More fake Windows support calls

[Pat-H]

Happened to be at home today and got another of those helpful calls about the critical erros my computer is sending out.

Same old scam.
They get you to open the windows event viewer and show you the lists of errors (most are just normal under the hood stuff)
They then get you to agree to let a senior tech help resolve them.

So passed on to a senior tech.

The game now is to stall them as long as possible. Pretent to type what they ask but then claim that you see a web page saying site blocked an no options to allow.
they will ask you to go to s u p p o r t . m e as a web page. DON'T visit the page, just pretend to.
They will then ask you to go to w w w . a a m m y y . c o m again don't visit the page, just pretend to. and again claim the page is blocked.

They will then ask you to shutdown the PC and re-start holding the F8 key ( I didn't even do the shutdown restart just pretended to) they will then ask you to try the web link again.

I could have spun it out longer but I work to 30 mins as a good amount of time to keep them on the line.

My last fake web page report was to say it was warning me a hacker was trying to take control of my PC and then blackmail me into paying money to release it.
At this point the guy knows he's been rumbled and isn't very happy.

30 Minutes well spent my end and 30 mins of their time wasted getting nowhere.

So please don't just hang up on them. Have some fun, waste their time, bog them down.

Just don't ever believe they are there to help and never actually enter what they ask you to into the computer.

And you may as well check you have current security software and have it run a scan just to be safe.

[FurtiveBertie]

they will ask you to go to <URL DELETED> as a web page. DON'T visit the page, just pretend to.
They will then ask you to go to <URL DELETED> again don't visit the page, just pretend to. and again claim the page is blocked.

Pat-H, please can you amend the above quote as I have suggested.

I read it exactly as written, ie "Don't just pretend to", rather than your intention of "Don't, just pretend to.

This could potentially be very misleading and dangerously mis-interpreted by other people (not just me).

Better still, delete the URLs completely.

FB

[Steve]

I read it exactly as written, ie "Don't just pretend to", rather than your intention of "Don't, just pretend to.

Agreed, the missing comma completely changes the meaning to the opposite of what was intended!

A good illustration of the importance of punctuation.

Asinglecommacanchangeeverything_01db6b_4787497_zps1a229e41.jpg (24.88 KiB) Viewed 6981 times

[Pat-H]

they will ask you to go to <URL DELETED> as a web page. DON'T visit the page, just pretend to.
They will then ask you to go to <URL DELETED> again don't visit the page, just pretend to. and again claim the page is blocked.

Pat-H, please can you amend the above quote as I have suggested.

I read it exactly as written, ie "Don't just pretend to", rather than your intention of "Don't, just pretend to.

This could potentially be very misleading and dangerously mis-interpreted by other people (not just me).

Better still, delete the URLs completely.

FB

Edited thanks. I've left the spaced out URL so people can see what they will ask you to type. The spacing stops a forum reader clicking on the link and even cutting and pasting won't work.
If a forum user takes the trouble to copy and past the links I've spaced out and then remove all the spaces to make a valid link to then call they are doomed to fall foul any way.