Windows scam

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Aticus

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Most of you probably know about this but just in case ......

I just got a call from some guy (who was difficult to understand) telling me he was calling from the "Windows Technical Center) and that my Windows computer was infected with some really bad thing and was putting out all kinds of trash. I cut him off at that point and told him that was a difficult thing for my computer to do since I didn't have a Windows machine in the house. He cut off the call. We do have a Windows machine in the house but it's hardly ever connected to the net and I keep it's antivirus and stuff up to date.

I had heard that there was a scam going around about this so was kinda prepared for it. The caller ID showed the call came from the 567 area code (Ohio). I thought I'd put this in the lounge as a heads up.

Enjoy, Pecos
 
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I get those two to three times every year. I either tell them I don't have a computer, or I say "no habla ingles".

Both work well. :)
 
gm272gs said:
I get those two to three times every year. I either tell them I don't have a computer, or I say "no habla ingles".

Both work well. :)
Click to expand...


Me too. :mad: I going to try your "No habla ingles" line the next time they call.
I might even use it on some of the many political calls this coming election. :D
 
A call center with appropriate software can send any number or caller id info they want, so the area code that shows up can easily be made to look "safe".
 
My wife's grandmother (88 years young) got the same call a few weeks ago. She argued with the guy on the other end, "My windows have been just fine for the last 50 years or so." That's when the wife took away the phone & ended the conversation.
 
i've gotten a few of these...the first ended with the caller taking offense to my calling out the scam and the language he threw at me would make a porn star blush. he hung up after i told him that i knew of uncharted caves where i could hid is body where it would never be found.

the second call, i acted really surprised until i called out the scam. the call ended quickly then.
 
I get one of those calls every month, the funny thing is he gives a name like Joe Smith and can hardly speak english.:)
 
So far they've called me 3 times. They've argued with me when I called them on their scam but keep calling. Next time they call I'm going to say hold on while I boot up the computer and just put the phone down and see how long they will stay online.
 
Here is how a friend of mine handled it...
Had an attempted fraud call recently from one of those scammers that wanted to get access to my computer "to help cure the virus and errors they were getting all the time from me". I wasn't made suspicious because he was from the Indian sub-continent and clearly had poor understanding of English, and I wasn't made suspicious because he was calling from a call centre. I think what made me suspicious was [A] I'm not a Telstra customer so why would Telstra be calling me, and he said he was from the Telstra Porn Department. (obviously departing slightly from the script he'd been given to say he was from Microsoft).

I said "where are you from"? and he repeated .. "Telstra Porn Department".

"You are from the Telstra Porn Department? The Telstra Pornography Department?"

"Yes sir, and we have been getting a lot of errors from your computer.."

"Tell me, what do you do at the Telstra Pornography Department?"

"Well sir we have been getting a lot of errors from your computer and we ..."

"I'm fascinated to learn Telstra has a Pornography Department. Do you have many people work there?"

I had clearly stretched his understanding of English because i was suddenly passed to his "manager" who started telling me about the errors they had been getting from my computer and ...

Me : "are you the superviser there at the Telstra Porn Department?"

Supervisor: "what?"

Me: "I was told you are the Telstra Pornography Department".

The supervisor said something that must surely have been a Hindi curse, and the call ended with a 'click' and a smile on my face.
So if you are ever talking to anyone from Telstra, ask them how things are in the Porn Department.
 
I have gotten the calls several times over the last year or so. Last week I tried to explain that I didn't have a computer and this fool actually said I was lying...well it went downhill quick and ended with the fool hanging up...the calls originate in India IIRC...better than cleaning out sewer pipes I guess...

rick
 
I got an E-Mail scam that tells me he is a lawyer that's been trying to find me because a millionaire just died and he found that I have the same "name" as the last remaining relative who stands to inherit all those millions.

He then asks me to send him my #1-name #2-S.S number and #3-birthdate so he can verify that I am the correct person.

Then it said I should also give him my bank account numbers so he can deposit the money into my accounts.

WOW - Like I wasn't born yesterday!

I responded by telling him I would give "HIM" a million dollars if he could actually tell me what my name was - seeing as he spent all this time tracking me down because I had the same name listed as the possible heir.

I never heard back from him.
 
We have one of the several models of Panasonic cordless phones that include an answering system that attempts to "speak" the Caller ID information it receives. If it only gets numbers, it calls them out one at a time.

It also has the ability to simply reject calls that do not display Caller ID information and a generous number memory for numbers that you select to be rejected.

We have been using similar phones for several years. The latest was not expensive. I bought it because it stores more numbers to reject than earlier models and can also be set to not sound the first ring, during which the Caller ID information is transmitted.

It has helped to make life fairly peaceful around here. :D
 
Another 'heads-up,' this time for those approaching age 65. You'll be swamped by offerings from insurance companies pushing their Medicare advantage programs. Nothing wrong here, but I received a phone call from a boiler room, impersonating Medicare, saying they would help me fill out 'the form' over the phone.

I ditched the call. The whole Medicare process can be confusing, but please don't fall for any such phone scam.
 
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