Weird phone call! "online pc doctor" - Only thread on these scam calls please

Dermot Illogical

kerash wrote: »

Mods might want to merge my thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66000216#post66000216

Is nobody worried about how they got our information to enable them to call us?

Phone book?

kerash

RT66 wrote: »

Phone book?

Ur smrt. :rolleyes:

The guy on the phone said 'you've recently bought a new computer' which is the case, yeah it's probably just plain old cold calls you'd just be concerened about your info when you dont know where the call is coming from.

kerash

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

PC's/laptops are now a common household appliance like Tv's. The assumption is you have one.

The guy presented himself as working for a company who knew my mam had recently bought a new laptop - that's just the concern I expressed, as you say it's likely just cold calls based on the assumption but if not I'd be concerned where these guys gather their information.

liamo30

Just got a call from this crowd - the mrs took the call, and sounded completely confised (i don't think she could understand them!) so the bloke was a bit surprised when I took the call, and basically told him never to ring me again, my pc was fine, and basically eff off!

The last thing he said was....


so you don't want help with your PC??

:rolleyes:


You've got to laugh!

Liamo

poisonated

I got this just there. I knew it was a scam so I just said I have a mac and she hung up....bit cheeky, I have a PC.;) shhh

abregy

My mam just gt a phone call from these and unfortunately she fell for it. They controlled our computer and also charged her for the service after. Shes cancelled the credit card but what i want to know now is can these people look at our computer whenever they want and get our passwords etc. or did they just want the original payment which they got. What should I do now with the computer?

Cyber Mom

This phishing scam happened to my mom, complete novice on the PC, when the caller from "Online PC Care" mentioned a small fee, she realised it was a scam.

As she is brand new to the online world her trail is limited, I have been able to narrow it down to PC World, the retailer she used to purchase the PC.

I called Customer complaints based in the UK, talked to guy who confirmed that they were the source, it would seem that some of their Databases have been compromised. (also applies to Curry's, Comet etc.)

I wonder if PC world would ever consider their customer base important enough to highlight this issue to and to apologise for the breach in confidence! and maybe even treat our personal details with the correct amount of security they are due.

RolandIRL

abregy wrote: »

My mam just gt a phone call from these and unfortunately she fell for it. They controlled our computer and also charged her for the service after. Shes cancelled the credit card but what i want to know now is can these people look at our computer whenever they want and get our passwords etc. or did they just want the original payment which they got. What should I do now with the computer?

Download and run Malwarebytes. also update your anti-virus and run a full scan to see if they left any trace.

Dermot Illogical

abregy wrote: »

My mam just gt a phone call from these and unfortunately she fell for it. They controlled our computer and also charged her for the service after. Shes cancelled the credit card but what i want to know now is can these people look at our computer whenever they want and get our passwords etc. or did they just want the original payment which they got. What should I do now with the computer?

It may seem like overkill to some, but I'd be inclined to format and rebuild. At the very least you should get it checked professionally.
The type of individual who would use compromised customer details for a list of sales targets has had full control of the PC = Not good..

youcancallmeal

RT66 wrote: »

It may seem like overkill to some, but I'd be inclined to format and rebuild. At the very least you should get it checked professionally.
The type of individual who would use compromised customer details for a list of sales targets has had full control of the PC = Not good..

I agree, if that were my PC I would format straight away. Might be easier said than done though if you havent got a breeze how to do it

Dermot Illogical

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0525/1224271087384.html

Khannie

My wife just got one.

Originating number was: +119476632176

Think I'll report it to the Gardaí.

Edit: The giveaway was that the lady kept banging on about windows. It's a linux only household.

youcancallmeal

Would love to get one of these calls just to wind them up! What would be even better is if one of the scambaiting sites somehow got a hold of these guys and got some malware onto their PC's, might even be able to get innocent victims data back?

astonj

My mam got caught with this today when he called back lookin 4 credit card details she realised it was a scam not usin da computer anymore jusin case seemed mostly interested in the credit card details...would they get anythin from emails that they could use??

JamieBly

i'm still laughing at the idea of a tech support person calling ME, instead of me calling them and waiting on hold for 30 minutes haha... i'd be suscipious right away!

JohnMearsheimer

I think Crime Call are doing a piece on this kind of thing tonight.

paradisepaddy

Hey all,

Don't you find it strange that some of you are getting called by you're first and last name with these calls?

Phone book is an obvious thought but i've had this number now for about a month... its a mobile. I still need to look at my phone if I want to give my number to someone because i don't know it. How would they have got this and matched it up to me? Personally I didn't entertain them at all. I think possibly a leak in info from a company or them selling personal data is to blame.

How many of you guys and gals are on Meteor?

Lets start a conspiracy. :pac:

Cyber Mom

Just to check, how many people have purchased something in PC world were they ask for you name and number ie PC, laptop, printer.

Its the PC world database, in the words of the customer support in PC world "their Databases have been compromised"

jarvis

Cyber Mom wrote: »

Just to check, how many people have purchased something in PC world were they ask for you name and number ie PC, laptop, printer.

Its the PC world database, in the words of the customer support in PC world "their Databases have been compromised"

I've never bought anything in PC World and I'm the OP!!!!!

Missed calls today from 001219 and from 001213. Did someone earlier say that one of these numbers called them???
I'd hardly think they'd have another go at me.

Darkglasses

shotgun wrote: »

I told him my PC was running fine and he gave a Dublin number 01-442-9347 which and to ask for Henry Parker

I got a call from Henry also, told me about 20 times that my software was malfunctioning, and told me I needed "Software Warranty". I also asked if they were associated with "Windows", rather than Microsoft...

Except he was claiming that he was working for Global something something...

