Update – September 2016: Over 6 years after we first reported this Windows support scam, variations of it are still targeting households by phone; either offering to clean up your PC for a fee, threats to stop access to your device unless you pay them, or installing software which spies on your actions.
If you’ve been targeted or think you’ve been a victim of such a fraud, you should report it to Action Fraud. They also have further information on the types of scam and how to avoid them.
Jasmine at MoneyMagpie has a warning about a scam that she was targeted with following a call from someone claiming they were from “Windows”.
No, it’s nothing to do with double glazing, rather Microsoft’s operating system, with the caller claiming that you’ve contracted a virus.
I was contacted in this way by phone today. When the man told me this had happened I was immediately suspicious. How would Windows know? Why would they ring me to tell me? Who are these people?
When I asked him what company he was calling from he wouldn’t say. When I asked him what my IP address was he wouldn’t say. I said that if they could tell what had happened to my computer they must know what the IP address is. When he wouldn’t give me any of this information I put the phone down on him. I suggest you do too.
This scam is apparently not particularly new, here’s an interesting transcript of a call (as well as some recordings of variations of the scam) with someone claiming to be from a “Windows XP service center” which should ring alarm bells.
“Small fee”
In that particular call, the caller claimed that his victim’s computer was infested with viruses, and that for a small fee they’d remove them.
They then ask if they can connect to your PC, so not only are they potentially conning you out of an unnecessary payment, they may also potentially be able to plant other stuff on your computer.
It should always raise suspicion when people ring you from out of the blue – always question their reasons for calling, ask who they’re working for and where they’re based, and crucially, ask for a number that you can call them back on. If they give you a number, you’ve got time to go and check them out online before deciding whether or not to call them back, but more than likely they won’t want to give you a number, which should confirm your suspicions.
Have you been targeted by this or any other telephone scam? Let us know in the comments below.
This scam seems to be gathering pace. I’ve heard of five people within a small area in Edinburgh being targeted.
I fell for it as I had just reported problems to Microsoft, they claimed to be from them.
They eventually said they were “itstrong” which has no bad reports on the’net.
However, one of their other names is “itezy”. This company has lots of bad reports, especially from Australia where the Trading Standards are after them. They seem to from Delhi.
Are there any reports of problems AFTERWARDS? I have run many programmes from Microsoft and others and no problem detected.
I was contacted by phone 3 times a couple of weeks ago by asian sounding people (2 males ; 1 female ) with a similar story about error reports. I am disabled and wasn’t able to keep up with the instruction being given, and then we were cut off. They did try twice more, but I didn’t play ball.
Yes I just had a call from ‘Windows Service Center’. The Asian sounding gentleman said I had a virus in my computer. When I asked how he could possibly know that he said they have received error reports from my computer. When i would not continue he gave me a phone number to call for verification. It was only when I called it that I realised it was one digit short. 02033510. I await their next call.
Got this call today. From Computer maintenance dept of Windows which later changed to windows service centre. The number was 0131 208 1035 so an Edinburgh number. They seemed very keen to get access to my computer. I just said I’d googled that number and it had come up as a scam.
I just recieved a call from the very same people (Fri 30th July 2010) out of the blue. ‘Is your PC loading up slowly’ ‘is your net connection taking time to connect?’ They told me to open up my application files to view errors and warnings in exact the same way as Trackyman up there, and yes after all of that and having been told my computer was basically dying, I was then told I would have to apy a one off fee of £79 to get it fixed! Alarm bells rang of course, I told him I have no way of paying this and that is when HE GOT PUSHY – ‘do you have paypal?’ ‘do you have a credit card?’ ‘do you have a debit card?’ ‘can you use a family members card to pay if you do not have the funds yourself?’ SERIOUSLY! I hung up and disconected my phone for a couple of hours.
BE AWARE.
Hi Guys,
I think all these comments are fake because i have taken the service and its actually from windows service centre.
I have had this many times over the last 2weeks. I usually just say really that’s strange all computers in this house are macs, they then hang up the phone
I (in Australia) just got one of these calls purporting to be from from the Windows Service Centre Sydney Chatswood – seemed dodgy, accent almost unintelligible, couldn’t tell me who owned the company, claimed that they’d got my phone no when I bought the computer (odd as it’s a 2nd hand machine), asked to speak to the supervisor and was hung up on. Googled and confirmed it was a scam.
I got the call today in Brighton. I was immediately suspicious and kept trying to confirm who they were. The answer: I am calling from the Windows XP technical support department. Hrm. ‘So you are tellimg me you work for microsoft?’ Answer – ‘I work for the windows xp technical support department’.
Ok… right… so she explained that I had tons of viruses on my computer and that all my files were slowly being corrupted. Sounds serious… But, magically she knew how to fix it! I asked her what this would involve and she tried to get me to go to google and type in the teamviewer address. Presumably she was then going to try to get me to give her control of my computer. I asked for a telephone number for Windows support so that I could verify who she was. She gave me a number and then kept trying to get me to proceed. I just ended the call. When I tried to ring the number… not valid… what a surprise!
I got a call today from “Windows” – quite a bad line, very impatient female who yelled information I asked to be repeated & didn’t understand if I spoke too quickly. Didn’t catch all of what she said, but she asked me to boot up my computer (it was already on – genuine support would have known this) & wasn’t deterred by me telling her it would take 5 mins to boot up, just held persistently. Then asked me to go to google and type in something, at which point I said my internet connection had failed. This annoyed her, so she transferred me to a “senior technical manager”. By this point I had got bored so I hung up.
Suspicious and annoying.
Just got the call, seems my computer is sending numerous error messages.It will slow down, crash, lose files, I will have “horrendous” problems. Reply to the question “are you ringing from Microsoft” I was told no, an associate company. I hung up at that point
I have just received a phone call from a man with an indian accent who told me he was phoning regarding a problem with the windows operating system and asked if I would turn on my computer. I was instantly wary and asked if he was from microsoft and how did he get my telephone number. I also told him that if there was a problem with windows, he would need to phone just about everyone on the planet. With alarm bells ringing I hung up.
Christine
I received a call today in a similar vein to the above users. I was spoken to by a gentleman with a strong asian accent who said that he was from windows support one care and that he had notofication of multiple problems with my pc. He asked to confirm that he had the correct information and was able to inform me of my name, address, post code and telephone number. I didn’t confirm any of his information. He then asked me to switch on my pc and type ‘eventvwr’ into the dialogue box and click on run. I then had to check applications and tell him how many red and orange entries there were…he also asked what virus software i was using. He then passed me to a senior technician with the same accent. I asked where the company was based and was advised salt lake city. I asked several times for the company address and the ‘technician’ hung up. I used to work in IT so needless to say I did none of the actions he asked nor did I confirm any information he requested. He did not like being questioned which immediately arouses suspicion.
me too!
Got a call from an asian sounding bloke telling me my address, that my neighbours had viruses, that they could fix
I called him a lying c***, loudly. Several times. As loud as i possibly could.
Hopefully this will improve his English.
He hung up with “f*** you”
excellent – I hope they call back! My girlfriend loved my reaction.
“one click” was the website he promoted I think – something like that!
Unfortunately, some people probably fall for this.
How did they get my address?
C***s.
obvioulsy this is not my real email address!
Had same experience as above. Two phone calls; second an hour ago. Male and female and neither would give sufficient information. Both worked for computer maintenance for Windows. Wouldn’t say howo they had got my contact details
Just got off the phone to a woman who couldn’t speak English but apparently was ringing from “Windows” she knew my name and had my tel. Number which is worrying.
Somebody should tell her the company is Microsoft and the product is Windows I didn’t.
It was a short call I said “Windows really do carry on”
“mumble mumble” she said sounded more Nigerian to me than asian
“That’s very interesting what version of Windows do I have?” I asked.
She hung up!!
Fortunately for me I only use Linux so the technical dept. of Windows are never going to call me.
Oddly enough at the beginning of the week some Glasgow based sales outfit rang offering to install a security system for £1-00 as I had been selected at random to receive this offer.
Not likely mate.
The telephone preference service really needs to be beefed up to intercept this rubbish.
Just got off the phone. Was contacted by “Windows operating system support” (Asian lady) who informed me they had received messages saying that my computer had downloaded malicious files and viruses, and that I was to go to my computer, press R and the Windows button (to get Run) and type in loads of letters. I was immediately suspicious, and kept asking her how she knew this had happened, why “my” computer, how she had got my phone number, how she could identify my computer, etc. She was insistent I enter these letters, at which point I told her I didn’t even KNOW her, and that I wouldn’t be entering anything into my computer via an unsolicited call. She got her “supervisor” to speak to me (as I “didn’t believe” her) who gave me a number to call to check. I told her I had very good security, anti-virus and all the rest, and was very careful as to which websites I accessed, at which point the penny dropped, and I wondered if this was a scam. Thank god I didn’t enter anything into my computer (which I had just in fact turned on!). I then asked her if this was all to get me to buy something, at which point the call was ended rather abruptly, hmmmm!
Have been contacted twice by these people. Husband, who knows nothing about computers thankfully, took the calls and second time asked for her name and number which was a Rebecca Watson of E Pro Solutions 020328 67078 (not a very Asian sounding name). The first time I took the phone from my husband I was told that Windows had allowed viruses into my PC and when I started asking questions he told me I was a “stupid ass” and hung up. Next time I took the phone from my husband it was the above Rebecca who was stunned when I told her I didn’t use windows and hung up when I told her I had a mac. I tried the above number but it just asks you to leave a message, which I am considering doing in her own language!
I had the same experience – an Indian-sounding man called and told me that our whole area is flooded with viruses – especially our road, apparently! It did throw him a bit when I told him I was an analyst/programmer, but he carried on and seemed quite surprised when I said I didn’t want him rummaging around in my computer, thank you very much! He was very polite – and extremely persistent! The call was from an unidentifiable number.
I too have had a call just this morning with exactly the same story of problems with my computer. As in all the above comments, it was an Asian sounding voice. Having had a previous call, where I almost started following instructions, because I was having problems, at that time, I stopped before putting anything into the system he was telling me to, and he got quite stroppy and put the phone down. On this occasion, I refused to switch on my system and asked for a number I could verify him on. He gave me the following: 01414163986
I live in Derbyshire, England, so this is a UK number – I guess. I haven’t even tried to follow up on this as I am too suspicious anyhow.
I’ve had two calls this morning from an Asian gentleman saying he was from the Windows operating system They were in my area ( Kent )and had noticed that my computer was running slow & infected with malicious viruses and bugs, this had being going on for 2 or 3 months he told me. He asked me to turn my computer on and follow his instructions. I was very wary as in fact he was correct as two months ago my hard drive ‘collapsed’ and I had to have a new one fitted under warranty and re load the operating system. He was surprised at this and said the new disk was also infected in the same way so I must sit in front of it and follow his instructions. I asked him how he got my telephone number and he wouldn’t answer – I put the phone down on him but he immediately rang back with the same story. Please be careful everybody!
again a similar vein to the above posts,had a call from a male who sounded indian,saying he was from microsoft.he asked me if i was aware that my computer was sending out error reports,and that they were serious errors,he was very rude and abrupt asked me if my computer was on and connected to the net,i said yes it was then hung up,i have no idea how they got my number but i suggest anyone who gets a call like this hangs up too.
Unbelievable! Have been contacted AGAIN by these scammers less than two weeks after the first call on 6/10. Same scenario as before: me asking how do they know it is my computer that is affected, them trying to get me to turn it on and follow their instructions . . . except I listened to what they were saying, told them it was all very interesting, but that I didn’t, in fact, own a computer . . . the line was disconnected in about half a second flat! Let’s hope I am off their mailing list now.
I had a call from the “Technical Department of Windows†yesterday, this looks like an increasingly common scam.
It’s still going strong. I had a phonecall this evening from a chap with a very heavy indian accent saying he was calling from Windows following a series of error reports being sent to them from my computer. I decided to play along for a minute and see what they would ask me to do and when they asked me to log on to the computer management function and switch off all of the warning messages I refused. I told him if he was genuine to send a letter on headed paper giving me a designated time he would call and then I would be prepared to go further. I hung up, picked up the receiver to call my Dad and he was still there shouting at me ‘Mam, Mam, just do this please’. He stayed on the line for ages…he could still even be on it for all I know!!!
