"Microsoft" Scam Calls

biko · 07-05-2013 01:25AM

Haven't got a call myself yet but there's tons of threads on the scams, in AH and Computer forums. Not sure if someone actually have been scammed.

Chrome Crusader · 07-05-2013 02:16AM

"I am calling about your windows computer"

Yeah?

"Your windows computer"

FUck off <insert racial slur> !

Amirani · 07-05-2013 04:32AM

Chrome Crusader wrote: »

"I am calling about your windows computer"

Yeah?

"Your windows computer"

FUck off <insert racial slur> !

That'll show them.

07-05-2013 07:23AM

biko wrote: »

Haven't got a call myself yet but there's tons of threads on the scams, in AH and Computer forums. Not sure if someone actually have been scammed.

One of my neighbours got as far as loading the "help page" before realising it was a scam as the page asked for her pin, she dropped the call, but the malware* was already uploaded & running.

I cleaned up her PC and she cancelled her card

* I think it was a botnet app

Freddy Smelly · 07-05-2013 08:04AM

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Used to live in NZ and got them every few weeks. Never had one in Ireland. I can only presume that as we are not in the phone book here, but we were in NZ that's where they're getting the numbers from. I used to just hang up on them.

they dont use phonebooks to find your number... they use autodiallers that just randomly dial numbers until they get an answer

theblueirish · 07-05-2013 08:16AM

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

they dont use phonebooks to find your number... they use autodiallers that just randomly dial numbers until they get an answer

I think they use eircomphonebook as when they called me they asked for my wife, this is the only thing thats in her name.

channro · 07-05-2013 08:33AM

Friend of my mother gave them control of his pc and they also produced a map of his closest western union so he could pay for a few years subscription to software that would keep his laptop protected. I get farmed out to fix it up and he tells me the laptop has been running red hot for a full day. Reinstalled windows and got him to change all his passwords. You'd be surprised how many older people get robbed by these clowns.

Freddy Smelly · 07-05-2013 08:37AM

theblueirish wrote: »

I think they use eircomphonebook as when they called me they asked for my wife, this is the only thing thats in her name.

they dont use phonebooks... a few of their "call centres" in india were raided and there they (the cops) found autodialers. no phonebooks.

they have since moved out of india and are mostly operating out of eastern european countries and some north african countries now,

they generally prefer to ask for bill holder or females cos they are often easier to dupe into giving credit card info than males typically are.

getting an old lady to hand over credit card info is what they prey on

mconigol · 07-05-2013 08:46AM

Foxhound38 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKjyMKj3n4

This is quite good towards the end when the guy has the scammer caught by the balls. He's a security professional who essentially let the guy do what he was going to do right up to the point at which he was being asked to pay money.

When your man catches him out, the scammer gets a bit... agitated

1 hour and 22 minutes!? Thanks but no thanks...

Grand Moff Tarkin · 07-05-2013 08:49AM

Start talking to them in Irish and they hang up fast enough.

Richard Dower · 07-05-2013 08:53AM

I had one of these calls a few years back....cheeky fecker wanted remote access to my PC!, let him have it.

theblueirish · 07-05-2013 09:02AM

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

they dont use phonebooks... a few of their "call centres" in india were raided and there they (the cops) found autodialers. no phonebooks.

they have since moved out of india and are mostly operating out of eastern european countries and some north african countries now,

they generally prefer to ask for bill holder or females cos they are often easier to dupe into giving credit card info than males typically are.

They asked for her by her first name (which is Irish) I told them I was her and they didn't know any better.

Kirby · 07-05-2013 09:14AM

Go along with them for a minute, but speak really quietly. They will turn up the volume on their headsets. Then you hit them with the full blast whistle. Or just scream really loudly if you don't have one. Deafen the f*ckers.

They have rung us three times in the last week. It can't just be autodialers. That's too much of a coincidence. They have to have an eircom directory or something.

VinLieger · 07-05-2013 09:32AM

Yeah used to have them call pretty regularly, havent heard from them in a while though. Usually i just ended up strining them along pretending i was follwing their instructions, or id say i have a mac so its impossible to have a windows error or that im on linux etc.
One time though after getting 2 calls a day for about 4 days i got pretty pissed with them and told the guy to go fuck himself and a few more expletives and then hung up. He called back 3 times to be pissy with me about being rude and how he was just doing his job, still didnt let up on the abuse but I eventually realised he honestly believed he was working for microsoft.

Quin_Dub · 07-05-2013 09:42AM

Think they are definitely upping the volume of calls... I've had 2 in the last month..

I've had 2 or 3 calls before but there was maybe 9 months or a year between them..

The last call had a caller ID of 00000000000

It's always the same " Hello Sir , I'm calling from the Windows Support about a problem we have detected on your machine"

Eh... No your not!

Freddy Smelly · 07-05-2013 09:42AM

Kirby wrote: »

They have rung us three times in the last week. It can't just be autodialers. That's too much of a coincidence. They have to have an eircom directory or something.

yes they are... once the autodialer gets a connection your number is pushed into a database of numbers that work.

they can find your number so easily then

you can tell if there is a delay from when you first answer the phone to when you hear a voice on the other end.

autodialer randomly dials your number - > you answer -> your number gets pushed into a database - > scammer sees a live connection on his phone software on his pc and picks up the call -> scammer then tries to scam you. - > you hang up .

your number is now known as a working number and is kept on their database.

another agent then sees your number on the database and tries again to scam you

problemchimp · 07-05-2013 09:50AM

Keep them talking and string them along for as long as you can. The more time you spend with them, the less time they have to scam somebody else. I managed to get a bloke to actually sing for me if I did what he told me, then told him I had a Commodore 64 and the poor fuucker nearly cried.