Dermot Illogical

shotgun wrote: »

I told him my PC was running fine and he gave a Dublin number 01-442-9347 which and to ask for Henry Parker

01 442 is a range used by Skype, so it's not a landline...

Khannie

The mrs just got another call from the same number. Scummers. :mad:

Mizu_Ger

My Mother just called me to say that someone called her this morning, asked "Is this Mrs xxx" (they had her full name) and then proceded to ask her if he laptop was slow starting up and then to describe what icons are on the desktop etc. She didn't remember where he (Asian accent) said he was calling from.

She has a laptop, but played dumb when he started asking questions, so he said he'd call back later, but hasn't so far.

The caller ID on the phone showed "0018884084117" as his number, so I called them and got through to an Asian sounding guy (sounded like he was in an office). I asked who he was and why they were making unsolicited phonecalls. He said he was from "Online PC Care" (I googled this: http://www.onlinepccare.com/) and that they offer PC support, but he didn't give me a straight answer when I asked why they make unsolicited calls. I just put the phone down after that.

youcancallmeal

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

My Mother just called me to say that someone called her this morning, asked "Is this Mrs xxx" (they had her full name) and then proceded to ask her if he laptop was slow starting up and then to describe what icons are on the desktop etc. She didn't remember where he (Asian accent) said he was calling from.

She has a laptop, but played dumb when he started asking questions, so he said he'd call back later, but hasn't so far.

The caller ID on the phone showed "0018884084117" as his number, so I called them and got through to an Asian sounding guy (sounded like he was in an office). I asked who he was and why they were making unsolicited phonecalls. He said he was from "Online PC Care" (I googled this: http://www.onlinepccare.com/) and that they offer PC support, but he didn't give me a straight answer when I asked why they make unsolicited calls. I just put the phone down after that.

That website is so dodgy its hilarious, the testimonials in particular are good. Mark from Australia says

The Technician Ronny, performed immediate and concise solutions to the issues involving thorough virus and malware removal on my PC. If it were not for Ronny's persistent attention to detail and professional effort in fault analysis, these densely problematic issues may have engulfed my PC, effecting several of the worlds most dominating industries beyond all measure. Look over your shoulder Bill Gates, Ronny is on your case, and will rise his tower above and beyond your dreams, creating a web of protection over a world of the infected.

sftwc01

My mother was caught out by this scam, and fell or it mainly because the computer died the day before. My initial reaction after she told me was that some form of malware had been installed the previous day, but having read the other posts on here, I think that may have been a coincidence.

Strange thing was she got the call room a first guy ringing from "Online PC Care" who kept her on the phone for two and a half hours while he pretended to fix the PC (after charging $195 to her credit card). I've no idea what he was looking at , because she is not tech-savvy and can't explain it.

After that call, about half an hour later another guy rang, this time claiming to be from "Online PC Doctors". When Mum told him someone else had been on earlier, he said he must have been a scam (at which point Mum got my Dad to ring the bank and start cancelling the card). He tried to talk her into doing it all again. She promptly hung up at that stage.

The PC World/Curry's link is interesting. She has bought a number of things in Curry's recently and signed up for extra warranty periods, so the previous poster who made the link to them makes sense to me. I wonder can she reclaim her losses from them as they failed to protect their data?

alan89

Darkglasses wrote: »

I got a call from Henry also, told me about 20 times that my software was malfunctioning, and told me I needed "Software Warranty". I also asked if they were associated with "Windows", rather than Microsoft...

Except he was claiming that he was working for Global something something...

Was it Global IT?

Not sure about the PC world info leak but I know alot of VF and Perlico customers are gettings calls from these people with their name, address and recent connection problems!

blondie20

my dad got a call from these guys and he is a perlico customer too. he could not understand how they had his name as the line is only a month old and he asked to stay ex directory. perlico might have some questions to answere here but i recon if you are conned there is a good chance that your credit card company will refund you..as they should be able to reverse the transaction.

Darkglasses

alan89 wrote: »

Was it Global IT?

Not sure about the PC world info leak but I know alot of VF and Perlico customers are gettings calls from these people with their name, address and recent connection problems!

Might have been, but I thought it had two full words after the Global bit, like Global software security or something like that...

Feeky Magee

Just got one of these calls from an Indian claiming to be a "Liam McCarthy", working with Windows, had great fun with him. Told him my bank details could be found at the following URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6161691.stm, then while he was connecting to that I asked him did I have his name right and got him to spell out 'A-P-U N-A-H-A-S-A-P-E-E-M-A-P-E-T-I-L-O-N'... when he realised he'd been rumbled he gave me a woe-is-me speech about needing money for college, I suggested he got a real job instead of scamming unsuspecting pensioners (my dad was nearly tricked, passed him on to me instead), or better yet swap lives with one of the real unfortunates living in the Calcuttan slums.

I also asked him why he was a trophy, he didn't get that one.

OmegaRed

Feeky Magee wrote: »

Just got one of these calls from an Indian claiming to be a "Liam McCarthy", working with Windows, had great fun with him. Told him my bank details could be found at the following URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6161691.stm, then while he was connecting to that I asked him did I have his name right and got him to spell out 'A-P-U N-A-H-A-S-A-P-E-E-M-A-P-E-T-I-L-O-N'... when he realised he'd been rumbled he gave me a woe-is-me speech about needing money for college, I suggested he got a real job instead of scamming unsuspecting pensioners (my dad was nearly tricked, passed him on to me instead), or better yet swap lives with one of the real unfortunates living in the Calcuttan slums.

I also asked him why he was a trophy, he didn't get that one.

I've received these calls also but its happened to me twice. Each time I've copped whats been going on straight away and just told them I don't have a computer (between two of us that are 5 PC's/Laptops in the house ). I was a little worried about how they got the phone number but seems like its been happening other people a good bit.

Anyone have any idea how they are managing to get numbers?