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Pat-H
WoLFer
United Kingdom
2404 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 14:21:20
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Just a heads up folks.
I'm sure ot many would be daft enoughh to fall for this ploy but I had a call today from a gentleman who wanted to help me check my computer for viruses and infections.
He told me how to check my system event logs and advised me the warnings there were indications of infections (which of course is total rubbish)
Needless to say I manage to spin nearly 30 mins of time on the phone pretending to follow his helpful steps but the websites he asked me to visit to fix my problems wouldn't open (because I wasn't even trying them) Eventually I got bored and told him I'm an IT guy and he was trying to hyjack my computer at which point he got very upset and me wasting his time. Which of course was the point as it stopped him trying it on somebody else.
The sites he was trying to get me to visit were www logmein123 com www ammyy com (deliberarly not typed as proper web links by me so nobody clicks on them by mistake)
So if somebody calls to help fix you PC either hang up or even better pretent to folow their instructions and stall them for as long as you can.
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malcmac
Average Member
United Kingdom
380 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 14:36:06
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Pat you scambaiter you.....
I wish they would call me just for enjoyment factor of doing what you did. |
Edited by - malcmac on 04 Mar 2011 14:36:22 |
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pinkiepink31
Junior Member
39 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 14:52:05
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| I had one of these calls the other day. He was very quick to hang up when I told him in no uncertain terms he was not having access to my computer. Big scam! Please advise all your not so computer savvy friends and family not to entertain these callers at all. From what I have heard they remotely take control of your computer through the aforementioned websites and basically hold you to ransom on the pretext they have repaired imaginary problems/bugs etc... |
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Craig
Project Leader
United Kingdom
2312 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 15:10:10
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I had same call a few weeks ago as well.
As did Pat, I just kept him busy for as long as I could be bothered and finally told him that we both knew this was a scam and he was wasting our time.
He didn't protest that much which surprised me. |
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Scottman
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1760 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 16:57:45
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| I have had this call and so have other friends. The best thing I did was tell my 87 year old dad about it - he had a call a few weeks later and gave them short shrift. |
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Scottman
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1760 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 16:58:54
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Hello .....Mercury .... please could you run this as a story to help your readers not fall into this
trap
Thank you ! |
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spear
Advanced Member
1380 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 17:06:24
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Had these guys several times recently. I'm always amazed they can tell I have all these problems even when the pc isn't switched on.
In fact logmein is a legitimate remote access site - at my last office the IT bloke used it to fiddle with your pc from his office - these people are just using it to get access to your computer |
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david c
Senior Member
United Kingdom
756 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 17:46:36
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I can also say that logmein is a legitimate website that is used within my company by remote users wanting to gain access to their desktop pc in the office.
I have also received a phone call simlar to the calls described above as well, and initially pretended to entertain the caller, but after receiving several of these calls, they now get very short thrift!!
I have to agree, i am amazed that they can tel my PC/laptop is having problems when i have only just ogt out of bed and the laptop isn't even switched on, neither are the modem or wireless router!! Amazing!!! |
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Mel
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1296 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2011 : 19:34:33
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| Thanks for the warning especially as I've just had a problem with malware on my pc, it eventually had to have a restore. Wonder if we would have fallen for this if he had phoned up this week? |
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steve
Moderator
United Kingdom
1353 Posts |
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brassdoorknob
Average Member
United Kingdom
407 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 00:06:11
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Unfortunately I have, on several occasions, come across people who have mislead by these scams and worse still, one or two have even submitted banking and personal information! In all cases, the "work" done was of no benefit whatsoever (AND NEVER WILL BE).
There are several examples of these scams recorded and posted within youtube, I have copied and pasted 2 example links below: -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhV6rIgyQ-s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41vbCFXqRy8
Like Pat and Craig, I played along with these so called tech support guys (sometimes using a virtual/sandboxed instance of Windows that I could just terminate at any time), and even dropping the following quotes along the way does not always shake them off!!
