Cold Call - There is a problem with your computer

[chrisj1948]

A typical exchange this morning:

Me: Hello. (already suspicious about an 'Out of Area' caller)

Villain: Hello my name is John. I am calling from the technical department of your internet supplier (a change; normally it is Microsoft Support). There is a problem with your router.

..; series of exchanges when I protest that there is nothing wrong with it ...

Villain: Were you aware that malware has been downloaded onto your PC. I am here to help you remove it.

Me: I don't think so. Let me help you. I will not look in the registry to be told that the standard Microsoft product key is my unique operating system identifier. I will not examine the event log to be told that the normal failure entries mean that I have a fundamental problem. Finally I will not, under any circumstances, connect to TeamViewer to give you remote access to my computer. Do you feel that there is any point in continuing this conversation?

Villain: No. (unusually polite. Normally they just ring off, or tell me to F*** Off)

Regards
Chris

[leenewham]

I've had these call me. I normally have some fun with them, like pretending to be in the toilet or worse.

Cold calling residential addresses either by phone or knocking on the door (yes Gusto, when I said I'm not interested, that MEANS I'm not interested) should be illegal.

The only exceptions should be in times of emergency when charities need the funds.

I'd extend this to anyone selling door to door including annoying brands of religions that hunt in packs of 2-3.

[Manwithaview1]

I've had these call me. I normally have some fun with them, like pretending to be in the toilet or worse.

Cold calling residential addresses either by phone or knocking on the door (yes Gusto, when I said I'm not interested, that MEANS I'm not interested) should be illegal.

The only exceptions should be in times of emergency when charities need the funds.

I'd extend this to anyone selling door to door including annoying brands of religions that hunt in packs of 2-3.

I like engaging the JW's. I ask them if they are brainwashed first and if they have an open mind. Then I ask about Luke Chapter 24 - when Luke saw Jesus AFTER crucifixion. I ask them if they knew that there was no words in ancient Hebrew or Greek for recuperation? They always reply they didn't. I ask them what do they know about symbolism in the 1st Century, they reply nothing. I ask them about the obvious symbols in the Bible like crucifixion equaling death, I get blank stares back. I ask them about the first century Jewish bloodline in Eastern Pakistan and that it would take a few months for Jesus to sail to Karachi.

For some reason my flat is blacklisted by the JWs.

As for charities door knocking on Sydenham Hill estate. I show them the £million plus houses on the other side of the road and state that people here have £0 so why are you here and not door knocking the mansions opposite? Blank stares is all I get or feet gazing...

[JRobinson]

I had a cold call on Monday, the lady said she'd ask me three questions, and it would only take 1 minute. So I said that was ok.
she asked me to confirm that I was who they thought, and that the address was correct, and the third question was about something (I forget now), but I stalled for time saying I didn't quite catch the question, it was a bad line, and she was obviously in India, or Pakistan, or somewhere else with low wages and eager staff, she had to repeat it twice, all whilst I was watching my clock on the wall, at about 1 minute and 5 seconds into the call I told her she'd had her 1 minute, and then hung up.

I like the computer help desk ones, I act confused, and play along for a bit, but then tell them my machine isn't even switched on, or that I have a Mac, or that I'm running Puppy Linux on a virtual server, or something else equally technical yet obtuse. they usually hang up on me, after all they're paying for the phone call, and they realise that I'm not giving them anything.

My parents got stung by this exact thing, my dad was on the computer, and the phone was in the study, and he believed what the guy was saying, and a short while later after putting the phone down his machine became none responsive. an IT specialist friend had to sort out the PC, the table/ipad, and their broadband router, and change all of their passwords.

[mosy]

I think there are two types, those that want to sign you up for an ongoing paying contract and those whose aim is to plant a spy for passwords. I usually say I'm busy and can they given me a number to call them back? Typically they ring off.

I did see or read something though that when you get a dodgy call, they might not hang up at their end, so if you try to call someone else for confirmation it reroutes back to the original caller. Banks always say you should use another phone to make any sort of confirmation call.

[Nigel]

I do miss those old fashioned "Lads from Lagos " type scams - much prefer what feels like a pilot for a new series of FoneJacker to the really clever and very nasty industry it has become .

I wonder what proportion of those criminals are ever caught - disrupted temporarily , yes - but caught ?

No wonder it is growing so fast - high reward low risk - suspect Philip Green has even been tempted....
A very good afternoon
Nigel
Ps - there is a problem with your IP address , if you could just ......

[alywin]

Had quite a few of these recently: I don't get that technical, but I do ask how they got hold of my phone number, since I've moved house since I bought the computer ... Or I ask which of my computers they're talking about, because telling me that my Windows computer has a problem is not very helpful. Or that I only have a Chromebook ...

I've heard various things about this scam: someone had malware (it may even have been ransomware) loaded on to their system when the people were allowed access; someone else just had them debit one sum from their card for work allegedly carried out, but no further sums were debited (great idea, because people won't report them that way), so I guess it depends on the originating scammers.

[alywin]

Talking about ransomware, there was an interesting item on BBC1's Rip-Off Britain this morning. Apparently, it may be possible to recover a lot of the encrypted files, but it's generally not advised to pay the "ransom" as this is more likely to mark you out as a good source of future income.