Got a call from "Microsoft" - Yeah, Right.

[lclev]

Okay, so there I was cooking for Thanksgiving when the phone rings. Caller ID shows just a phone number, no name so I assume ... telemarketer. Nope.

A very foreign sounding man said he was calling from Microsoft because my Windows computer was contacting them with all kinds of error messages. He wanted me to go to my computer, open a browser and go to a specific website.

I told the guy I had a Mac and he said "What's that?" I said it's an Apple computer, you know, the other guys. He got flustered and said it didn't matter, just go to the site he was going to give me. I said I was an IT and I was very familiar with computer security and this sounded like a scam to me. I paused to wait for the response. He started laughing and said I was kidding him and I wasn't really an IT. I said sorry, I was and this conversation was over and hung up. I thought later - darn- should have gotten the website. But I was cooking and had to go.

I immediately called one of my best friends to warn her because I know her - she would do whatever they asked and she does have a Windows PC. She agreed that it would never occur to her it was a scam.

I did wonder if I had been having a blond moment and had gone to the website would my Mac been infected or would they have asked for personal information?? Guess I will never know.

Lisa

 

[chscag]

LOL, I suspect they thought they had a "Turkey" and were going to try to get you to give them your private info like credit card numbers and who knows what else. Good show Lisa, you avoided a scam for sure.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

An interesting read about this scam: “I am calling you from Windows”: A tech support scammer dials Ars Technica | Ars Technica

 

[pigoo3]

Spam comes in all forms...not just e-mail.

- Nick

 

[lclev]

An interesting read about this scam: “I am calling you from Windows”: A tech support scammer dials Ars Technica | Ars Technica

Interesting article. I wonder if I had had time to mess with him how he would have walked me through looking at error messages on my Mac. I got the impression he had no idea what a Mac was.

Lisa

 

[dtravis7]

I have visited sites in the past that told me my Mac had a Registry and wanted to clean it and delete the DLL files! Grin

 

[Sawday]

Not a new story - here in the UK we've been getting these calls for several years. I used to tell them very loudly to **** off and put the phone down. Now I play a game to keep them on the line for as long as possible... "Just a minute someone is at the door..." (put phone on desk and carry on working) then "I'll just turn my PC (sic) on...", "Sorry, can you repeat that", "Hang on my son is calling..."

My record is 28 minutes. Result!!

 

[McBie]

We got a similar call last week and my daughter picked up the phone and she fell for it.
( She is the only one in the house with a windows PC ).
Luckily our oldest daughter read about it in the newspaper and asked what she was doing and took over the phone and she kept these guys busy with all kind of questions like ..... I can't connect to that web site because of error xyz etc .... was funny really.

The crucial thing with this kind of malicious behaviour is ..... awareness.

Cheers ... McBie

 

[docx]

Not a new story - here in the UK we've been getting these calls for several years. I used to tell them very loudly to **** off and put the phone down. Now I play a game to keep them on the line for as long as possible... "Just a minute someone is at the door..." (put phone on desk and carry on working) then "I'll just turn my PC (sic) on...", "Sorry, can you repeat that", "Hang on my son is calling..."

My record is 28 minutes. Result!!

I can beat that. My record is over 40 minutes.
By the end of the call the guy completely lost the plot and was shouting and swearing down the phone. Best fun i've had in ages.

 

[tornadochaser]

I got a call like that yesterday afternoon...i already knew about the game so i let him hang on the line and wait .. told him i had to find the windows pile of crap machine and then told him ooops i forgot i got rid of microsoft crap about 3 years ago and only use mac. he said something i couldnt understand and hung up

 

[firesidedog]

What? You mean you didn't get to talk to Bill Gates?

 

[harryb2448]

Regular attempt Down Under and has been so for five or six years this 'Windows Technical Service' thing in an Indian accent.