* "Is this one of those SCAM calls?"
* When being asked to type stuff such as a website URL or a command, I ask: "Is it S for 'Scam', F for 'Fake' or 'Fraud', T for 'Timewaster'?", etc
* "I'm not paying you anything"
etc.
When I got bored, it was finally time to unleash:-
* "I don't have an Internet connection" (although, on one occasion that didn't put off one caller!)
* "My PC doesn't run Windows", or "is broken"
* "I don't have a computer!"
So, basically, should you receive one of these calls purporting to be from Microsoft - unless you have time to waste in the name of research (although 3 of us here have already done this for you!), or just for fun, then juuuust haaaaang up! :) |
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Andy B
Moderator
New Zealand
3159 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 02:04:45
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Or as they are paying for the call say continue speaking I am listening and put the phone down and carry on with life.
Who knows they may take the hint!! |
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steve
Moderator
United Kingdom
1353 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 02:20:14
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There was also an article in The Guardian about this just yesterday.
I'm amazed at the gullibility of some people. If someone calls me out of the blue and tells me there is a problem with my PC, the first thing I want to know is who they are and how they know. Apparently, some callers claim to be from Microsoft and claim that the information came from the users ISP. Surely, if an ISP detects a problem with a computer connected to their network, they're going to contact the person responsible for that computer, not a third party like Microsoft.
This is nothing to do with how technical you or how much you know about computers, it's how much you know about life.
The same technique is used by scammers who knock on people's doors to tell them there's a hole in their roof and offer to fix it for a ridiculous amount of money.
It just seems that some people WERE born yesterday.
I applaud those people who took time out of their day to waste the scammers' time. Whilst they were tying them up, the scammers weren't able to move on to other targets.
Unfortunately, most of these lowlifes are beyond our shores and there's very little that we can do about them without international co-operation. All we can do is raise awareness. |
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Scottman
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1760 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 11:03:13
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Sorry Steve - disagree. You too will get taken advantage of by friends or acquaintances or contacts sometime in your life when someone finds your own blind spots.
Unless people make it an absolute rule NEVER to buy anything over the phone then various sorts of telephone scams will continue - witness the BBC story this morning about people being taken in on land speculation deals. I've had those calls too.
Unless you are very confident in yourself and in the medium you are working with - you will get caught one day. Computers are a living mystery to most of us and we are easily confused and led.
I will tell you my scammed story another day ... |
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Justme
Advanced Member
1046 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 18:11:15
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My first question to this would be How do these people get hold of your telephone number???? And who, in their right mind, would entertain such a conversation anyway.... So much gullability is unbelievable. |
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Pat-H
WoLFer
United Kingdom
2404 Posts |
Posted - 05 Mar 2011 : 18:38:25
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It's not difficult to get hold of phone numbers unless your ex directory.
And many people are trusting and unsuspecting. And some "entertain" the call for the entertainment value :-) |
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Mel
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1296 Posts |
Posted - 06 Mar 2011 : 08:08:10
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| I have to agree with Scottman until you've been a victim you'll never know. To have the call come and say your wallet has been stolen and the bank card used fraudently you never know how you are going to react. Hasn't happened to me, but someone our son-in-law works with. |
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Scottman
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1760 Posts |
Posted - 06 Mar 2011 : 16:47:45
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On a related matter - is anyone else getting repeated 'dead' phone calls to ther home landline ?
I've received about a dozen of these over the past 2-3 weeks, and I am starting to wonder if someone is
checking to see if anyone's in !!!
Any similars ? |
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RichardH
Average Member
United Kingdom
381 Posts |
Posted - 06 Mar 2011 : 17:23:38
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I think these can sometimes be those annoying autodialers from sales calls - they autodial your number, then you answer and in theory get put through to an operator, but if they're all busy then you'll get a dead line.
Are you registered with the TPS? |
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