[PSA] So I got a phone call this morning....

[Golfdriver97]

From 'Windows Technical Support'....yeah. One of those. 100% scam. I saw right through it. Didn't give them any money or anything like that. And then shortly after the call ended, I suddenly thought, I should at least share my experience with everyone. Because, let's face it...we all know someone who may fall for this sort of thing. Especially when they use some kind of fear tactic, to convince you that something is amiss.

My call didn't last very long. As my primary computer is a Chrome OS device, the call was only 5 minutes. But here's how it went:

They called posing as a MS representative. They told me that my PC was reporting malicious files and junk files. Right there, that is false. Reports do get sent to MS, but nothing like that. Mainly if the PC crashed while trying to open Word, then yes, a report gets sent, but not what they are trying to claim.

Here is where the call started to go bad for them. They wanted me to look for my Windows key (which doesn't exist; I'll show pictures in the next post). Now, I've seen a lot of YouTube videos about this. They want you to do a hot key press to open the Run command. Most likely to see the Event Viewer. Which they will bend the truth into a pretzel about the errors and warnings logged by the PC.

They will then use a variety of fear tactics to get you to commit to buying some kind of worthless PC protection services.

When I said I have no Windows key...the guy didn't believe me. He said it's in between your CTRL and ALT key. I said I have no key there. He asked me to read off my keys on the bottom row. I read them off. He then asked if I am using Windows or a Mac. I replied 'Chrome OS' He asked me to repeat it. I did, asked me to hold and hung up.

There is technically where I made a mistake. I should have kept the guy on the line so that he couldn't scam someone else.

However, since this is becoming more and more common, I thought a warning post about this may help.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Here is my keyboard...lol

 

[xocomaox]

We will get a ticket maybe once a month from a user we support (7k-8k user base) with the exact scenario you just described and we have to then send out another company-wide email reminding users to not respond to these types of requests unless you initiated the call and the number comes from within the company. It never fails, but clever tactics on getting into people's computers.

 

[Tech-Newb]

Meanwhile in my country, lots of people still fall for a text message that says "mom i need some money. Im using my friends phone and my new bank account is ........"

Posted with ❤Love❤

 

[LeoRex]

This reminds me of how my uncle would handle these calls back in the day. He'd be sitting in his easy chair, watching Hogan's Heros reruns and get a phone call.... he'd pick up and not long after, I could tell that it was some telemarketing call. My uncle would ask dozens of thoughtful questions about rates, times, deliveries, services, etc... basically anything and everything he could think of to keep the TM bozo talking. Some of the calls would run a good 10 to 20 minutes.

Eventually, I'd hear him say, "Oh, I am not interested, I was just curious about your (whatever it was) and I want to thank you for answering all my questions. Have a nice day!" And he'd just hang up at that point.... and smile.

 

[Golfdriver97]

The downside is, the scam goes further to get people to log into Team Viewer, or LogMeInRescue, or something like that. That is the really scary part, because then, if the user goes through with it, they have full access to your PC. And if you decide to not go through with the service they can ransom your PC by changing the log in credentials, or just wipe the drive.

 

[dpham00]

Doesn't surprise me one bit. I don't pick up calls from numbers I don't recognize. If it is important they will leave a message. Also, never blindly call back. For example, if they claim to be from American express or whatever, only call the number on the back of the card. If it is a store, look up the number online from their website and callback.
I set my phone to "no ring" for numbers not in my contacts list.

 

[dpham00]

Btw if you wanted to have more fun, pretend to be ignorant and know nothing.

 

[Golfdriver97]

This reminds me of how my uncle would handle these calls back in the day. He'd be sitting in his easy chair, watching Hogan's Heros reruns and get a phone call.... he'd pick up and not long after, I could tell that it was some telemarketing call. My uncle would ask dozens of thoughtful questions about rates, times, deliveries, services, etc... basically anything and everything he could think of to keep the TM bozo talking. Some of the calls would run a good 10 to 20 minutes.

Eventually, I'd hear him say, "Oh, I am not interested, I was just curious about your (whatever it was) and I want to thank you for answering all my questions. Have a nice day!" And he'd just hang up at that point.... and smile.

I could have played along too. Either quick turning on my Linux PC, or my actual Windows one, and letting him go through the motions.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Btw if you wanted to have more fun, pretend to be ignorant and know nothing.

Lol...yeah. Actually, I would love to see LeoRex on a call like this. Talk about grabbing the popcorn and enjoying the show.

 

[hallux]

I've gotten those. Funniest part is.. I have TWO Macs at home, no PC's. The only Windows I have at home is a VM, and the ones in the wall that I can open to let in fresh air.

The caller INSISTED on trying to troubleshoot my infected Windows computer though.

My next favorite scam calls are those from "National Warranty Division", wanting to sell me an extended warranty on a vehicle I'd sold several years prior.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I've gotten those. Funniest part is.. I have TWO Macs at home, no PC's. The only Windows I have at home is a VM, and the ones in the wall that I can open to let in fresh air.

The caller INSISTED on trying to troubleshoot my infected Windows computer though.

My next favorite scam calls are those from "National Warranty Division", wanting to sell me an extended warranty on a vehicle I'd sold several years prior.

What's really funny is I only turn on my Windows PC about once every week. That's it. That's just to keep it up to date (on past MS machines I've gone weeks, and had to spend a couple hours updating the OS), or to do the one minor thing that I can only do on MS or a Mac, because Chrome OS or Linux isn't supported for the task in question.

So the 'We've had reports from this PC about viruses...' Yeah, right.

 

[STARGATE]

LOL!
The nerve of those people!

 

[xocomaox]

My father uses solicitation calls as an opportunity to sell his software to them. It works every time and they end up hanging up on him!

But the scam ones are pretty damn clever, and I'm not surprised they work so well on the misinformed.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

I remember those calls.

I'll just say that I'm using an iPad. Would be hilarious to hear them desperately trying to get me to troubleshoot my 'Windows PC'.

 

[codeda]

We got one of these calls a couple weeks ago. I told him we didn't own a computer (we own three) and that I would love his name and number so we could call back when we figured out what was going on and he said he couldn't provide that info but they would try and call back another time. Then he hung up. Never heard from them again. Ridiculous. What about people that don't know any better?

 

[Golfdriver97]

We got one of these calls a couple weeks ago. I told him we didn't own a computer (we own three) and that I would love his name and number so we could call back when we figured out what was going on and he said he couldn't provide that info but they would try and call back another time. Then he hung up. Never heard from them again. Ridiculous. What about people that don't know any better?

In regards to your last line....that's why I wrote this up. Sure, not the most widely seen thread, but maybe it will come up in searches.

It's sad that people do this on such a regular basis.

 

[hallux]

There was a report in the last couple months on NBC about just this type of scam. This one was a pop-up with a call-back number for the scammer, he called them back after JUST booting a Mac for the first time. The scammer got connected through a remote tool, scanned the computer and "found" several "infections".

Yeah, quite the scam.

Here's the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAAXcZeOl_w

 

[Morty2264]

My favourite type of scam is when these people call. One time, they said, "Your Windows computer has a virus," and I responded by saying, "I use Apple; and I know this is a scam" and just hung up (all lies, of course - I use Windows! - but it was fun to mess with them! ). I don't get how people can do things like this. It's so cruel.