I just now received a call from “Alex” who had a very heavy Asian sounding accent. He told me he provides technical service to Windows operating system. He asked me if I was aware that my computer was sending out infections for the past two months. I told him that was impossible because my hard drive had crashed and I’d gotten an entirely new one. That really got hims worked into a lather as he started moaning about how it may be too late, but that I should check my new system, that it was infected too! I told him I was using an iMac now, so it couldn’t be my computer. He said, “Oh, then you need to get to your Mac right now and I’ll check it out with you.” I told him I couldn’t understand is accent and that we had a terrible connection and he chuckled. He had such a sense of urgency in his voice that for a few minutes I was running around like a crazy woman trying to get to my old PC and then realized it was in the car. Not to worry, assured Alex, he would wait. I suddenly woke up and realized something was amiss. I asked him for his phone number, which he gave to me, no problem and then he said to be sure to ask for him. That was the red flag. Technical business never have to talk with a certain person, so I figured there had to be something in it for him and got off the phone. I told him I would call back when I had a computer geek with me. Then I immediately went on line and found that this was a scam. Wow. Already stressed to the max because I’d lost all my hard drive data, and now this. I need a glass of wine. Cheers!
Jean,
What was the phone number he gave you – I would like to ask him a few technical questions
Regards
pete
!
Because I am the Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for my road I alerted all my members and a few had had similar phone calls, some of them who are quite elderly said it worried them as the Asian caller was so aggressive. I’ve reported it to our area Neighbourhood Watch Office who have alerted Trading Standards
Will it ever stop?
Janice
This happened to me today. At first they sound plausable but if someone who rings you starts to err and um when you start asking straightforward questions then suspicions are aroused. A woman asked me to perform certain tasks and when i said i didn’t understand why she couldn’t answer me. Then I was suddenly passed over to her ‘supervisor’ who started to give further instructions. I asked what programme was downloaded that was causing this problem and he wouldn’t answer. At this point I played my ace card. I let him know it wasn’t my computer but my wifes. This stumped him. IF THEY ASK YOU TO PRESS CTRL + R TOGETHER THEN ENTER SOMETHING INTO RUN BOX BEWARE !!!!!
We have just received a call from an excited woman with a heavy Asian accent. She first of claimed to be from Windows and was calling in response to error messages generated from our computer. She also said that malicious files were present. She wanted me to go online immediately and open the run box and type in http://www.logmein, which I knew would allow her remote access to my computer. I asked her some more questions and she then claimed to work for a company called e-pro solutions. I refused and asked for her phone number, which she gave (02032867078). When I contacted this number a male with a heavy Asian accent answered the phone and simply stated “hello” when questioned he began to talk technical jargon and claimed that this company was affiliated to Windows and this is where they got their information. He said that although they had diagnosed our problems they needed our permission to access our files and fee may be payable for the tools used. Sounds like a scam do not indulge them, hang up!
Same Problem!!!!!
I have just received a call from a man with an Asian accent. he claimed to be from a microsoft business partners site and was calling in response to malicous files on my computer. He also wanted me to go online immediately and open the run box and type in http://www.logmein I knew would allow him access. I asked him some more questions and he then claimed to work for a company called e-pro solutions. There are enough software titles for malicious removal dont give anyone the chance to open up your files be warned it does sound slightly convincing! hang up!
Hi, Same thing happened this morning as I was at my mum’s house. She was confused and passed the phone on to me thankgoodness. they said that she had downloaded illegal files, (quite worrying). I spoke to them and told them i wasn’t computer literate so could not open up the computer( to buy me some time). thanks for your blogs, it has reassured us that this is a scam.
Oh they are really trying now… two calls in a week. This one told me he worked for supportpcs and there is a website by that name, but it is unclear if this is a coincidence. It’s a shame they put the phone down so quickly, it’s fun to string them along.
Just had the same call from eprosolutions. Same script, told him I had a Mac and he fell silent. He then asked if I had any pc’s that he could help with. When I said no he hung up. 5 mins later I got another call from an asian sounding woman asking if I had loft insulation and that they could apply for a grant on my behalf!!
We’ve had loads of silent calls over the last few weeks. BT and TPS don’t seem to be able to do anyhting about it.
I received a similar call – displayed as ‘unavailable’ (rather than a phone number supplied) and, like others, a bad line so difficult to catch every word. The Indian-accented caller asked for me by name and when I enquired how they had got hold of my details, he just kept repeating that Windows was throwing up lots of error messages from my computer but couldn’t explain how they’d got my phone number (albeit, rather coincidentally, the line became very crackly at this point every time I asked this question). When I asked where they were based (ie America or UK or where), he hesitated and said the UK. When he asked me to switch it on and I explained that I couldn’t as it wasn’t functioning (true at the time – it’s on its “last legs” and wouldn’t switch on at all), he told me that it couldn’t be that bad and that he’d helped to fix it (which I thought a bit of an odd response). I asked him to explain to me what to do if the computer did resurrect itself which seemed to flummox him and he put me ‘on hold’ at which point I hung up. The phone rang a few minutes later, and possibly he was going to supply some advice at this stage, but I didn’t answer.
Hya ^.^
My mam had a phone call this morning. Very bad line, with a india man saying “you have downloaded an illegal programme” when asked where from he said windows service team or something like that, then as my mam asked questions like where did you get this information from he hung up……”strange” mam thought, then we found this website. THANK YOU for the posts, just thinking what you could asked for (money) makes me sick trying to scam people.
All the best and be carefull
XXX
Pete,
I no longer have his number. Sorry. It would be interesting to turn the tables on him and get some free tech help, but he didn’t even know what the Security Tool virus was when I told him it had shown up. His focus was on getting me to fire up my computer so that he could do his dirty deeds.
Just got 3 calls in a row from an Indian-sounding guy with a terrible (free VOIP obviously) connection. The call came to my home line, not my home office line…1st “Hmmmm”. He gave me the story about malicious files. I asked him repeatedly what his company was, asked if he worked for Microsoft, and how he even knew what version of Windows I’m running. Garbage answers to that…2nd “Hmmmm”. He asked me to start the computer (it’s on, didn’t he know?) and type in some stuff…3rd “Hmmmm”.
I told him I was born at least 2 days before yesterday, that he sounded full of sh$t and to kindly go pound sand. He said he understood, and that his supervisor would call back to make sure the problems on my PC are fixed. Yea right.
I await this call with eager anticipation so I can have some fun with his ‘supervisor’. If he’s paid a high hourly rate, he’s about to lose a bundle of time for nothing. I’ll ask for his phone number, business’s name, their location (in detail, as if I know the place well), website address (which I won’t visit), have him confirm my IP address, ask for his full name, his boss’s name, and (finally) ask if he’s not ashamed to prey on 90-year old (I’m not, but hey what the hell…). And borrowing from another post, I may also ask him to be specific because my computers are MAC’s.
I’ll then (if he’s still on the line after all that) utter some incantation about bad voodoo visiting him and three generations of his offspring. F%$@<+@ A$$holes. I can't wait.
Another thought: maybe I'll ask him to speak to the police who are currently in my place investigating computer fraud.
They’re at it again in this area ! 3 calls yesterday, I’m now getting wise to it !
Phone rang – a heavy Indian accent who didn’t ask for me by name this time but “Can I speak to the Householder” me – What do you mean? him – “the one who owns the house” me – we rent, him ” The one who pays the rent” me – what’s it about? – him ” your computer’s running slow” me – no it isn’t, him – “turn it on and I will talk you through fixing it ” I put the phone down.
Almost immediately another call Indian accent again ” Can I speak to the Home owner ” me – he’s out, him ” he has serious problems with his computer ” me – he hasn’t got a computer. I put the phone down.
An hour later phone rang – this time music playing and terrible background noise. An Indian accent ” this is Windows you are sending error reports turn on your computer and we will fix it for you” I put the phone down
Each time I tried to check the number on 1471 but got the message that ” we do not have the caller’s number to return the call” which means it’s from abroad.
Can’t anyone put a stop to these obnoxious people ??
we have been having them ring our house for the last few weeks, i have only just had the chance to “talk” to them, usually its been someone else who knows nothing about PC’s and tells this person they need to call back some other time.
the conversation went similar to Janice’s above, but i was told the PC was sending error messages to there technical department, he did say the name of the company but his accent was very thick and i did not catch it, i gave him a few choice words down the phone and told him they were nothing more than scammer, he told me he no longer wanted to talk to me and put the phone down.
My poor old Mum got caught out by these people last weekend and she trustingly let them take over her PC because they scared her. They kept her on the phone for nearly half an hour and completely confused her. Thank goodness she retained the presence of mind not to agree to pay what they were asking or give any personal details. She was extremely distressed and by the end of the call she was sobbing at them down the phone to please give her back control of her computer and to leave her alone.
She felt ill for the rest of the weekend and couldn’t use her computer until we’d had it checked.
This is criminal and I am fuming that my Mum was ‘assaulted’ in this way in her own home but unfortunately, she couldn’t face the additional trauma of reporting this to the Police as I wanted. I don’t want to be unduly dramatic but if they get through to old or vulnerable people, this could be a lot more serious than just an annoying scam.
I look forward to receiving a call from them myself!
Just had a call identical to many of the above…….an asian sounding male calling himself Nathan telling me he was from Microsoft Windows support centre but couldn’t say where that was. I kept saying I wouldn’t do anything he told me because he could not prove who he was and he was obviously reading from a script which he just kept repeating in very broken English making it difficult to understand. He asked me to press windows icon + R and said this would show me a list of errors and malware on my machine…….I refused due to the uncertainty of his identity and he passed me on to his “supervisor” called Michael…..another male with a very similar accent – I was on the phone for over half an hour arguing with them – “Michael” did eventually provide a phone number 020 331 86361 and when you ring this it is answered automatically with “Welcome to out telephone service, someone will be with you shortly…..” I hung up. They attempted to ring me back but on 1471 “the number which called your line was unknown!!!!!” surprise surprise…..Don’t be taken in by these scammers!!!
This scam seems to be escalating and upsetting a lot of people – I’ve reported it to the local police and Consumer Advice – has anyone managed to trace these calls yet and do these people actually get paid for all this abuse ??
I had another two ‘iffy’ calls today with music and background noise, but just put the phone down before anyone could speak
Got a call from these scammers too, played him along and then told him that I was a technician (I’m not!) which immediately rattled his cage and told him not to ring back, and promptly hung up on him! I’m now ready for the next call …………
I received an unsolicited call from an Asian lady from ‘the Technical Service Dept. of ‘Windows Operating System’ to advise me that my computer was heavily corrupted to the extent that the server would blacklist it. They had received this information through ‘ the International Routing System’ I am largely uneducated when it comes to computers, so I accepted what was being said and followed advice to determine the extent of the problem starting by keying in ‘Ctrl’ and ‘R’, followed by various other processes until a table appeared showing the risks identified under various categories. I was then told to complete a form to secure lifetime maintenance for £200. At this point I demurred and handed over to my wife who has a better grasp of such things and a suspicious mind when it comes to computers. She did not buy the story and passed the caller back to me. After a brief further conversation the line went dead. Sounds very similar to the experience of some other contributors.
As a recent new PC user was panicked into signing up with “e-prosolution” having had the same calls etc that other have outlined. However, when i did subsequently get suspicious i removed the programme they had downloaded and installed the legitimate Microsoft anti spayware software directly from microsoft and ran a 5-hour check of my laptop and software – which revealed no problems at all. I obviously changed all acccount passwords and log-ins etc and have seen no unusual activity at all in a fortnight. I also have ID Theft insurance and used a company called CPP to do a credit check and a Data Report check that tracks use of information you may have disclosed (intentionally or otherwise!) such as email addresses, passwords, phone numbers, name – and again I’ve had the all clear.
Now – the best bit – I emailed e-prosultion earlier this week basically abusing them and calling them scammers etc and that I’d hunt them down for my money through whatever means possible. They called me and I demanded a refund through the Gogopay site (secure) of the fee I had paid them 2 weeks ago. I bluffed about “cooling off periods” and that I had been bulleyed into paying for something I did not want. They agreed and today my credit card was reimbursed through Gogopay for the full amount; and I’ve since had a further call asking for feedback on why I wanted to leave their cover.
Now I will obviously remain vigilant in terms of bank account activity and will get CPP to run a further check in a few weeks time, but it would appear that may be these particular lowlives are just v.pushy, oppotunistic and possibly selling something ineffectual – rather than complete scammers? I think I’ve been lucky.
I know some internet caht has raised concerns re the 0203 phone numbers -this is actually legit and is a valid 3rd area code for London. Though my (legitimate blue chip) business we work with an NHS Primary Care Trust in London that uses 0203.
My 90 yr old mother in law got this call while my wife was at her house. She didn’t like the idea that they had tracked her to her mums and asked them to phone back on our landline today.
This gave me time to google it and there was loads of info about this scam. When the guy got back to me I asked him how he could track my wife’s laptop to her mother’s house – he said it was ‘registered’ there. I then asked him for my OS and when he couldn’t tell me I informed him that I have a Mac which doesn’t even run Windows (not quite true) I also told him that I had contacted Microsoft (a total lie) and that they had said that they would never phone up offering support.
He apologised and hung up!
Hope this helps
This scam has reached New Zealand. One of my team got a call at home saying technical support needed to access her computer to assist with the internet connection. My team member asked which company they were from repeatedly and they refused to say. So she told them she wouldnt help them and was told to “go to hell” three times by the indian lady on the phone who then hung up.
