Posted on 05/04/2012 7:41:46 PM PDT by Leo Carpathian
Got weird phone call (Clearwater, FL number), someone (foreign accent) claiming to be working for company doing support for Microsoft. Verifying that I am running legit Win 7 and they are having problems with my computer sending messages. Asking me to run some program, seeing warning and then asking me to allow them to access my computer remotely and "fix" the problem. Red flag went up, I asked how he got my phone number, apparently from Win 7 registration, which I don't remember providing. Smells like takeover of my computer. Anyone else experienced this? New scam to take over our computers? If so, please be aware of it.
Oh yes. It is a huge scam.
Oh, Email service by @Optimum.net in NJ area is down since 8:00 am this morning.
Scam. Period.
Yep, I would surrender my computer in a minute ... NOT. I have installed Windows 7 on many of my relative's computers over the last year or so, never once was I asked for a phone number.
Scientologists are in Clearwater but most of them don’t have foreign accents.
Yes its a scam. Microsoft doesn’t call anyone. heck I pay them and can’t get them to call me.
Scammers are using several well-known brands, including Microsoft, to fool people into believing that something is wrong with their computers. The scam typically unfolds in the following manner:
* A cold caller, claiming to be a representative of Microsoft, one of its brands or a third party contracted by Microsoft, tells the victim they are checking into a computer problem, infection or virus that has been detected by Microsoft.
* They tell the victim they can help and direct them to a website that then allows the scammers to take remote control of the computer.
* The cold caller will then spend some time on the computer trying to demonstrate where the ‘problems’ are and in the process convinces the victim to pay a fee for a service that will fix the computer.
“In reality, there is nothing wrong with their computer but the scammer has tricked the consumer into believing there is a problem and that paying the fee is the best way to get it fixed. Often they will also push the customer to buy a one year computer maintenance subscription.
“Don’t be fooled, Microsoft is not cold calling consumers in regards to malfunctioning PCs, viruses or any other matter.”
Sounds about legit as the Nigerian money transfer scam...../ S
Sounds familiar as my mother fell for it, she is 83. Had her report it as fraud and get a new credit card. She was too embarrassed to talk about it at first. I was hard getting the story till I told her, you want them doing it to others too?
The CID will show as being from Microsoft too. I called them when it happened to us. They say there is nothing they can do.
Yeah, that sounds like a new kind of scam that is on the rise. One form of it is fake debt collection actually. All they need is a list of names that go with correct phone numbers. They call and say you registered a product like Win7 and they need access to fix a problem, or that you own $200 and need to pay, etc, etc. Call 1000 people and some of them are bound to have registered Win 7 or owe some payday loan company a few bucks. Apparently the calls might actually originate overseas (Africa or India). The poor English is actually an asset. They either try to trick you (sound like foreign tech support) or bully you into giving them access or money. One of my staff actually got the debt collection version of this on his company mobile and put it on speaker so we could all hear.
* They tell the victim they can help and direct them to a website that then allows the scammers to take remote control of the computer.
Is it possible for “them” to take control if my internet connection is satelite?
I’m asking because I would like my computer whiz son to take control of my computer to fix some things, but he can’t because of the satelite.
A scam? That’s ok, I can fix it if you let me have control of your computer.
Lol.
Perfect.
We had a guy with an Indian accent call us a few months ago with the same pitch. We basically told him we weren’t giving him anything, and weren’t having any problems. He called back a few more times, with the same result, and hasn’t called since. It’s a definite scam.
You can’t blame foreigners for thinking that Americans are gullible. Obama and Biden are clear evidence of that.
I have got this call in the past. Guy said he was from Microsoft and I had a virus.. lol
I ran the guy around, wasted his time, got as much info as i could from him and then gave him holy hell for daring to try to scam me. He cursed me out and hung up.
Mind had a thick indian accent.
Wait. What? You spent more than 15 seconds talking to this guy??
Did he offer you hope and change?
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