VinLieger · 07-05-2013 10:12AM

Oooh just thought of a great one, gonna tell the next one that im amish and the only technology we are allowed use is a phone, see how that goes down

Chucken · 07-05-2013 01:04PM

Just had 4 calls this morning :mad:

The last fella got the brunt of my anger, I literally screamed at him to f**k offfffff and stop ringing my phone.

I think they were all trained in the John Wayne school of English!
Every sentence ended in "Maaam"

Solair · 07-05-2013 02:05PM

Just pretend your a voicemail system / IVR.

Keep saying "To continue, please enter your user ID"
"Your user ID is not valid!"
"Please try again"
"I'm sorry! You appear to be having difficulty! Please hold the line while we connect you to an operator....."

Then answer in a very corporate manner.

They think you're a machine, log the number as an IVR (interactive voice response) and never call back.

Other options are answer the phone in a language other than English and get increasingly angry the more they speak at you in English.

Or :

"Good Afternoon - Fraud investigation line? How may I help you? "

keng66 · 07-05-2013 02:20PM

I got about 5 calls from them over 3 days last year. The last call was from a woman, Indian I presume, so I start talking dirty to her, asked her if she had ever been with a white man and did she take it up the gary glitter, she soon hung up.:D

Larbre34 · 07-05-2013 02:30PM

They're annoying certainly, but not potentially dangerous unless as someone said an naive older person might go along with it.

I use them to vent abuse at as well, its very therapeutic, some of the supervisors would make a docker blush though!

I told them I didnt own a computer, but if they wanted to send me an email Id pick it up on my calculator. Easily confused bless them.

Or get a good quality referees whistle.........

Foxhound38 · 07-05-2013 02:35PM

mconigol wrote: »

1 hour and 22 minutes!? Thanks but no thanks...

Yeah, no need to watch the full thing, just the last few minutes where he tells him he's an IT security professional himself and the scam has been caught out. The scammer starts trying to argue with him, it is quite good in fairness

Foxhound38 · 07-05-2013 02:45PM

Larbre34 wrote: »

They're annoying certainly, but not potentially dangerous unless as someone said an naive older person might go along with it.

I use them to vent abuse at as well, its very therapeutic, some of the supervisors would make a docker blush though!

I told them I didnt own a computer, but if they wanted to send me an email Id pick it up on my calculator. Easily confused bless them.

Or get a good quality referees whistle.........

The supervisors do get really ratty at times. I got a call from one of them a few weeks ago, strung them along for a while, got bored, asked him where he was calling me from. "Microsoft in Stillorgan" he said after a pause, trying to mask the heavy Indian accent. "No you're not, you're calling me from a call centre in India and you are a scam artist" says I, and hung up on the ****er.

A few seconds later the phone rings again and some Indian woman supervisor is on the line demanding to know why I hung up. I explained that I don't intend on giving access to my computer or money to scam artists, at which point she started roaring absolute abuse down the phone at me, while saying they are not scammers. I let it go on for a few minutes, before asking her (when she let me get a word in) whether she really believed this pitch is salvagable at this point, at which point she told me to fook off and hung up. Bizzare

Duggy747 · 07-05-2013 02:58PM

I keep reading the thread as Microsoft Sam Calls

"OMG, Stephen Hawking rang me and said I had a virus!"

whitelightrider · 07-05-2013 03:45PM

Had about 4 missed calls from these twits last week. Just waiting for one of them to call when Im there and see what they have to say.

DrArse · 07-05-2013 04:17PM

If I ever get my hands on one of these people I'm gonna burst them

pcardin · 07-05-2013 04:53PM

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

they dont use phonebooks... a few of their "call centres" in india were raided and there they (the cops) found autodialers. no phonebooks.

they have since moved out of india and are mostly operating out of eastern european countries and some north african countries now,

they generally prefer to ask for bill holder or females cos they are often easier to dupe into giving credit card info than males typically are.

getting an old lady to hand over credit card info is what they prey on

yeah right! :rolleyes: A typical EE equals evil nonsense bs.

Solair · 07-05-2013 07:58PM

They really need to be tackled by Interpol or something. They're just skirting international boundaries and abusing cheap VoIP calls.

The only way this can be tackled really is for telecommunications companies to crack down on it by cutting the companies that are hosting them off and refusing to accept calls from them.

It would cause enough disruption to suddenly make them pay attention and boot the scammers off their networks.

The phone companies are all too quick to just wash their hands of it and say there's nothing they can do.

playedalive · 07-05-2013 09:33PM

VinLieger wrote: »

Yeah used to have them call pretty regularly, havent heard from them in a while though. Usually i just ended up strining them along pretending i was follwing their instructions, or id say i have a mac so its impossible to have a windows error or that im on linux etc.
One time though after getting 2 calls a day for about 4 days i got pretty pissed with them and told the guy to go fuck himself and a few more expletives and then hung up. He called back 3 times to be pissy with me about being rude and how he was just doing his job, still didnt let up on the abuse but I eventually realised he honestly believed he was working for microsoft.

Yeah I've cursed down the phone at them as well. It just makes them still bother you with calls.

I know somebody (a man) who tried to flirt with the guy on the phone. After a couple of words of what he would 'do to him', the guy became a tad homophobic and hung up.

"Microsoft" Scam Calls

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