Watch out New Zealanders too.
Ask them how their windows operating system will help you with your OSX .. :))
Had the call last night and STUPID me let them access the computer where they downloaded Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal to “check” my computer for all those viruses. But when he said £109 for 7 years guarantee I laughed and said “are you mad, a week before christmas and I don’t have any money left”. But I haven’t been able to sleep because I gave them access to my computer. Is the scam just to get payment over the phone via your credit card or is it to plant malicious malware/spyware?
Heh, same here – in New Zealand, they rang, I answered but before they could say anything I asked to be added to their Do Not Call list. They said they had to call me for the next few days…
I played with them for a while gave them an IP address of Google to log in to – eventually grew bored and told them what I was doing.
The guy called me a loser and hung up :-) fake number, windows support centre :-)
Similar calls as listed above.
The number I was issued with, this morning, December 18th 2010, when I queried the chap’s authenticity was 01865600898 and he said I was to ask for a Mr Sam Parker or Barker.
Needless to say, I didn’t waste my time!
01865 is the dialling code for Kidlington, Oxon [Oxford] UK don’t know if anyone would have the courage to ring them back in case your call is traced and there’s even more trouble !
I’ve just had 8 calls in 2 hours from these people – and one caller got quite aggressive and abusive when I laughed and said that I didn’t believe that he was getting any error messages at all from my computer!
Can’t remember/couldn’t really make out the name of the company that they gave – I asked for a telephone number, but was fobbed off and when I dialed 1471 it was ‘number withheld’. I got bored before they got as far as trying to take control of my computer and I never gave out any information, hope that they are bored with me now and leave me alone!
Checked out reporting them, but have too few details and according to a report in the Guardian, as they are operating from overseas, there is nothing that can be done here to stop this kind of scam.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres
Debs
Just had the same scammers on phone for about an hour, the problem is that I do have issues with my laptop being really slow so thought it was a genuine call up to the point when they were going to connect me to a site to update my “windows warrenty” which they say is out of date, they wanted £126 for a one year cover, which as soon as I said I had no money they said it was for two year cover to which I still declined, then it went up to £206 for “life cover” for up to 4 pc’s ALARM BELLS started at this point I switched on my desk top and googled this forum,
I HAD ALREADY ALLOWED THEM ACCESS TO MY LAPTOP AM I IN DANGER OF VIRUS/SPYWARE SCAMWARE ??? but did not give any personal details, I have deleted everything they loaded and run AVG 9 which found nothing ,can anyone please advise
My dad had the same type of phonecall today and as is not very good with computers believed the Asian lady was genuinely from Microsoft! He switched on the computer for her but she hung up – is there anyway that she will have gained access to the computer or any information on it???? Thanks
Jan: 7th 2011. recieved a phone call at 10am this morning from an Asian sounding man, who said he was from Windows and that my computor was sending error reports. That i had a virus on my computor, and that he would show it to me on my system and take me through the process step bu step. I asked him to call back in half an hour as i was to busy at that moment in time. It allowed me to call 1471 to find the number he was calling from as he was reluctant to give me a number when asked. The number 02538020308 was not reconized when i called it.I also went on line and discovered that other people had recieved the same kind of calls. At half ten a asian sounding lady called and i said that it was a scam and she said if you dont believe us, and hung up.
Indian man rang up today and said he was from ‘windows service centre’ (not Microsoft?)and that his name was Jack. I knew straight off it was a scam as I work in IT. He said I had a virus on my machine and that he was able to fix it. I asked him what the name of the virus was – he was unable to tell me, just kept getting a bit excited with it all. I asked him how he was intending to remedy the situation and he said he would get me to download a tool for me to run on my machine. “Do I need to pay” I asked. Yes 79 pounds was the reply – At this point he got really excited and I asked him to wait whilst I went to get my credit card. I put the phone down and left it there. Its been an hour now so I’m not sure if he’s still there or not….I shall replace the received in awhile and if they call again I’ll repeat the game. They are paying the bill not me :) I suggest you all do the same.
We’ve had Windows apparently ringing us over last week or so.First an asian person then i had some american guy today called Chris Brown!! again stating our computer had viruses,was working slowly and they were receiving error reports from our computer and if we didnt sort it out then our computer will basically crash!!-i told him my husband is in charge of computer and to phone back-we are still waiting but i thought something was fishy here!!-can’t wait to tell them where to go when they eventually phone back!
Just received a call from Henry (with thick Asian accent) who works for Microsoft…. apparently my computer has been sending them error reports and has harmful viruses that he can sort out..! He asked if I had my computer on, which I told him I didn’t, he was quite pushy telling me to turn it on and he can sort all my problems for me.
I asked him for a telephone number that I could call him back on and told him that he could be calling me from anywhere, the number he gave me was 02032867078 and when questioned he said he got my number from the international routing service?. Anyway I already had computer on and googled the number which brought me to this site, before I even had chance to finish reading the first comment he had phoned me back to ask if I had turned my computer on – I told him yes I had, that I am not that thick and that I knew he was a total scam.. Henry then insisted again that he could help my computer to which i told him a few ‘rude’ words and he hung up!!!
Hoping they call back now – i am ready for round 2!!
About 20 minutes ago I received a call from an Indian guy named “Jack” who said he was from Windows and was calling to tell me my computer was sending error messages to them and if I don’t fix it immediately I will be in danger of losing all my personal information. He wanted me to go to my computer and he was going to ‘help’ me fix it. I told him I couldn’t go to my computer at the moment and although he was quite persistent, I finally convinced him I’d call him if he’d give me a phone number. He gave me (213) 550-1062. I reverse looked it up and it is a land line in Los Angeles but that is all I know. Hopefully that will help others out there…
The same thing happened to me. I let them control my computer, but I didn’t give them any details.. Can someone tell me if they eprosolutions would be able to access anything if I deleted all their programs and stuff.. I’m worried bc I let them control my comp.. Help!!
@tova
I would sincerely consider a thorough system check either by a pro or yourself if you know computer security principles.
Try scanning you computer using multiple(at least 2 to 3) anti-viruses (Hitman Pro, Avira, Avg, Avast, MS Security Essentials, etc.), anti-malaware (anti malware bytes, spybot, windows defender, etc.), and install a (only one) firewall (Comodo, ZoneAlarm, etc.) with high security settings. Using the firewall that you install, only give internet access to the softwares you want to.
You may also want to run windows update to patch any security gaps. Running rootkit revelers would also help.
[P.S.: All softwares mentioned above are free to use for their basic versions, apart from Hitman Pro which is free to scan (unlimited) but clean-up is only free for one time.]
Lastly I am not a computer security expert and other’s views may differ.
All
If you are a victim of a crime including this computer virus scam… please report it to your local police.
there is a non-emergency number on http://www.met.police.uk/ that you can use.
I just had the same call tonight. When I told the Indian man that I had no computer problems he told me no but if I went online he would show me the errors! I demanded a telephone number and the name of his company, he left to ask someone what to do next. Another Indian man came on the phone to ask whet my problem was. I said no problem I merely want your name, company name and phone number so I could check you out with the police! He hung up on me :( LOL
Hi I just received a call from an Indian guy named ‘Brian’ telling me my PC is running slow which it is. However didn’t believe he was calling from Windows technical dept and told him I couldnt log on to my pc at the moment and if he gave me a number I would call him back. Gave me a Manchester number 0161 408 2211 and called it out of curiosity to see how they answered and just went though to a voicemail informing the call could not be answered at this time. You telling me big company like Windows don’t have a proper answering service, or better still a queing system!!!
If you are going to scam people, at least do it properly!!!
They’re still going strong! Got a call today from an Indian-soundig man “about your computer” (suspicion aroused – no company name given at introduction). I wondered how they could know that my computer was infected with a “very dangerous virus” and asked who the company was – “Windows Service Centre”. I was sufficiently worried to follow the instructions until told to go to a website “teamviewer.com” when alarm bells rang. I politely said as it was a cold call I would independently verify the situation. He was equally polite which made me wonder if I should doubt him. Now very glad I went with my instincts – at least I cost them a bit for the phone call!
You have to be very wary when anyone of unverified identity asks for access to your computer!!
Just received a call from an Indian-sounding man named ‘Sean’ from the ‘Windows Service Centre’
He said his company had been receiving spam e-mails from my computer as a result of it being infected by malicious spyware. I said I had a very good security system. He said’ It will protect you from viruses but not this’
He asked me to press the Windows button on my keyboard and then R for Roger!
At which point, I hung up, saying I would need to wait until my husband was home in order to deal with it :)
I dialled 1471 and the number was with-held.
The Microsoft/Windows business model precludes anything as tedious as a direct relationship with retail users of its products. Asking for the caller’s phone number and IP address will stop the call immediately
Surprise, surprise, I have had a similar call from an asian guy claiming to be from the global maintenance dept of Windows Technical Department. He said my pc was throwing out error messages, was probably running slowly and I had a number of serious viruses on the system. Being inquisitive I pressed him on how he knew our telephone number, and he told me my postal address and was very insistent. I told him I was happy with my security but still be pressed the points. I told him I had no intention of allowing either him access to my pc or following his instructions. I asked for his office location and he said Banbury Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire and when I said I would check it out and ring him back he said I couldnt. He eventually gave me the number as 017779880818. Needless to say I did not call back
Well, yes here in Australia we get these calls too, this was my 4th one in the last few months and pretty much the same senario as above. Christine (Indian accent), calling apparently from Windows Opperating System (Other times it was Windows Service Center), yes I am supposedly infecting everyone with viruses like autospy, application junks, melware and everthing else. I told them that I was so grateful that they had let me know and since my PC sceen was broken I would just throw my whole pc out as to not spread the virus’s, I too got an invalid number(020872000591) from Western Australia, I asked for their number so that I could contact all my contacts and get them to call in so that they could check that they didn’t contract the viruses I had. She asked me for my email address so that she could contact me if anything new showed up, so I told her that since I had been so badly infected that I will just get a new email, facebook,skype etc so I requested her email so that I could advise her of my new email and she said they didn’t have one and she couldn’t give me her personal one cause of company policy, I must say that I did enjoy getting her so worked up and look forward to the next call! Interestingly I was told by her that the computer security sysems like Norton don’t completely work.
I recon Microsoft should get on top of this because seriously I will consider Apple or Uix in thee future, it is a real invasion of privacy/security.
Many thanks for being able to see all these comments. My call came from “Windows” telling me how badly my computer was infested with viruses. I was to switch on and let him guide me through the system to remove them. After much questioning from me I eventually got this number 8002061122. Having checked Google I see it’s an Indian “free-phone number”. I don’t intend to try the contact but pass it on for what it’s worth.
I had a call from an Asian sounding man called Jack today. He said that my computer was full of viruses and he was phoning from Windows. I said that my computer was fine, he said ” just turn it on and I will get rid of them”.
I smelt a rat of course and said that I was only on dial up ( which I am not )to which he told me just to turn it on anyway. I just hung up.
It is a bit worrying especially when I am sure that there are a lot of people beleiving this sort of scam, and ending up being conned.
This scam has been going for some time now and I myself recieve calls almost daily, I have a vast knowledge of pc’s laptops computers in general and was shocked when these people from somewhere in asia questioned my credability and were lacking the knowledge anyone with some savvy would have, I was told my windows operating system had been attacked by malicious viruses it took the guy 3 attempts to coeectly guess which version of windows I was using, when I told him I suggested his company was false he made some strange noise and hung up on me, disappointed because I was after as much info on his company as I could get, BEWARE it is a complete and utter scam to get money from your bank account and to access your computer
Just had a call from an International number from a man with an asian sounding accent informing me that my computer was spreading viruses over the internet. When I said that I have an up to date virus checker on my system he said that I was still sending out “hidden Viruses”. When I asked how he knew of this problem he would not tell me. I then told him to “do one”.
Had a call from the “Windows support Centre” today. An Asian sounding chap saying they were receiving reports of errors on my computer.
Nice of them to call and tell me!
However being on the cautious side I asked for their address and IP. I was given 145-152 St Johns Street London and an IP of 192.14.58. … hmmm incomplete.
I just kept on asking those naive questions until he gave up on me and hung up…how rude! What my compter contacted them WOW that is amazing!
BTW the address appears to be a financial company so no surprise there.
The scam is still out there so take care.
Just spoke to my dad this evening (we live several hundred miles apart) – he is in his 70s and someone contacted him on Thursday by phone. He had been having computer difficulties and so when this person told him they were from Windows Support he believed them. Since then they have have installed Windows 7 Premium (he is a home user and had Home Vista!), Office 2007 (he is perfectly comfortably with Office 2003) and a cheap virus checker that I suspect is inferior to the one he had on there (Kapersky instead of the one he got from Virgin Media?). They have charged him £400 for the work and software – and insisted on taking payment on two different cards. I found out about late this afternoon, when he told me he could not speak with me on the phone for long because he was awaiting a call back from Windows Support. When I asked more questions and told him I suspected it was a scam he took a lot of persuading. He did agree to grill the person who was calling to confirm all the work was done. This person pointed out all the software etc. that had been installed and that the computer was running much better (it seemingly is, but……).
