Just got a call from "Microsoft"

[Kim&Chris]

I'm guessing that they're banking on the fact that lots of folks received laptops and/or devices for Christmas, so the hackers are making their calls now. Be careful, folks.

My caller (who had an Indian accent) addressed himself as "a representative from the Microsoft Corporation", who detected a problem with my computer that required immediate attention. He said he could fix it, but needed me to log on and give him access.

Oh yeah, let me get right on that......

In my most professional voice, I informed him that he was absolutely, positively, in no way whatsoever, a representative from Microsoft. And hung up.

Those people suck.

 

[Domo]

These people make me sick.

I am going to become a multi-millionaire when I invent a piece of software that allows one to slap a hacker in the face over the internet.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

they called a local guy, who just happened to be a news producer at a television station here in San Diego. he kept the guy going, getting information from him. then confronted him that Microsoft is based out of Redmond, and not Indiana (where the guy claimed to be calling from)

the caller hung up.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Sad thing is that they got my FIL a few months ago. Same song & dance.....there's a problem, etc etc etc, please log in so we can fix it. My FIL followed their instructions to the letter, and as soon as they gained access, they hung up on him.

Thankfully he didn't really have anything on his computer, so all their deception was for nothing.

I warned my mom about this scam, as she's very gullible and would also follow their directions to the letter.

DOMO....I love your idea!!!!

 

[RitaZ.]

I'm guessing that they're banking on the fact that lots of folks received laptops and/or devices for Christmas, so the hackers are making their calls now. Be careful, folks.

My caller (who had an Indian accent) addressed himself as "a representative from the Microsoft Corporation", who detected a problem with my computer that required immediate attention. He said he could fix it, but needed me to log on and give him access.

Oh yeah, let me get right on that......

In my most professional voice, I informed him that he was absolutely, positively, in no way whatsoever, a representative from Microsoft. And hung up.

Those people suck.

You should have asked him if he has met Bill Gates and what he is like.

Seriously though, someone always falls for these schemes; especially the elderly.

 

[dawnhaze]

I love fake tech support scam calls, because I lead them on with equally fake problems.

But I've warned my parents, they'd believe it.

 

[Amelia Peabody]

They tried to get me too - I lied my face off. Told them my BIL had set up my computer and he had everything all set to protect me. Poor guy was confused! The joke was on me though, my computer started running really slow and I wondered if he was legit. But argued with myself that Microsoft or Dell would not phone me.

They do prey on the elderly. My Dad is 89 and got caught in some vitamin scam. My sister called them back, of course they denied, denied, denied - she reamed them a new one!

 

[Colleen27]

I've gotten two of those calls this week. From "Microsoft", and they aren't even good liars - the last one said he was calling from a NY office but the caller ID showed an OH phone number.

 

[mom2rtk]

I got one of these calls within the past couple of weeks. He also had an Indian accent. Said he was calling about our computer. I asked him which one. He said well, the one with Microsoft. Yeah. that narrows it down. I kept asking him questions to try and mess with him. But ultimately he had no idea which computer he was calling about, but KNEW we had a problem he could help me fix. I told him no problem in my life had ever been solved by a technician dropping into my lap like and hung up on him.

I feel so bad for anyone falling for this. It's so brazen.

 

[Poohforyou]

Don't most people screen calls? I don't answer any call where I don't know the caller. If it's legit they'll leave a message. We get lots of hang up calls.

 

[mom2rtk]

Don't most people screen calls? I don't answer any call where I don't know the caller. If it's legit they'll leave a message. We get lots of hang up calls.

Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me. I can tell from my on-screen caller ID if it's questionable, but sometimes I answer anyway just for grins. And every now and then something I would have sworn to be a junk call turns out to be something important. It's not like it comes up as a "Microsoft scam" ID.

 

[sam_gordon]

I got one of these calls within the past couple of weeks. He also had an Indian accent. Said he was calling about our computer. I asked him which one. He said well, the one with Microsoft. Yeah. that narrows it down. I kept asking him questions to try and mess with him. But ultimately he had no idea which computer he was calling about, but KNEW we had a problem he could help me fix. I told him no problem in my life had ever been solved by a technician dropping into my lap like and hung up on him.

I feel so bad for anyone falling for this. It's so brazen.

I do the same thing.

