This is meant to be more informative, but as I had to post a question.... :)
For several weeks I've been receiving random calls from "Windows", asking for my husband by name. Highly unusual-- but every time I said he was at work, they hung up on me. (this is typical that they only want to talk to the men of the house) Finally, they called when he was home yesterday and began their pitch-- that they had 'received an alert' that we had some viruses on our computer, in our hard drive, etc. and that they could fix it for us.
My husband has been working in IT for about 15 years now and told the guy on that phone in no uncertain terms that he has NEVER heard of Mircosoft/Windows contacting users in this way (Windows has NEVER called a user about a 'virus' they see on their computers), he argued with my husband when my husband told him he was wrong, at that point Joe was done talking; hung up. But in doing a search, my guy found that this scam has been going on for a while, a lot of folks (esp. seniors) have been taken in... they get you to give them remote access to your computer and then they will 'lock' it, and basically extort money from you to 'fix' the problem you gave them access to create.
I'm going to include a link to the ARS Technica article in the SWH.
I don't usually post stuff like this, but with so many people out there having lots of tech in their homes (but not necessarily a tech background) this scam could be very easy to believe. Especially our parents and grandparents-- they need to be told to watch out for this.
So, the requisite question: have you heard of this scam, or do you have another little-known one to share about? Let us know...
Here's the link-- the article is actually pretty funny:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/i-am-calling-y...
After getting seveal of these calls and me telling them I know this is a scam and they keep callling back ------ I started blowing a whistle in their ear. They called back 3 times that night and I blew the whistle before I said hello. They haven't called back.
Blow a whistle in their ear works wonders.
I think everyone gets these calls from time to time.
Tell them hang on a minute (make them wait), then say you traced their number and you work for the FCC fraud department and they are busted!
They won't call back.
Yes, I have heard of this scam.
It actually happened to a friend on Facebook and she was warning people about it because she was afraid people would get suckered into giving out info, getting the black screen and being wiped out.
I've not been called but my first question would be how in the he$$ do you know what is going on with my computer? Then say, which one? I would be the one to completely waste their time and frustrate the dickens out of them, hopefully.
Thanks for posting... SO many people fall for these scams.
I got this call once. I knew it was a scam because my husband works on computers.I just started asking a bunch of questions... " You got a call about my Windows system and some VIRUS??" " Yes, Ma'am. And if you'll just go to your computer and give me the blah blah blah number we can get started fixing that." "Oh, OK... what number do you need? No, no I don't see any number here... would it be on the front of this big TV thing, or where would I find it???"
I just let him talk, asking all kinds of silly questions. And then I said " Well, that's odd, we don't even have Microsoft/Windows on our computer. Now how do you suppose you could have been alerted about a virus? In fact how is it possible that your or this company you work for would even have the ability to respond to al the calls you would receive about a virus even if it were possible for it to be set up to notify you? This sounds like you are trying to take advantage of unsuspecting people who might trust you and give you information because you scare them into thinking their computer is infected. Shame on you... do you know that we have a tap on our phone that enables us to trace phone calls..." He hung up on me. Little jerk.
My best advice... Do not ever give any information to anyone over the phone.
I told them that we were aware of the problem and that my husband would take care of it because he works for Microsoft. They sounded confused, but haven't called since.
Yes I have heard of it and actually got a call once! I always tell people that I don't give out personal info over the phone.
We receive this one A LOT actually. If you cuss them out enough they start getting the hint.
Yes, we received that same scam call in the spring, that's when it was happening in our area. Of course, I knew better but a friend of mine from work did not, gave him all of her passwords, it was a nightmare for her. I was surprised that someone would be that naive, and we are not talking about a senior, this was a person in her late 40's. Windows is just an operating system, Microsoft does not see what is happening on our hard drives. It surprises me that people don't know this. I guess they really do think that "big brother" is watching.
Yes, I've heard of this and yes, I got one of these calls. The guy had a heavy accent and when he told me a virus was detected on my computer, my response was "you really think I was born yesterday? You're a scam!" and I slammed the phone down. I've never had another of that type.
What I DO get that drives me nuts are the calls about my credit card and this is my "final opportunity" to get a better rate or higher limit or something stupid like that. I hate these for several reasons - you hang up and then pick the phone back up and it's still going. You have to hang up a couple times to cut it off. Pressing the button to be taken off their list does nothing. I've researched them and for whatever reasons, the agency, I think it's the FCC, can't do anything about them.
So many times now, I screen my phone calls on my home phone for this very reason. I have found that as soon as my answering machine comes on, these recorded calls cut off. What a shame!!
Good luck!!
We get these a few times a month.
When I realize it's them AGAIN I just say "No, you're NOT from Microsoft, you know nothing about my computer PLEASE STOP CALLING!"...It does not work as they always call again but at least I feel better.
They have called here at least twice. But we knew better than to take the bait.
Yep!! Scammers! The ONLY time Microsoft contacts YOU - is if YOU contact them.
Someone got an alert about my computer? WOW!!! Great! I'll get on it right now. Thank you for that!!
Thanks for making people aware!!!
I have heard of the scam and have received calls from them. The guy was quite pushy and did not like it when I told him I thought it was a scam. I did ask for his number so I could call back (which he did give me). Then informed me that he would call me back in 30 minutes if I didn't call him. I told him to NOT call me. I turned all the info in to the Attorney General's office...they responded and also did a local press release on this and another scam. Just a few days ago, I received another call. I told that lady that it was a scam, we both knew it was a scam, and to not call me again.
We got the same call. I told them we didn't have any Windows based devices. He tried to argue with me about what we had.
A friend of mine got the same scam through email. It said their computer had been detected as accessing unauthorized websites or something like that and that their computer had been "locked." The email instructed them to go to Walgreens or Walmart and purchase a specific type of card (data card, not gift card) and send a sum of money that was quite large to get the problem fixed. There was a virus attached to the email and then had to get the computer cleaned.
The scam going on in our area is claiming to be from SDG&E (San Diego Gas and Electric). They claim to be selling solar panels or they claim that you qualify for discounts and whatnot on your bills. I called SDG&E and they confirmed it's all a scam.
There isn't much you can do to block the robocalls. When I've gotten a person I tell them we are on the National "Do Not Call" list. That was an interesting conversation. First it is now assumed that you have caller ID, which we don't because it costs extra. Then they repeat several times that if you get a call again *from this exact number* you can report it. Making it very evident that there are many numbers that they are using and they won't show up on caller ID. My parents have caller ID and a lot of the numbers don't show up with a number to report. Way to work the system there.
When they ask specifically for my husband I always say this is his wife, can I help you. Sometimes they just hang up on me. Other times they start to go into their spiel and I tell them I would never buy something from anyone that calls me unsolicited and hang up, not letting them finish.
They called me several times too. I finally told them I knew it was a scam and that of the ever called again, I'd hunt them down and F them up. TOTALLY not like me, but it worked and they stopped calling! :-)