While this was going on I did some further searching. He is now contacting his bank and credit card company and has agreed that he will not switch his computer back on until he has had someone competent check it (I live too far away, and am not convinced I am competent). I hope we can at least stop the payments going through.
My dad is not someone who I would think of as gullible, and I was surprised he fell for this, but he has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to computers and is scared of doing things wrong. Normally he talks to me about his computer problems, but for some reason this time he chose not to. Hopefully we can limit the damage.
@Alison – your Dad’s experience is somewhat different from the others described here. He was sold something substantive that actually exist rather than the vapourware on offer generally. Windows 7 Premium is the advised upgrade to Vista Home. Even Microsoft acknowledge that Vista is a FAIL; upgrading to Windows 7 is the sensible step and a generally acknowledged improvement on Vista. The upgrade from Office 2003 to 2007 is a matter of choice: there is always the free OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/)Kapersky is a legitimate ant-virus product but you’re right, that supplied by Virgin as part of their broadband deal with its regular automatic updates is arguably at least as good.
I don’t know how far you’ll get with the bank since the transaction was probably legitimate. £400 is probably about right if the deal included genuine and licensed copies of Window 7 and Office 2007. Did they give him the activation keys for the products?
Another point to consider is that, with little prospect of reimbursement, reverting to Vista is not a trivial task and is likely to cost money.
Just spoke to my dad this evening (we live several hundred miles apart) – he is in his 70s and someone contacted him on Thursday by phone. He had been having computer difficulties and so when this person told him they were from Windows Support he believed them. Since then they have have installed Windows 7 Premium (he is a home user and had Home Vista!), Office 2007 (he is perfectly comfortably with Office 2003) and a cheap virus checker that I suspect is inferior to the one he had on there (Kapersky instead of the one he got from Virgin Media?). They have charged him £400 for the work and software – and insisted on taking payment on two different cards. I found out about late this afternoon, when he told me he could not speak with me on the phone for long because he was awaiting a call back from Windows Support. When I asked more questions and told him I suspected it was a scam he took a lot of persuading. He did agree to grill the person who was calling to confirm all the work was done. This person pointed out all the software etc. that had been installed and that the computer was running much better (it seemingly is, but……). The people he was dealing with gave him the St Johns St address as well.
While this was going on I did some further searching. He is now contacting his bank and credit card company and has agreed that he will not switch his computer back on until he has had someone competent check it (I live too far away, and am not convinced I am competent). I hope we can at least stop the payments going through. I am trying to get him to take action while not signalling just how worried I am: I have no doubt these cowards have a clone of his hard drive with lots of useful information on it.
My dad is not someone who I would think of as gullible, and I was surprised he fell for this, but he has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to computers and is scared of doing things wrong. Normally he talks to me about his computer problems, but for some reason this time he chose not to. Hopefully we can limit the damage.
David – thank you for the information and sorry about the double post (not sure how it happened). My worry is that the software is not licensed and is therefore valueless (they gave the St Johns Street address mentioned by Paul, and it and the phone number are listed on the web as being associated with known computer scams): I will check tomorrow about the activation codes but he certainly has not mentioned them. At the moment we are aiming only to put the payments on hold while they are investigated: if there is a reason why the payments should be made my Dad, being an honourable guy, intends to reinstate them.
He will call the police tomorrow, when he hopes there will be someone in the Fraud Unit he can talk to (he has been very shaken to discover that there is probably a clone of his laptop out there, and he only has the mental stamina to tackle a few things before he needs a break so I don’t want to push him).
Alison – no worries, I’ve been averaging a call every other day from a South Asia based boiler room, Wasn’t taking the calls seriously until I heard that one of my neighbours was taken for £150, since when I’ve been researching this scam. I have reported the (attempted) frauds to Avon & Somerset constabulary.
Please contact or quote me if I can be of any help – warriet(at)gmail(dot)com.
Please tell your Dad that he is not alone in this, the fraudsters use a very sophisticated script .
David Edwards
Just to advise that I have had two calls from abroard in the last week asking me to press various buttons on my keyboard,while the computer was on, which I understand could lead to them having some control over my computer. I did decide to end the calls quite early on but subsequently noted the phone numner on the second call – it was 02533639006, which appears to be a number for an African country.
I have not phoned them back but the authorities may like to follow it up.
I live in Dublin and I just recieved a telephone call on my land line from someone claiming to work for windows os. The caller was a man with a strong accent, possibly asian. The line was very bad and got worse whenever I asked any questions. He stated that my computer was sending out error messages and that he could fix it. I was suspicious and told him my computer was offline for several days due to problems with my broadband connection and I couldn’t understand how his company could recieve any error message as a result. He hung up. I then went online as I suspected a scam. Thank you for this forum. It confirmed all my suspicions.
Just to warn everyone they are STILL at it, I Got a call yesterday 11th feb 2011 from them said theya re going to call back,gave his name as ALBI SCOTT..DO NOT TALK TO THESE PEOPLE OR IF THEY RING JUST TELL THEM YOU KNOW ITS A SCAM AS YOU SAW IT ON TELEVISION…
Had a call today, not the first, so I managed to string him along for a while. Usual story, ISP have contacted them and said that my browser is running slow and they wanted to run a free scan. I got their name, number, address and website, all of which looks genuine. http://www.lionwavesolutions.org based in Sheffield. Last caller claimed to be from Health and Support for Windows, and told me that Microsoft gave them my details. Neither your ISP or Microsoft ever give out details to 3rd parties, unless under a police warrant.
Wow, i’m so excited! My first ever phone scam conversation with a real-life-talking scammer!!
Some Guy: “Hello sir. Is this Mr., I am calling about your computer today sir. I am from the International Routing Service and your contact information has come up in our system warning that your computer is at risk.”
Me: “Oh great! Thank goodness you called!”
Someguy: “Sir, your computer is very vulnerable but i can help you fix the problem. Can you tell me what computer and operating system you are running sir?”
Me: “umm, i don’t know… what is the make and model of your computer?”
Someguy: “One moment please…” [click click tap tap]
Someguy: “It is a Macintosh Sir”
Me: “oh, umm, yes, I definitely need your help, but what is your IP address so we can fix the problem?”
Someguy: “Sorry sir, one moment.” [tap, muffled noise, click] “Are you being serious sir? Are you really interested sir?”
Me: “I am definitely NOT interested.”
[Beep Beep Beep Beep… Bee… Be… B… ]
Just got the same call i knew right away it was a lot of bull how could he know i have a virus i just said my computer is fine and hung up.
first such call this week: he put the phone down as soon I as I used the word scam
Second call in two days from an Asian chap who claimed to be from Windows Support, claiming that I needed to delete ‘errors & warnings’ from my computer before a virus infected something else.I told him I would contact Windows via email to download the instructions, before asking some friends on a forum I use. They directed me here. Been going a long time it seems.
I’ve had this call several times, but always put them off as I’m always a bit cautious. Had another call today from an Asian woman this time, (normally a man). My computer is acting up at the moment and I’ve asked for a report to be sent, so I must admit I was very tempted. Common sense prevailed and I said that as it was a cold call, I wanted to check it out before I switched my computer on. She gave me the telephone number 02081239216 and I was to ask for Kim Wilson, but I had to ring back within 3 hours. Can anyone advise any web sites that might advise me how to get my connection and computer working properly? Glad I’ve found this web site! Can’t they be stopped? I’m not very computer literate and it worries me that I might slip up in the future.
Who on earth is paying these people – or are they on commission – is that why they are so aggressive ? The problem is most of us are having some form of problem with our computers all the time, this is why we feel so vulnerable. I took delivery of a brand new PC a year ago ( it wasn’t cheap and has a 3 year warranty) since delivery I’ve had a new motherboard, new fan and in October my hard drive failed !! Just getting it all set up again and on line was a mammouth task so when these people called the first time I thought they were genuine as I was trying to reload my Microsoft Office suite. But somehow I ‘smelt a rat’ as they were so rude! I knew Microsoft wouldn’t be like that !
I too have been a victim of a similar scam. Had a phone call a week ago from an Asian sounding woman claiming to be a windows approved technician and that my cimputer, which is running just fine, had apparently been sending error messages. She told me that they were working to sort out these problems. She went on to tell me that by installing a tool into my computer she would be able to show these bugs that my computer was supposed to be infected with. During the course of the conversation she became very rude and aggressive as I said I could’nt understand her. She took control and showed me the tool which pointed out in excess of 900 bugs some of which showed up as critical. This frightened me (a novice in these matters) and I challenged the fact that I had paid for mcafee internet security and why had this happened. She told me that mcafee can not prevent these types of virus that come from facebook and hotmail!! I then felt very dubious when she sai that for £41 she could install all the software I needed for my computer to be rid of this problem. I refused to pay any money saying I needed to check it out and with that she passed the phone to a man (who also had an asian accent) He started shouting at me down the phone saying repeatedly that my computer was dangerous and could infect others and maybe would be damaged beyond repair soon. He used the tactic that another person wrote about. Asking for cards now and if not Pay pal or any method of payment that i could give. My husban saw that I was upset at this point and took the phone insisting that he give his details and that we would call them back when we had checked it out. The man said he was from Just-three.com and the phone number that was registered on my phone was 2033186544 When we checked the number it answered with someone speaking another language very middle eastern sounding. Tonight I have had another pop up on my pc saying I have a security alert and within a minute another call which this time I hung up but the number was the same!!!
Hope this helps seems this scam is going on and on don’t know who to report it to!
I also had the same scam!!! When I asked what company he worked for and his phone number he hung up on me!! Hope he rings back and my husband answers!!! He was Indian by the way!! Does anyone know who to report this too???
unfortunately there is nobody to report this to except perhaps your ;local police and newspaper – this scam will run and run: the only defence is to warn as many people as possible and to NEVER trust what an unsolicited cold caller tells you about your computer
I had the same call yesterday and thought it would be a scam. As my computer belongs to my employer I said I couldn’t use their service and would have to take the computer in to the IT department for checking. The guy hung up on me at that point.
I did report it to my IT department at work (who sent me the link to this webpage) and they are going to send an email alert warning all staff about the scam and to be vigilant. That might be an appropriate route to take if others want to ‘spread the word’ about the scam.
Sounds like I just had the same thing. An indian sounding man rang up and said he was calling from Microsoft service centre and wanted to go through a procedure with me on my computer to show me a virus that would otherwise shut my computer down. I asked if he knew my name and address and he said a name and address that weren’t mine.I asked his name and he said ‘Tony Davis’ hm really?! Then I said I wanted him to email me proof that he was from Microsoft, he said he would do as soon as he had showed me the virus on my computer. I asked to speak to his supervisor and then I hung up. Incidentally he wanted me to hold down the windows key at the same time as ‘R’ then type in and run a programme called something like ‘eventvr’ I think…
I just got this scam phone call. For a few minutes I was taken in a bit because I had noticed that my machine had slowed a bit lately, but this was due to the extra large files I have been using in photoshop. But when I was unceremoniously cut off I thought it was dodgy and quickly closed everything the woman had asked me to open up. They rang back and said I had a nasty virus and would need to pay £70 to renew my windows warranty to update my windows security. At this point I asked for their phone number and webpage address which after a lot of squirming they did do. You can always tell they are not quite legit when they start huffing and puffing because you are cautious. As the technician waffled on about how they were a real windows department I checked them out on the web,surprise they are a known scam and I hung up. They rang me straight back and protested that they were legit, I apologised in advance if they were real windows people but when I asked for her name so that I could ring back she became confused and said her name was Nancy Allen which didn’t fit her broad Indian accent. I advise that if you get a call from these people to hang up and don’t even bother to talk to them else you’ll be on the line for 20 minutes for no reason, or you could get stung for at least £70 if not your whole accounts worth. Avoid!Imagine what they’d do with you card info! Scary
Got call from man this morning who said he was from ‘windows service dept’. He made the mistake of starting the conversation by saying “Your computer runs windows, am I right?” I said “No” “Oh” Click brrrrrrrrr.
I have just had a call from “Windows Maintenance Dept” I just get them to repeat slowly their company name whilst i write it down and then say “I am on TPS, this is an unsolicited call and your company will now be fined” Seems to do the trick as he hung up!
@Sandy – a couple of months ago (I receive up to five calls a week) I rolled on the floor laughing at a caller who swore blind that every computer in the world whether Windows, Mac, Linux was at risk from this terrible virus
@Mandy – me too but TPS only applies to callers from within the UK
Just had 2nd call about viruses. All similar to above.First time I simply told caller to go away as I knew it was a scam. Today I was warned that there are a lot of scams about but this wasn’t one!I asked for his name and phone number and he said Chris van Lam(?)