"Which computer?"
"The one with Windows."
"We have four. Which one are you talking about?"
etc etc etc

I think the next time, I'm going ask them for the MAC address of the computer that has the problem. Every computer (or at least the network connection) will have a MAC address assigned to it. The Mac address is six pairs of characters separated by a : or a -. Obviously, they won't be able to provide one and I'll have some fun.

 

[mom2rtk]

I do the same thing.

"Which computer?"
"The one with Windows."
"We have four. Which one are you talking about?"
etc etc etc

I think the next time, I'm going ask them for the MAC address of the computer that has the problem. Every computer (or at least the network connection) will have a MAC address assigned to it. The Mac address is six pairs of characters separated by a : or a -. Obviously, they won't be able to provide one and I'll have some fun.

Yep. Sort of a virtual game of "Who's on First".

First he said "The one with Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8". Yeah, that narrows it down.

 

[antmaril]

I'm guessing that they're banking on the fact that lots of folks received laptops and/or devices for Christmas, so the hackers are making their calls now. Be careful, folks.

My caller (who had an Indian accent) addressed himself as "a representative from the Microsoft Corporation", who detected a problem with my computer that required immediate attention. He said he could fix it, but needed me to log on and give him access.

Oh yeah, let me get right on that......

In my most professional voice, I informed him that he was absolutely, positively, in no way whatsoever, a representative from Microsoft. And hung up.

Those people suck.

I received a similar call right after Christmas, except the caller said he was from "Windows" and that I had a virus. He wanted me to log on and he would walk me through it. I said "That is not going to happen." He said "OK Ma'am - I love you, too." It was weird. I think elderly people could very easily fall for something like this. It is so low.

My caller ID said "Private Caller". I usually ignore those, but I was waiting for a call from someone and thought it might be him, so I answered it.

 

[mom2rtk]

I received that same call right after Christmas, except the caller said he was from "Windows" and that I had a virus. He wanted me to log on and he would walk me through it. I said "That is not going to happen." He said "OK Ma'am - I love you, too." It was weird. I think elderly people could very easily fall for something like this. It is so low.

My caller ID said "Private Caller". I usually ignore those, but iI was waiting for a call from someone and thought it might be him, so I answered it.

At least give him points for style!

My call didn't say I have a virus, but did say there was a problem they had identified that they could help me with. Yeah, they could tell I had a problem but couldn't even specify what operating system I was using.

 

[kofslinky]

I got one a little while ago. I found it quite funny- when I told him I had a Mac, not a Windows machine, he was quite confused and couldn't figure out what I was talking about. I finally hung up, but I did find it funny! I feel bad for people who don't know better- I should make sure my parents know about this scam so they don't do anything dumb.

 

[KaLyn]

I enjoy playing with these callers too. We frequently get called from Dish network, Direct TV, etc wanting us to switch to the provider. One day I was feeling friendly, so I let the lady go through her entire song and dance, provided my own information on speeds and packages that we have, to compare the pricing she really thought she was getting me. She then proudly says, "Well, ma'ma I'm happy to say that by switching to us your services will cost just $250 per month. What do you think of that?" To which I replied, "Well, ma'am that's $240 more than what we currently pay." She laughed, asked how that pricing was possible, thanked me for not yelling at her and said she's take me off the calling list.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

I told them that I didn't own a computer. He said everyone does and I replied, nope, not everyone & hung up.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[chirurgeon]

I do tech support for a large internet/media provider. I have gotten calls from customers who have fallen for these calls, wondering why they can't get into their computers. I tell them sorry, that wasn't from Microsoft, unplug your pc from everything and run to a local computer repair store to get it wiped of the implanted viruses and malware. Nothing I can do to help them unless they are paying for our virus protection. Then I would transfer them to India and our virus protection provider.

 

[2binak]

I got the call a few months ago. I was cooking dinner and was bored waiting for Dh to get home so I played along. At least 5 times I told the caller "I'm confused. Can you start from the beginning again" and he did. I just put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter as I cooked. I finally told him that Dh is a computer engineer/programmer and would know if something was wrong with our computer, but he insisted that only Microsoft trained techs could detect the problem. I told him that if we discovered a problem with our computer, we would call Microsoft and he said, "But I am Microsoft". By that point, Dh had gotten home and dinner was done cooking so I told him I'd call him back if I needed any help and hung up. I had him on the phone for almost 30 minutes and was more than happy to hopefully save at least one person from being scammed by him that night.