My daughter answered the phone today and after not being able to understand the man handed me the phone. When I got on the phone the guy said he was from Microsoft (in a barely detectable English dialect and strange syntax) and was calling because I needed service. I asked what he was talking about and he said that for the last 3 weeks my computer had been sending an alert to Microsoft and that he was calling to help me "Fix" my computer. I asked him what kind of problem is it. What little I could understand he said that he would give me a link to go on and then they could remotely fix my computer for free.

 

This sound Legit to anyone out there? I'm thinking this is a new kind of phishing, just cold call people and try to get them to log on to a site with a virus to get access to anything on your computer.

I've been in the computer field for 11 years and I've never heard of anything like this. I'd say it's a scam for sure.

Avoid Phone Scams | Cybercriminal Tech Support Scam | Security Threats

Sounds like a scam. I believe the Office of the Attorney General will investigate scams like this. I found a link where you can report cyber crime.

 

Office of the Attorney General : Home

Scam. Saw something about this recently either on local news or in the paper. They want access to your computer to try and steal your identity.

 

My rule of thumb is I don't give out any personal info of any kind, make any changes to my phone service, or accept any offers of free anything unless I initiated the phone call. You can add giving remote access to my computer to that list.

The link thing is where the scam is. You click on the link and then they can access your computer. I've read that there's a huge volume of this kind of thing with business and government with hackers emailing employees with links and a plausible reason to click them then they've got access to the system.

Definitely a scam, they'd either try to access your computer remotely to steal information or say they need a credit card to verify their work or some cockamamee story. Having worked with credit card websites and credit cards in general I've heard some great stories. One poor old lady let them remotely access her computer and they started navigating through personal information while she was sitting there watching them. She told him to stop and he just ignored her and kept digging, ended up taking her for a few grand.

 

I had someone try to get me with this, the "representative" that called me said his name was MARSHALL ERICKSON. I started laughing and immediately asked him how Ted was doing and if he'd heard anything out of Robin lately, the guy was completely lost at that point. I told him good effort and hung up.

Scam City

Phone number came back as blocked when I tried to *69 it

Free with IT people no such thing.

^ exactly what I thought

Just called me back, I spent about 5 minutes on the phone with him having fun. Thanked him for calling to help me, and acted like I was following his instructions. Started asking questions and was met with long period of silence then got a quick response and he would try to get back on track. Finally told him that I was tracking his call and turning over a copy of the call to Interpol...that was followed by a long silence then back to work, told me to hold down windows key and press R, then started to give me a command to key in. I asked where he was located and he said, Microsoft Windows. Finally said he was in California US, so I told him I would also turn over to the Attorney General and the FBI.

 

Wasn't really ready this time, but next time I'm going to see how long I can keep him on the phone. I had way too much fun, I really hope he calls back.

Just called me back, I spent about 5 minutes on the phone with him having fun. Thanked him for calling to help me, and acted like I was following his instructions. Started asking questions and was met with long period of silence then got a quick response and he would try to get back on track. Finally told him that I was tracking his call and turning over a copy of the call to Interpol...that was followed by a long silence then back to work, told me to hold down windows key and press R, then started to give me a command to key in. I asked where he was located and he said, Microsoft Windows. Finally said he was in California US, so I told him I would also turn over to the Attorney General and the FBI.

 

Wasn't really ready this time, but next time I'm going to see how long I can keep him on the phone. I had way too much fun, I really hope he calls back.

 

Number still blocked?

Nope, 253 802 0309 comes back as a International Telecom landline from Auburn, WA

Just called me back, I spent about 5 minutes on the phone with him having fun. Thanked him for calling to help me, and acted like I was following his instructions. Started asking questions and was met with long period of silence then got a quick response and he would try to get back on track. Finally told him that I was tracking his call and turning over a copy of the call to Interpol...that was followed by a long silence then back to work, told me to hold down windows key and press R, then started to give me a command to key in. I asked where he was located and he said, Microsoft Windows. Finally said he was in California US, so I told him I would also turn over to the Attorney General and the FBI.

 

Wasn't really ready this time, but next time I'm going to see how long I can keep him on the phone. I had way too much fun, I really hope he calls back.

 

LOL! Funny! About the the best thing to do besides just hanging up! Ask them questions, ask for their numbers, ask any questions about them. Then tell them you will call them back, but towards the end say that the entire call is being recorded. If you think the call is within the US telling them that the recorded call will be handed over to the KY Attorney General who's office goes after these scams hard! I also tell them that they will be be held personally responsible in court as well (scares some of them). If the call isn't from the U.S. then the Attorney General tactic won't work, but mentioning the FBI or Interpol may work. But if you make the call about them and asking them the questions while not responding to theirs, they hang up.

 

The reason they do this junk is IT WORKS! Funny as I know a few people from Ethiopia and they say that most African's can't stand Nigerians, that they all are thieves. Most scams come from there, again, they keel it up for a reason.

 

I don't get to many calls like this but I do record all of them. Just yesterday I got a call about donating to the FOP. I do donate to them and other organizations but I do not do it over the phone! First I told the guy the person he was looking for couldn't come to the phone, and he started saying he was from the FOP and all this other stuff, I asked him his name and where he was calling from. After about 2 minutes I told him that we donate directly to the FOP locally, and I told him I was recorded the call and not to call back. Instead of saying anything, a thank you, have a good day, or sorry to bother you, he just hung up. I don't think the real FOP would like people calling for them to just hang up. These people calling do not give the organization even near 100% of the donations, if any at all! If you get a call and it reminds you of a good organization, don't give them the money over the phone or from a mailer. Hang up, and get in touch with the organization yourself to make sure the money is going to where you think it is.