02081449938 When I called an asian sounding female voice replied.
They called me today, told me I had some virus.
I asked them which computer hold this virus because I have three..
the man replied angrily ‘it-does-not-matta’. I became suspicious and asked what my IP address as a way to find our whether or not they were legit he replied AGAIN ‘it-does-not-matta’. Finally I tested him one more time and asked what my internet provider was and he dictated it was ‘BT’…. it was not.
I dropped the phone shaking.. thinking I could of easily gotten scammed but before I could go on with my day to day things he called again… this time I said I reassured him I had my own virus-protection programme but he said ”there is a signal” I asked him what his name was he paused for a good few seconds and as if he was reading from a piece paper replied ”mi-name-iz Darren Miller” I said I would call him back… I didnt have his number.
Dear Mr Edwards,
Thank you for your e mail sent earlier today.
I have created a log (No AS-2011022500564)which will be sent to your local police beat team for their attention.
Best Wishes,
FORCE SERVICE CENTRE
Avon and Somerset Police
—–Original Message—–
From: internet.mailinglist@avonandsomerset.pnn.police.uk [mailto:internet.mailinglist@avonandsomerset.pnn.police.uk]
Sent: 25 February 2011 12:27
To: #Force Service Centre
Subject: 9619 AS-2011022500564 Internet crime reporting form
Internet crime reporting form
=============================================================================================
IMPORTANT: Do not click reply to this message. You must manually enter their e-mail address in the to: box as they have provided it.
Name: David Edwards
Address:
xxx
Telephone number: nnn
E-mail address: warriet@gmail.com
————————————————–
Type of crime: Other Internet fraud
Time: 12:0
Date: 25/2/2011
Details:
see http://money-watch.co.uk/7118/beware-of-the-windows-phone-scam#comments for many illustrations. I have not fallen for this but am getting at least one of these calls a day – I know a neighbour who was taken for £150 I understand that there is little you can do to stop these calls but I would ask you to publicise this scam
I confirm that this form is not being used to report something that needs urgent police attention.
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If anyone receives one of these scam calls from a male/female with a heavy Asian accent, here is a transcript of my conversation with ‘Alex’ who I kept talking for about 20 minutes. If you’ve some time to kill, see if you can do better;-
Alex Hello Mr ****** my name is Alex and I am calling from Windows Service Centre to make you aware that there is a problem with your windows operating system.
Me Hello Alex, how are you today?
Alex Er, I am fine, thank you.
Me How can I help you Alex?
Alex You have a problem with windows.
Me No my windows are fine; I’ve just had the whole house double glazed.
Alex (confused) No sir, your computer has a virus in its operating system
Me A virus, no, it was an infection.
Alex (more confused) An infection?
Me Yes, in my shoulder, after the operation.
Alex Your operation?
Me Yes Alex, my operation on my shoulder, how did you know about my operation.
Alex I don’t sir, I’m calling about you computer.
Me So how did you know about my infection?
Alex (frustrated) I don’t know about your infection, I’m calling about a computer virus.
Me What about it?
Alex Your computer, it has a virus.
Me Oh dear, is it serious
Alex Yes sir, but I can fix it.
Me Well it’s a good thing you’ve called Alex, what do I have to do.
Alex First you will need to turn your computer on and then I’ll tell you what to do.
Me This is very good of you Alex.
Alex There will be a charge, sir
Me A charge Alex, how much?
Alex It will be £200
Me Oh, is that all.
Alex Have you turned on your computer?
Me Yes Alex (not really)
Caller Are you sure you’ve turned it on sir?
Me Yes Alex (pressing keys for effect)
Caller It’s just it’s not showing on my system?
Me Oh dear, maybe your computer is broken.
You get the idea, this went on for some time with me insisting the computer was on and him getting more and more frustrated. Eventually I got bored and asked him if I could pay him the £200 now and he could get back to me at some later date with the fix for my computer. He was very reluctant to do this and really wanted to keep trying to connect to my computer, but eventually he decided to cut his losses and get the payment.
Caller Yes sir, how will you be paying?
Me Do you accept cash and where do I send it?
Caller We only accept payment by credit or debit card.
Me What about a personal cheque?
Alex No sir we prefer credit/debit cards.
Me What about travellers cheques?
Alex Have you a credit card?
Me Yes Alex.
Alex Can you pass me the card number.
Me No Alex.
Alex But I need your card details to take payment
Me I can’t remember them.
Alex Have you got the card there?
Me No
Alex Can you get it?
Me No, maybe you should call back later?
Alex No sir we can sort this out now.
Me You seem very keen to get my credit card details, is this some kind of scam
Alex No sir it’s not a scam, I can pass you to to my supervisor if you like.
Me No thanks, can you give me a number to ring you back
He passed me his number and and told me to ask for him, as far as I know Alex is still waiting for the call back. Alex never called me again, how sad.
See how long you can keep them talking.
Please read this.
If a complete stranger came to your front door and asked to come in to show you how vulnerable your home was to being burgled, would you let him in?
Allowing access to your computer to a cold caller is exactly the same.
There are no exceptions to this rule!
Perhaps I’m the first Aussie on 1 March 2011 to get this scam.
This Indian gent certainly seems to get around!
I just had “Keith Parker” call me from the Technical Department of Window in Salt Lake City.
Same story as above – my computer was badly infected and he would “fix it” for me if I ‘pressed the little button on the bottom left-hand side of my screen’.
When I asked for his number to call to confirm his bona vides, he quoted “a free-call number” (apparently) 0291916638. I didn’t bother ringing to check. Heck! the ’02’ prefix is a New South Wales number for starters – and free-call numbers here are prefixed ‘1800’
I will drop a note to my Internet Provider and maybe they can stick a warning on their web-page – just in case there is anyone who could possibly believe that Keith Parker is here to help.
1st march had 2 calls from an indian man claiming to be from windows support. He said my computer had a serious virus and was infecting thousands of other computers. If I turned it on he would show me where the virus was and how to fix it.
I just put the phone down. He immediately rang again. I hung up.
Will advise as many older people as I can of this scam as they are more likely to fall for it.
I’m furious! Just come off two calls with an Indian gentleman telling me that I had a problem with my computer, although he didn’t mention Windows. This isn’t the first time, and usually I just tell them there’s nothing wrong with my computer and put the phone down. This time I told him that this was clearly a scam and put the phone down, and he called me back. He asked for my registration number and I said I didn’t have one. And this time he read out my address to me, and said that he was coming down to talk to me. I said: “Oh yes, very likely!” and put the phone down. This is more than a scam – this is intimidation! I rang 1471 and of course there was no number listed.
I have just had a call at 11.32am this morning which is why I decided to google to see if anyone else has had this happen as I have had quite a few of these calls. I had one earlier this week and the caller tried to get me to confirm that I had windows, I told him since he knew so much he could tell me, he hung up immediately.
The one I got just now I told him that I knew about his scam and hung up on him. However when I did 1471 I was given this number 02485692100, I won’t call it but may be someone else might like to investigate. Seems this scam is alive and well and very much an ongoing issue, surely the Trading STandards or some organisation like that should be chasing them, especially with a UK telephone number.
@Anne tried the number above and got “the number you have dialled has not been recognised”
When I dial 1471 after a call I get “You were called at ……. We do not have the caller’s number to return the call” which usually means it’s from abroad
I am having several calls a week but have somehow ‘sussed’ it out. The telephone rings normally for 4 rings , then stops, stutters and rings again 4 times normally, then rings off. I dial 1471 and get the usual “we do not have…..”
So I know I’m not missing an importanrt call. Seems as if I’m on some sort of automatic dial up system?
I just had a very suspicious call. The caller, with very strong accent knew my last name, was calling from “windows maintance” and said: I suppose you use a windows pc, I said yes, and then he hang up. I am desperate, how could I be so stupid? I wasn’t even asked to do anything on my computer. hope not to get in trouble.
@Juliana – read some of the above and don’t worry, no harm done some boiler room has an automated system that dials mostly but not exclusively UK numbers
I just got a call from these people and it was obvious immediately that is was suspect. The woman was very strange and told me that my computer was going to crash in the next few minutes. I began asking for details of her name, address and company name. I was told she was Jennifer Williams from Technical Computer Services in London. This was all said hesitantly as if being made up on the spot. I told her I was going to search for the compmany online. The woman then told me that I was a scammer and that I was wasting her time. Meanwhile I found the scam alert online. A few choice words were exclaimed by me to ‘Jennifer’ and I hung up. What a cheek1
i just received a call a lady calling for my girlfriend and told her it was windows service center they wanted me to type in something and i told her theres nothing wrong with my computer.she was persistent cause i hung up twice.its weird the internet is under my name and the computer is mine.
They are still at it just had them on the phone. I did all the recommended things like asking for the registered company address and telephone number which they gave as,
Windows Service Centre
118, Kingsground(?)
Elton
London 2034(?)
tel. 0203 786 262
I asked them to call me back after thirty minutes to give me time to check and found all your comments on this website. Also tried the 1471 and surprise, surprise the usual message that the number was on a network unable to transmit number etc.
They are getting bolder because they did call again after half an hour and I basically told them where to stick it.
these scammers called me today
number withheld so not much you can do
NEVER GIVE THEM ANY DETAILS AND NEVER LET THEM TAKE OVER YOUR PC
Hi, I received a call fom these jokers yesterday morning,kept me on the phone for 45 mins…did all that they asked..my lap top is very slow so I did think that they were genuine,I had run a system check thro Dells own check a day before… so I did really think it was correct…but I couldn’t understand much of what they were saying to me cause of there asian accent…and I am not very computor literate,being of the silver surfers age !!!but when they started to ask for money,in my case £70 for 3 years cover…I stopped and thought,how on earth did they get my Name ( which was correct) and phone number,so I asked the service tech ( the 2 nd chap I spoke with this one was called Sam Parker,nice english name !!! ) where he was phoning from and his phone number so I could call back later after I had checked this out with my mate,the number that I was given was 01865522108 an Oxford number,then I rang of and checked with with site and found that I had a lucky exscape from these scammers.Will pass this site on to all my mates to read and hopefully they won’t get scammed,as some people have,these people prey on folks and should be stopped.I hope that nothing will have happened to my pc by these people.Could somebody please advise me thanks.
I have been stupid, I’m not too IT literate, I worry about viruses as I don’t understand them, I don’t understand computers, I panic as it all sounds so serious and I fell for it. The question now is what do I do about it? What risks am I running? How do I solve them? This is a serious and urgent request for help. Somebody out there ..? Please
Wow..can’t believe i fell for this one!! I am not normally so gullable, but this guy (again with a heavy asian accent) rang me last evening (17th March) and had me believing my pc had all these viruses. told me he was from windows centre and got my details from the central server..etc, etc. got me going onto this system thing to show my errors and going onto logmein.com I feel so stupid as to do this but i had no idea this was to gain access to my pc. feel violated. i asked what company he was from several times as i could barely understand him, he said it was Epro Solutions (same as some others on here) as soon as he downloaded this software to detect viruses and showed hundreds of errors i proceeded to tell him this felt very wrong and when he urgently went into technical information i asked if i was going to be paying for this to magically go away! he said £79 to which i said i didn’t have that sort of money and wasn’t interested. deleted all trace of what they downloaded, have updated my AVG and done a total scan (to which found nothing)and have asked a friend about how safe things are now. i have been onto my bank to make sure its blocked. i am just worried that they can still gain access to my pc, although i have been told that the website i went on does this so i am ok now…if anyone has any reassurence it would be appreciated! these people should not get away with being able to do this!
My advice to the above two comments would be to immediately do a scan of your computer through your own SECURITY PROVIDER
If there are problems your security company will usually be very helpful in assisting you to clear any malicious software
I would also suggest if you have ever used your pc for online purchases ie using bank details or credit card—TO CHECK YOUR ACCOUNTS—-if you are in any doubt that there is a problem PUT A STOP ON YOUR CARDS—-your bank credit card company will help you in any way they can
You may also find that if they have scammed information from your PC they may be using your email address to send out malicious emails—if after a security scan things are clean then change your passwords on anything which is password protected on your PC
There are lots of sites out there who offer advice or if need be take your PC to one of your local independant computer repair shops
I hope this is of some help to you
NOT EVERYONE is a computer expert
So this should be a lesson learned and i hope others will take note
I too have fallen for this scam. My son & I had just been discussing how slow our computer was and we put it down to the fact my late husband who died suddenly last year, had a lot of installed programs and clogged up email addresses etc on the machine. We had both agreed to ‘get it sorted’ Plus I have a lot of precious video clips of my husband on the machine that I could not bear to lose. So when I received the phone call from the Asian guy he could not have caught me at a more vunerable time!! I am so ashamed that I allowed this person to con me. I was very tearful when I told him I had recently lost my husband and he was the computer expert, he even sympathised with me, but before I knew it he was remotely moving my cursor, which freaked me out – I could hear my husband in my head saying ‘put the phone down’ but the guy scared me telling me my computer was going to crash and I was going to lose everything. Needless to say he managed to get £100 off me (even though I told him I couldn’t afford it) When I came to my senses – I contacted the bank & stopped my bank details being used. Meanwhile my friend has ‘sorted’ the computer, by wiping the hard drive & backing everything up plus my precious video clips have been put on a USB stick. My friends call them the scum of the earth – I just can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for it.
