Mobo Asrock Fatality 990FX 120GB OCZ SSD 1TB Seagate Barracuda Corsair H75 Cooling PSU Corsair CX750
GPU GTX Gigabyte 970G1
It has never stopped Tom, more ratbags are seeing how easy it is to steal.
I didn't understand her either. I talked to a real tech like that once (I had called) who had a thick accent so I asked for someone who spoke English. She arrogantly informed me that she was "speaking perfect English..."
Instead of trying to push people to Win 8 and Surface MS should embark on a campaign that would actually be useful. Do as most banks do and tell you they will never call you or ask for a password or the like.
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Built Desktop By DataTech OS Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1 CPU Intel i5-2550K, Differing ~4.4-4.8GHz No built in GPU Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Memory 16GB G.Skill Sniper 1866MHz @ 2133MHz 2x8GB Graphics Card ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5, (650TI Boost) Sound Card Onboard Realtek 5-1 Monitor(s) Displays Samsung P2570HD Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Keyboard E-Z Eyes, bright yellow keys with large characters Mouse steelseries SENSEI Laser Pro Gaming PSU Corsair HX650W Case Inwin Dragon Rider Cooling Hyper 212 EVO w/two Noctua fans, push-pull, @1300 RPM Hard Drives Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD for OS, 500GB Seagate Constellation (Enterprise drive) for Data Internet Speed 48-51Mbs Mbs down, 11 Mbs up Xfinity Cable Antivirus Norton Internet Security 2013 Browser IE 10, Opera, Pale Moon if needed Other Info 4 case fans, LG BluRay-RE, ASUS DVD-RW, Mr. Fusion power supply, 1.21 gigawatts.
My stepmother got one of these calls last winter. Luckily,VERY luckily because she's extremely naive about computers/internet, I was there and as soon as she heard "computer" she handed me the phone. I just laughed at the caller and hung up. Had JUST cleaned her old xp machine so knew there was nothing wrong or in it. Gave her a little advice/lecture about bad people on line. Sad to say, if I hadn't been there she would have done whatever this jerk had asked. Think she'll be better now, but.......
Help with phone call I just got a call on my cell phone from someone saying they are from online tech support. Don't have any way of supporting who they are. They wanted me to down load a program called Team Viewer. I didn't do it cause I don''t know who he was. I just hung up. Since then I went back to another part of...
General Discussion
Microsofts take on phone scammers Just found these articles on Microsofts site.
Avoid Phone Scams | Cybercriminal Tech Support Scam | Security Threats
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/msname.aspx
How to report phone scams in the US:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams
Chillout Room
Interesting phone call I got a call today from a gentleman claiming he was from Windows Technical support and that he had some reports that my computer was having problems.
This seemed like the same scam call I've had in the past so I gave him my standard answer which is to ask which machine he was talking about since...
Chillout Room
i want to use the phone call feature!How to? Hi,
I wanna use this feature with teamspeak 3:
http://res1.windows.microsoft.com/resbox/en/Windows%207/Main/6/e/6e4ae5a5-0f21-4c0b-b7a1-07be9115d157/6e4ae5a5-0f21-4c0b-b7a1-07be9115d157.jpg
is there any way to customize the settings which decides what is an "internet phone call" or not?...
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