I have just received such a call. I so very nearly fell for it! An indian guy calling himself Jack Wilson (now that was suspicious in itself) convinced me for a while that he was from “Windows Service Center” and got me to run some diagnostics on my computer, which appeared to prove that there were “errors” and warnings” on there. Now i am a very experienced computer user, but I was being convinced by this guy that he was genuine – occasionally he appeared to consult a superior and when I asked for some evidence that he was for real he gave me the number 020 328 69827 and employee code JK043C2. I even let him guide me through setting up a remote connection so that a “Microsoft Certified Engineer” could remove the offending spyware. This guy supposedly had the equally unimaginative name of Michael Smith!
Only when he pressed me to accept t he remote connection did I tell him that I had sussed him, and I switched off my computer and put the ‘phone down. A moral to this story – when you answer the ‘phone and a sing song indian voice asks if you are “Mr xxx”, trust your instinct that he means you no good, and put the ‘phone down!
Windows Service Centre just called me and tried to get me to run “diagnostics”. I told them I didn’t have the computer and could I call them back . They gave me the number 0161 408 5067 and the name Gerard.
I won’t be calling them back, and I won’t be playing their games!
My 70 year old Dad received a call today from someone claiming to be Windows support technician. He was told that his computer is infected and they need to connect via ‘teamviewer’, which unfortunately, he let them do that.
They then told him his computer was hacked and it was used to steal money from bank accounts abroad and then he could go to prison. They requested £140 to get it fixed. Luckily he was suspicious at that point and refused. They then threated that his call was being recorded and will be used in evidence at a court case.
I’ve checked his computer and run a few scans – nothing sinister but I have a got a log file of the teamviewer session. Unfortunately the phone number was withheld but it was an Inidan call centre. These people are Opportunist Scum and need to be stopped preying on the vulnerable.
Girlfriend just called me, and said an indian sounding man called. He said we had a virus on our computer. She didnt get a number and didnt tell him anything as she didnt know how to use it. Said he’d ring back monday, cant wait!!!
Yet again another call from these jokers
Is it not time for the telecommunications regulators OFCOM to put pressure on telephone companies
I think customers should be able to get some sort of tracker device so that the call can be traced and the offenders prosecuted—-IF ONLY
please please please DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY INFORMATION OR ALLOW THEM ACCESS TO YOUR COMPUTER
Surely if these people are giving out UK telephone numbers even if they are false the British Police/Ofcom should be able to do something about it? I reported them to our local Consumer Advice who said nothing could be done as they are operating in Asia. I also reported it to Computer Active magazine who knew about the scam. But now it’s becoming more than a joke.
I have done a bit of research through ofcom and local trading standards websites and a couple of telephone calls
It would appear there is little that can be done
So i think its time for every telephone consumer to contact both their telephone providers and ofcom every time they receive one of these calls
Maybe if they are inundated with complaints they might just be jogged into taking some action
but once again NEVER GIVE THESE PEOPLE ANY PERSONAL DETAILS OR ALLOW THEM ACCES TO YOUR PC OR LAPTOP
THESE PEOPLE ARE SCUM
JUST ANOTHER THOUGHT HERE
One way to alert as many people as possible about this scam would be to write a letter to your local newspaper for publication
This will warn more and more people and hopefully if the scammers are not getting anywhere they will stop
JUST A THOUGHT
Yes I agree – I am our local Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator, we also have a Village Society and I have circulated the warning to both. But this doesn’t stop a vulnerable person who’s computer is running slow falling into this trap – I nearly did! It was only that I had just installed the very latest version of Norton anti virus 360 and done a full scan an hour before that I knew my computer was clean!
I’ve had about 4 of these calls over the last month plus messages on my answerphone. Normally I can’t be bothered to speak to anybody who can’t speak English properly but I was curious so when I got another call just a minute ago from a woman with a heavy asian accent – didn’t catch her name or company, I wanted to find out what they were after. She went through all the usual rigmarole of telling me that my computer had sent an error message and showing me where the corrupted files are. I got bored at that point and asked her what she was trying to sell me. She said she wasn’t selling anything and “didn’t I want to fix the errors now I had seen them with my own eyes”. I just said no thanks and hung up!
Who do I need to complain to?
as i have stated in previous posts
IT APPEARS NO ONE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO ANYTHING—-or so they say
So i urge everyone who has received these calls to constantly complain to their telephone services provider and ofcom
If enough people do this i am sure they themselves will get so fed up with us they might actually do something about it
as i have said in earlier posts
IT APPEARS NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING—–or so they say
So i urge everyone who has had these calls to contact their telephone services providers and ofcom EVERY TIME THEY GET A CALL
if this happens maybe they will get so fed up with us they might actually do something about it
I got this call today from phone number 1 789 456 1328…This number looks very “cooked” to me! I told Jake (the guy who called) to give me a minute. I then Googled the the company he said he was calling from, and found out it was fake. Tried to call back, wrong number!
11.26 today
Heavy Asian accent ‘Hello am I speaking to ” Mrs ……” this is the Windows Operating System’ Oh I said Again ? I have already reported you to the Police – can I have your number and I will report you again. He put the phone down. I dialed 1471 ” We do not have the callers number to return the call”
I got a call this morning and as soon as an aian voice said ‘Hello I’m calling from Windows Service Centre about your computer’ I knew it was a scam … I simply said ‘Oh I’ve not called you so why are you calling me’ then just put the phone down.
Oh the joy of now having to explian to my aging parents that if they get a call like this just to hang up …. easier said than done for a couple who worry and think people are ringing out of the goodness of their heart.
Just got a call in Australia from an Indian guy claiming he was from Windows Service Centre. He knew my name & said I was running Windows, I laughed & said no I’ve got a Mac! He said get Windows, I said no its crap & he hung up. Hahaha FAIL!!!
Don’t get scammed by these idiots!
My wife has just received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the “Windows Service Centre” regarding breakdowns of our broadband connection. He said they would check for a virus if our computer was turned on. He gave his name as Amos Edwards. He said he was calling from Manchester & gave his number as 0208 1332998.
We always get calls like this, we just tell them we only have a mac, that gets rid of them.
Well it has now made it to America, too! My mum took the call and got a call back number which I called (via Skype to avoid providing my calller id. It took a long time for someone to answer. Sounded South Asian to me with a good bit of office background noise. The guy claimed to be with Microsoft, said there was a problem with her operating system and if I would allow him to have one of his tech people call back. Yeah, sure! The number is 1-609-531-0365.
HELP! My poor mum (perhaps stupid!) has just been conned by these so called windows support people. They were very convincing, even gave her a tel number and web site so she could contact them, which she did as she has been having virus problems. She let them into her pc (DUH!!!!!!) and now she realises it was a con doesnt know what to do. Can anyone help? She didnt give them credit card details as by this point she knew it was a scam, but too late as they got into her pc!!!!! She is too scared to use her pc now and I guess rightly so! Much appreciate any help/suggestions.
Marcia, Your mum wasn’t stupid. These people are very, very convincing. I was in the same position i.e having problems with windows, so of course you believe them. I was fortunate as I was just on my way out to an appointment the first time they rang, and I was busy the second time on the third time I sat and thought about it and decided to check first. Now here I am on this web site!! I’ve had another call since and strung them along for a while pretending I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I then told them that I had someone at the door, and asked if they could hold on for a moment. I then proceeded to cook and eat my lunch. So rude, they’d hung up when I picked up the phone again. I hope this just hit them where it hurt – in the pocket! Why can’t these people be stopped?
Hiya peeps
Well i just had a call off these scammers n asked them to give me half an hour and ring back. He’s just rang back, same strong asian accent .. and i was well ready for him. haha… He had me pressing start goin into all differnet parts of my pc and i strung him along all the way for about 5 mins +, then he asked me what it now said on my screen, i replied…….. ‘It says WARNING, BEWARE, you are a dirty bunch of scamming ba****d’s who has no right to use my personal home number to ring my house and aim to scam money out of genuine hard working british people…. Eeeee is it supposed to say that’ he then replied ever so politely, in his thick asian accent… ‘Oh my, what seems to be the problem maam’ I was so angry but also ammused at his response but i cut him short with… ‘My problem is you are scamming innocent, ignorant people and if you ever ring my house again i’ll hunt you down i
Hiya peeps, I have just come off the fone to these scammers… I was called about 40 mins ago by a male with a strong asian accent… i quickly realised it had to be a scam and asked him to give me half hour and call back. He just has and i was in the midst of readin all your replies…. I was well ready for him… haha… He had me pressing start and opening certain parts of my pc which i strung him along for over 5 mins and when he asked what my screen was saying now i replied…. ‘it says you are a bunch of dirty scamming ba****d’s who have no right to use peoples personal home numbers to aim to scam money from innocent,computer illiterate people who work hard for what they have and you disgust me’ of which he answered… ‘Oh my, maam what seems to be your problem’ I cut the call short then n replied… ‘Look do not call my home agin or i’ll come to delhi and personally hunt you down in your little call centre n God help ya’… I then hung up….. I’m sorry if this ofends anyone but i was sooo angry…. Good luck everyone… be careful who you answer the fone to while ya sat watchin daytime TV ;o) xx
Oh dear that where the first blog went haha…. anyway add em both together and you sorta get the hang of the fonecall take care all x
Just had ‘Alex’ on with a strong Asian accent asking for me by name – before he could get going I asked him if he was from the Windows Support Centre which shocked him – I’m phoning to ask whether you have a BSkyB satellite dish he said -I put the phone down, this is a new one so BEWARE !!
Janice
We had a call yesterday from an undisclosed number. It sounded like an offshore/Delhi call centre.
The caller claimed to be from Virgin Media and even refered to my partner by name.
They said that they could tell our PC was infected with viruses as our connection was slow.
They wanted to help my partner run a scan.
I was at work at the time so my partner told them “My partner is an IT Manager, I’m sure he’ll know what to do”. The line went dead straight away.
We were suspicious on a number of levels. Firstly, Virgin only ever phone if they’re owed money. Secondly, we’ve had a number of cold calls asking for the “Computer User” or “Computer Owner”.
Furthermore, our PC died months ago. Our broadband is used for a games console, smart phones and the occasional netbook.
My partner told me this as soon as she’d had the call. So I phoned Virgin Media to check.
Virgin confirmed that they hadn’t contacted us and that our broadband connection speed and bandwidth usage were normal.
We still don’t know how they knew we were on Virgin or how they got my partners name… the account is in my name.
I too have just had the conversation with the asian chap on the other end of the phone, when he said the intro about my computer having got all the viruses and that i should go and turn on my computer….. if he knew it had viruses on it surley he should know that my computer was already on. Needless to say i put the phone down
I was home today and the phone rang “hello maam I’m from windows and you have a virus on your computer” I said I have not cos I don’t use it. “well if you you put your computer on I’ll run you through how to get rid of this” at that I pit the phone down because something didn’t seem right…. Had a think about it and rang the police they told me it was a scam!! They also told me to phone bt to get them to block the number cos they had not left it when they called. I’m so angry that people have the nerve to do this!! Get a life!!!
Just happened to me. I was suspicious because I have a Mac, so why was Microsoft calling? So I didn’t give any info.
I’ve just had one of these. I was surprised as I was told they’d ‘just received an error message.’ My computer hadn’t been on at all. I simply told the caller that there were no problems and that I was terminating the call. 1471 produced ‘number not notified.’
I have had 2 calls in 2 days, claiming to be from Windows and that my computer has been reported as being infected with malware. I’m in Sydney and have probably had a total of 4 or 5 calls in the last 6 months.
I to have had this type of call today. My story is almost identical to all of those above except I did not give them any info to work with. I kept asking questions that would prove they were legit. I think they are getting smarter as the indian woman claimed they were based in London (as if that makes a difference) and she gave a London number. I later tried calling it back but funnily enough no answer. I will definitely be telling everyone I know and a letter to the newspapers sounds like a good idea too.
I had this call yesterday from a guy with a very strong indian accent who claimed to be from Windows. He said that I have malicious files on my computer and that I needed to go and look at my computer and give him a number from it. How does he know that I even have a computer or internet access? I asked him where he got my phone number from and he gave me some spiel which I did not believe. Dodgy. I am from Adelaide SA and I heard from a friend that they had a call yesterday also. Beware. Just hang up.
Just had a similar call from “Sam in London” claiming to be from Microsoft Solution World. He had my name and phone number and alleged my computer has viruses that he wanted to show me. I suspected a scam and kept asking him to confirm my computer details if (as he claimed) I had registered the computer with “the company”. He gave up eventually but note the new company name they’re using.
An Indian sounding voice called and claimed to know I was having error messages on my Microsoft computer. I thought this was pretty funny seeing I have a Mac! I hung up. Another Indian (sounded like same one who maybe didn’t realize I was same person who just hung up on him) also said my computer was giving error messages and proceeded to try and get me to press the CTRL+Return+R? keys and hold down. I asked what company and he said something like Quik and Easy Solutions or something to that effect. I asked what country he’s calling from and he claimed it was Brooklyn, NY. I asked how he knew I had a Microsoft computer? No answer. How do you know? No answer. After I let the cat out of the bag and told him I was on a Mac I waited a few moments and he was gone.
Three of these in the last few days, here in West Wales; I make a point with any ‘cold calls’ of asking for full business details – company name, website – by the time I get to full postal address they’ve always said ‘goodbye ma’am!’ and put the phone down. Gives great pleasure to think of ways of turning the tables on them. Absolute bottom of the barrel people….
Yeah I’ve been phoned up TWICE in two days over this. I’m in the West Midlands, united kingdom
My response being simply “I can handle my own security, but thank you for bringing this to my attention” of course, nothing has actually turned up and given the fact it’s a known scam that’s no suprise.
Re: Ian’s phonecall – that is classic, I might steal that if they call back, but I gotta tell you, your time was beat a long time ago. The longest someone has kept them on the phone is currently 2 and a half hours!
I had the call two days ago, they didnt seem to know much about me, but there’s no point trying to pinpoint where they got your name and in some cases address… apparently they are not just finding that sort of information from all sorts of online sources but there’s also been some evidence wherever they are they are using the phonebook to call individuals and just guess they have a computer.
I spoke to some fraud websites and crimestoppers and they said regarding British people, it is worthwhile contacting Consumer Direct through Office / Trading because they are putting a file together of as many examples as possible, and as much detail as possible of what they knew about you, what they didn’t, where they said they were calling from, what scam they were using, what company they were calling from, what numbers they were calling from or gave to call back on etc. In my case all I could tell them was that 1471 gave 0123456789 as the number called :p
I guess the same might apply to all countries; try contacting whoever deals in protection of consumer and trading rights and see if they are investigating.
Re: telephone companies doing something about this, I think one of the problems, other than the international issue, is that they are using VOIP a lot of the time, and though I don’t know much about VOIP I assume it means that the responsibility is not solely to do with the telephone service provider, and VOIP regulation is still not clear legally.
Got called yesterday by Indian-sounding lady from “windows support”. Second time they’ve called in a couple of months. I didn’t bother to tell them I have a Mac but did suggest they might look into the Telephone Preference Service and whether it is legal for them to cold-call us. Wonderful response: “This isn’t a cold call. It’s a hot call.” This woman should be a script-writer for TV comedy.
I am curious what Windows themselves are doing about this – they must be fairly annoyed about people using their name.
I’d love to keep them on the line but as it’s undoubtedly VOIP it won’t cost them anything other than the time of the person callling. But you can have a little fun with them anyway!
Telephone call this evening from Indian guy who knew my name and number from ‘Technical Computer Department’ saying that my computer was running slow and had a virus . I repeatedly asked him who his company was and he would only repeat ‘technical Computer Department.
I asked him who my ISP is and he rattled off a list including BT,Virgin,Orange etc none of whom I deal with . I said that if he was correct then he would know my mac address and ISP and explain how would he get through my firewall into my network containing several computers ,perhaps he could detail these ? I told him that without details I am treating this as suspicious and would be putting the phone down .Just checked on line and found the above list of this identical scam .
Same issue here, the netherlands, the hague.
An asian soundinn woman called me to say i’ve generated error reports and tried to confince me to delete some folders in the C:\windows folder.. hell yeah like im retarded.. i asked mulitple times for the company name she keeps saying “technical computer departement of all operating systems”.. haha i told her my boss is looking for someone to manage all operating sysems..
clearly another way of trying to install backdoors..
From Australia and received a call from Espro “Windows Service Center”. I have worked in the IT industry all my life and when i got this call, i instantly knew this was a scam! but played along. An indian accented lady told that she can really prove she is from the Windows Service Center, she promptly advised to press the “four flag key” (windows key” with the “R” key and type “cmd”. I told her “I have the Command prompt open”, she had no clue what i was on about, she then asked me to look at the command prompt and said “See! it says Microsoft Windows therefore you now know that I’m really from Windows Support”.
What has become of computer scammers these days. They are not even computer illiterate. I ended up telling her i was a senior Microsoft service technician, this resulted in her turning to speak indian to her colleague before quickly hanging up on me.
I’ve had them on 3 times this week. ‘Windows Operating System Support’. I tell them I haven’t got a computer and, after a short pause, they hang up. Call back shows number witheld or the callers number is 000000000000.
Next time I’ll answer and leave the phone on the side and let them run up a bigger phone bill.
I can see how you might fall for it if you are unlucky enough to have PC problems when they call.
I’d be interested in knowing how they have my phone number.
Received a call today along the lines of whats gone before. They asked for the computer to be switched on.
My father, who took the call, told them to go procreate with themselves.
Epro Solution is a 100% scame !!!! beware !!!!
Here is my story,this happned 1/2 an houre ago, so sill fresh !
I recieved a phone call with an Indian guy on the phone, saying ” This is epro solution” technical support working for Miscrosoft, and they encountering a technical problem with my computer” and i was like hmm ok, i started to get a bit suspicious!! They asked me to do some simple stuff, keep pressing the windows logo key (between Ctrl and Alt key) and then pressing the Alt key and release both, and i was supposed to have a window appearing, it didnt work, they asked me to go on their website http://www.logmein123.com/ and ive been given a 6 digits code to entre on a window appearing on that website.After this done, a download window appeared, and i downloaded a lil software called “support logmeinrescue.exe”, they asked me to run it, which i did, then there was a windows box askin me to allow access to my home network and computer, at that moment i get real suspicous, i asked the guy to give me a moment, went on google and checked the software and the company”s name, ended up in this forum and some other ones,and realised it is a scam.I got back to the guy on the phone, and asked him ” which computer are you having problem with ? we got 5 pcs in this house” he responded “Sir, just press ok” , i replied “No Sir, i will not press ok” he said it once again, and I replied the same, then he said “ok forget it, and f**k off ” and hanged up !!!! thank god i googled it 1st otherwise god knows how would it ended up !
Just an aside to this issue.
Talking to my Daughter who lives in Melbourne (I’m in Perth) about this scam.
she was aware of it, but told me to feel sorry for the poor IT guy at the engineering consultancy she works for – he is a very well-qualified computer expert – but he is an Indian! He gets abused and hung up on and ‘strung along’ consistently by employees who think he is working a scam from a call centre in India.
Based in Napier New Zealand…have been getting these suspicious phone calls from the “computer maintenance department”. This time round really took the cake. An Indian chap who called himself Jerome started off on his usual spiel about how my computer was infested with viruses. I told him immediately that i knew that he was scamming me and that I was not interested. Hung up. Next thing i know, he rings me up again asking to speak to Mr. A$$hole and started to abuse me. Rang 2 times thereafter. On the third attempt I picked up the phone and told him in in Hindi (which I am fluent in) to stop calling me and told him to shove it…in not so polite terms of course…watch out guys, they’re getting more and more brazen
Got a call just fresh( from the same guys i guess )telling me my computer will be crashing immediately if i donn do what they say and asked me to go through eventviewer for red or yellow messgaes i said i don have nething like that then the lady said ur virus have spoiled the whole thing and passed the call to senior technician and this guy asked me to download team viewer and then suspicion flooded my brain i called my husband and told him abt the thing and he asked to ignore it , i have asked them for there number and they gave me 0280033463 to speak to lyna may b the ladies name … after reading all these i feel i havent fallen for there prank. ThankGod……..How can these idiots do these type of scams where is the world going they r even trying to reach the computer thru these scams ……wat will they do getting into the system???
‘hello, my name is peter (in a thick indian accent), i’m calling you from the windows service centre, your computer has down-loaded error files, can you turn on your computer so that in front of your eyes I can fix it for you’
‘how did you get this number?’
‘we have been in touch with our technical team and they have checked and through the (this wasn’t quite his answer but it may as well have been) world of magical computer wizardry we traced your phoned number!’
That peter, he’s such a joker.
I’m in Australia and this is how my conversation went with them my caller was an asian woman
Lucy :Hi this is Lucy from the windows operating system, I am calling you in regards to the computer issues you have been experiencing
ME : Ok
Lucy:If you follow my instructions I will help you to remove all the virus warnings you have coming up on your screen, turn on your computer and follow my exact instructions and go into the areas I tell you to
Me: (interrupting and trying not to laugh) excuse me but can I have your name and number to call you back?
Lucy: Sorry I don’t understand you.Why would I do that. Well if you don’t go into your computer as I tell you I can’t help you Me:Why would I go into my computer and give you all my info if you won’t give me yours?? Lucy: hangs up……………….. :D
Not sure what made me think it was a scam perhaps her saying she was from the windows operating system, we’ve now nicknamed our computers “Lucy” lmao
i just recived another call from a person i could hardly understand that told me that my PC was infected with a virus, then she told me two turn on my PC and then right click on the my computer link. then she asked what options i saw. Then i told her that i didnt eben have a compter at the mommen (because i dont) then hung up.
We’re in rural NSW and we’ve been getting these for a few months, but today we’ve had 4 in a day. My wife does “on call” work so we can’t not answer the phone, unfortunately.
In our case, it’s always “Jack” from “the Windows operating system”. Beats me why they call again and again after being hung up on.
As far as how they get your name, it’s pretty easy. Before each spate of calls we get a few calls that are just hang-ups: when the phone rings, you answer “Hello, John XXX here”, there’s silence and a hangup. Now they have your name. Simple really. Every time we get the hangup calls, we know a bunch of scammers can’t be far away.
Had a call from a woman with a strong indian accent today (I’m in the UK), couldn’t understand all of what she was saying but got the jist that she wanted me to go to my conmputer and let her have control of it. My hubby is excellent with pc’s so I knew something was not right and had heard of these types of scams.
When she asked me to go to my pc I just said “I don’t think so!” and hung up!
I’m afraid I don’t trust anybody who phones now from a company, I won’t buy anything over the phone, don’t give any details over the phone……scammers, take the hint!
Add another to the list… Today’s false name is Jack WIlson (welcome back, Jack…) and the telephone number for checking given as 0203 2860802 – a London number for the Indian company http://winsupportonline.com/uk.html. Jack’s staff number? JK043C2. Which is nice.
Could easily have fallen for this one, but mixture of innate suspicion, boredom and having to do something else meant saying farewell to Jack. I’m sure he’ll be back though, and thanks to this iste and the Guardian article I’m well prepared! Hit the road Jack…
I feel like such a d**k. I was contacted a number of weeks ago by someone claiming to be from microsoft asking me to turn on my computer. My laptop wasn’t out so I told him i was going to work. I phoned Microsoft who said they themselves would never phone users. On friday last I got another call and i was taking pleasure in telling the indian man what microsoft had said when he started to go on about how they weren’t from microsoft but from some other company working on their behalf and that my computer was at risk. My laptop was out so thought i’d see what happened. Before i knew it he was showing me a whole lot of “warning” files on my computer. He then had me logging onto logmein123 and before I knew it someone else was moving the mouse of my computer!! At this point I started to feel really uneasy and eventually hung up the phone. The call lasted for a total of about 25mins. I’m now panicking as to what to do. I’m worried about how much information could have been took from my computer, could they still be able to access the computer and what should i do now. I cant check my bank as its a bank holiday weekend however i’ve checked my accounts on line and they seem to be in order. Any advise would be greatly appreciated as i’m really panicking here!!! My husband always said I was too trusting, not anymore, I’ve learnt my lesson.
Sick in bed when the phone went asian woman said her name was Rebeca something and she was from windows and she new my name and start to go on about how all these virses coming from all differet places and could we start up my pc to which i said no im ill in bed ,and she said but this is important you must turn on your pc you must coporate with me,i ask her to hold,then spoke to my son and ask if windows would calling me ,he said no it would be a scam,went back to phone said go away leave me alone and hung up,a min later phone rang again same woman you must coporate with me or i will have to get the police to make you coporate with us,THE POLICE then lol she said yes then hung up,this not the first time its happen,and nearly got caught on holiday scam,best thing to do is keep them talking its there phone bill once it starts costing them money they might try and get a real job,going back to bed.
“Ma’am, Ma’am i’m calling about de errors you have been receiving on ur comp-uta, Ma’am”
I say i have had no errors….
“Ma’am, yes you have been receiving error msgs, can u please turn ur computer on Ma’am”
I asked which one….
“Ma’am, your comp-uta dat is connected with de internet Ma’am”
I explain that could be one of 5 or 6 computers…
“Ma’am, you are having an error from a programme you have”
I ask which programme- i’ll fix it myself!
“No Ma’am, it’s a programme error, you don’t understand, we are contacted by Microsoft, to help u fix ur comp-uda Ma’am, you can’t fix on your own, you have critical errors Ma’am! Please turn on your com-pu-ta!”
I said …wouldn’t they just send me an email?
SHE HUNG UP
She had said she was in South Melbourne, and the company name was ‘6 big words said quickly’ – so unimportant compared to the urgency of her request (and too big to bother writing down! wish i had of…pass it on to some seals who hunt ppl in hiding!)
@Ian >love ur work up there/very funny stuff! I’ll try that next time – if i can get over the erkyness of being called “Ma’am” so many times!
Why do they do this?!…OMG…these ning-nongs wouldn’t be recording voices would they??? Alot of voice recognition stuff these days!
02030516837 This number which actually redirects to another country (maybe India judging by the callers accent) going by the ringtone was used to work the ‘we are going to fix your computer on line’ scam on an elderly friend of mine today. the charge was £185, unfortunately she got caught out. Unfortunately that scam is still going on.
I was contacted by these people yesterday. They claimed I had over a thousand viruses and showed me them on the screen. I was quoted three different prices according to how many years protection I wanted. I said I would have to talk it over with my wife, but I had to say it several times before he accepted it. Later my son told me it was a scam, and ran a full scan: fortunately it looks as though they haven’t planted anything.
I spoke to my friend this morning. She had a friend who is a computer professional round to look at her laptop and unfortunately as she got completely taken in they had literally hours of time messing with her computer on some type of remote access program. The computer professional found that access to many programs was locked out and he had to take the laptop away having unsuccessfully run a few programs of his own to unlock it.
The scammer gave his name as John Walker incidentally, but had a very strong Indian accent.
Nasty expensive business.
So we’ve had a few weeks of these, based in Canberra Australia. They advise they are either from the Computer Technical Department of the Windows Operating System or, more insidiously, they told me they were from the Australian Computer Society.
They always call in the late afternoon when my wife is home but I am not, presumably trying to catch stressed-out mothers and retirees. Eventually they called back and, since I work in IT Security, I decided to play along.
Although it took nearly 40 mins to get this far, here’s essentially what they do to ‘prove’ to you that you have problems:
The get you to open your Windows Event Viewer and when it returns the 1000s of events that Windows drops, they tell you that those errors (which are a normal part of Windows operation, unfortunately) are proof that you have viruses and / or malware.
In fact, once they’d got me to this point, the woman handed me over to her supervisor, who had excellent English and was clearly practiced at this, who when I told him I had 40000 errors said in a horrified tone
“Oh my god, 41 Gb of your computer is infected!”
Although I had to go, I imagine the next step is one of two options:
1. You visit a site and download some remote control software that contains a keylogger or some such;
2. You can pay them to remove the non-existent malware from your PC
It’s a scam, fact is neither Windows nor anyone else (well maybe the NSA ;-) would / could correlate your internet activity to your phone number, your name or your address, so anyone that claims they can is a scammer.
Got this phone call this morning in Montréal, Canada.
Received 3 calls yesterday from Indian sounding man called Frank Martin from Advance Support with much the same story as previous comments. I did get a phone number 01865600898.
Re previous comment – I forgot to add that I was also given a website to check out – at first said it was his company but then changed his mind. http://www.ammyy.com
Got a call from an Indian Lady today.. “Shazia” She first explained she was from Bt and the only reason they are calling is because I have a deadly virus on my computer and it is about to crash. I told her I was going on holiday, and asked her to call me back in 3 weeks. At this point she became annoyed and asked “But sir, do you like your computer? it will crash in 3 weeks time.” This of course alerted my suspicions.. since when did viruses have a specific time frame in which to damage computers. I then laughed and said Ok ill do it. I then asked her more questions like.. what company shes calling from… how they new.. which computer to do it on. She became annoyed and literally argued with me on the phone. I then told her… if you really were from Bt.. you would never have talked to me like this. I said I was going to complain so asked for her number. She said.. I will call you back in 3 weeks and put the phone down lol. Im 15.. but I new it was a scam! BE AWARE PEOPLES
I live in Singapore and have received two of these calls, identical in content to all of the above. The male and female callers said they were calling from Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, Australia!! Both had strong Indian accents. I was very suspiciious but almost fell for their scam as I am not computer literate. I’m so glad to have found this website and read all these comments today. Thanks.
Just this second happened to my mum. Same story as above, she’s not very techno savvy and is a little too trusting and if I hadn’t been hovering about she possibly would have panicked about viruses and given up sensitive information. I told her to just hang up, which she did, they then tried calling again – we ignored it. I went straight onto Google and thankfully found this site :)
We’re in North Wales, in the UK.
Just had a very similar call a few minutes ago.
An inidan sounding gentleman who told me his name was Havish Mctavish (how original) told me he was calling from windows and he had important information about my computer. At this point i hung up.
Every few weeks i get a similar call. You’d think they’d get the message by now, i’m not going to fall for it.
Live in the north of Scotland.
I’ve posted on this Forum a few timws before – but as J Scott says it’s now getting beyond a joke, I have a call most days. This morning from an Indian woman with a very heavy accent asking for me by name ( they can never pronounce it properly! )When I said it wasn’t me she asked me who I was – ‘it’s nothing to do with you’ I said ‘Are you a member of her household ‘ she said as it’s very important ‘what’s it about’ I said ‘her computer?’ she put the phone down! The background noise this time was very loud like she was phoning from the middle of an airport !
Just had one of these calls from ‘Windows Service Centre’. In response to my questions, he claimed to work for Microsoft and to be based in London. He said they’d had a report from my IP address indicating that lots of viruses had been downloaded and that my existing anti-virus software wouldn’t have captured them. He asked me to type ‘inf’ in the Run box; I didn’t, of course, give him any information about me or my system. He claimed that if I did type ‘inf’, all the files visible would be the virus files: actually, they’re Windows system files. At that point, when I was about to point out that he was scamming, he put me on hold, so I hung up. I didn’t pick up the phone when he rang back. I know several other people who’ve had broadly similar experiences.
Hi – I’m technology editor on The Guardian, and wrote about this Windows support scam in July 2010.
Since then I’ve learnt that they will also try to “sell” you Windows upgrades: the licence key is invalid. (If you were sold one, please forward it to me – charles.arthur@guardian.co.uk : I can get Microsoft to tell me where it was issued.)
Please tell friends about this – for once it’s a real warning – and note also that they try to get you to pay with your debit card because you can’t charge it back. ALWAYS pay on your credit card – those you can reverse, and it hurts them where it matters.
Get in touch if you’ve been affected. I’m still investigating this story.
Thanks so much Charles it’s really becoming frightening, I have informed my local Neighbourhood Watch Group, Consumer Advice Dept, Local Village Society to publish warnings in their newsletters and Computer Active magazine – noone seems able to do anything about this scam which is now world wide!
Janice
I have today, recieved another one of these scam calls from an Asian man! He was very insistant that I use him to ‘fix’ my computer problems! I took his number and said I would call back…..just as the others said, the number does not exist! BEWARE!!!!!
second call in a few days – I asked the usual questions -why me? etc. Today i just said I know this is a fake call and a scam. I will report you to the police. Oh no it’s not etc. Asked for a phone number and they gave me 02032865123. Rang this back and an asian woman answered. I asked where they were based and she said Bristol.
Just had the ‘Maaaaaam dere is someting wrong wit your windows’ call… almost fell for it but as I was typing in ‘teamviewer’ into the search bar as directed I suddenly realised I had been addressed by the asian gentleman as my married name and my computer is registered in my maiden name… cue alarm bells, cue open new window and google windows teamviewer scam….AHA!!! cue hang up phone on Asian gentleman WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD… Phone rang again 5 times in the next couple of minutes – I knew it was him as each time there were 4 rings and then it would stop (usual clue that it’s an unsolicited phone call). Am really annoyed as I supposedly have TPS so I don’t know how they got our number… grrrrrrrrr…
16th May
Had a call a few weeks ago and cut it short.
Just had 2 calls this afternoon, 1st one said “Sir I believe you are dumb people” when I didn’t believe him and he cut the call.
He had the cheek to get a colleague to call me minutes later who brazenly tried the same thing. When I said I thought he should send me a letter he said “Sir, I will send you a love letter, to your wife” and hung up.
Just had this same call,
Sounded like he was in a room with many others ringing others at the same time. He told me about the viruses I had on my computer and that he would run through the problems with my on my computer. I said that I didn’t use windows and that I didn’t beleive him…he just started laughing and put the phone down.
Walsall, West Midlands
There still at it.
This time the Indian sounding gentleman said there were 21 computers in Cornwall infected with StuxNet and that Windows Technical Department were contacting me (he knew my name) because my PC was infected. The phone number he gave me was 02080997596.
When I said it was a scam, he asked me to ring that number. I haven’t – but I have just updated Stinger and am running a scan right now. My AVG is up to date and my PC was switched off when he called. So everything should be ok.
Just got same scam call in Canada (West coast)
clearly lots of people must be starving in Bangalore etc.; incredibly low-skilled execution of the scam
he quoted “computer department”; what computer, I said…
then he kinda pathetically begged me to turn on the non-existing computer (reminded me of the backup move of a filthy street trickster my wife and I once encountered in Paris: begging for food when he realized his scam was failing… I almost felt bad for him as he was clearly hungry)
finally he hung up when I asked for his phone number
but seems they do have some old phone lists to work from (sort of had the name half right…)
probably best thing is to hang up if you don’t know the caller personally; VOIP time is clearly zero cost for them, as is the time of the commissioned desperado they get to call you, so there is no real point in leading them on – you cannot possibly waste enough of their time since that is all they have
stopping the scams will require concerted government action, and unfortunately the goverment of India is a close friend of Washington…
or perhaps legitimate Bangalore tech support businesses can help stamp this out, so as to protect their own good name?
I got a call from “Frank” this afternoon along the exact same lines as all your comments, unfortunately I also had a call on April 14th, and not being very computor literate or ‘wise’ thought it was genuine and fell for it – (Gold + plan for 730 days) I can hardly afford the $220, but my main concern is the access they have to my computor – any ideas on ‘remeial’ action anyone ??
I have just had the same call from an Asian sounding man claiming to be from Microsoft in Luton and he had just received a report from my computer saying I had a virus. I lost it and put the phone down and of course the number had been with held!
Just had these people ring me again, they said my computer was sending them errors and it was frustrating them etc, I said “OOOOH really? have you ever heard of the telephone preference service” i said i knew they were a hoax company, I had no intention of paying them anything, that they were not to contact me again. I asked to speak to a manager and they handed the phone to another very similar sounding person who when I said, I am registered with the telephone preference service he said… well get your computer sorted out, and then your preference thing and slammed the phone down.
I haven’t fell for this scam, since I have a rule of googling every suspicious number and it’s a rule that has served me well so far. The phone no. they gave to call back was 18475319241. A few moments and I found more info – http://www.everycall.us/phone-number/1-847-531-9241/. This sort of problem could be radically reduced in future by a simple message to be instilled in every child from infancy: NEVER, EVER buy anything from anyone who cold-calls. Parents and schools should impress this on kids, just as they tell them not to accept sweets from strangers. Perhaps a new government information campaign is in order.
my 88yr old mum had a few of these calls in a row so decided to let the guy ramble on a bit before telling him she doesn’t even have a computer… he then became very abusive and later she discovered that he’d left a message swearing and saying he knew her address, said what it was and that ‘he was coming around tonight…’ Needless to say I have asked the police to investigate…
Something has to be done, if we don’t yet have the technology to stop some of these scammers calling then we have to get it – surely there must be a way that telephone providers can just put a national block on any numbers if they receive numerous complaints.
Live in Southampton, UK. Just the same – Indian guy calls up asking for my mum without giving her surname but quoting my address and phone number. Says errors have been reported, can I switch on my computer. I say, sorry, but what is this call regarding? “I’ve told you Mrs M (my mum’s name) we have got servers that received reports of malware and viruses on your computer”. ok…but what do want and how much will it cost? Actually where are you calling from? Which company are you calling from? More stumbling and he says Global Computers and London in the same sentence but I don’t think this exists. Then – “can you switch on your computer?” Well, actually, I can’t. It’s in a different room and I don’t have a cordless phone. “but you have broadband, how does that work?” tempted to say by the power of wires you buffoon, but actually said the phone is attached by a cord so I can’t take it. “What is your mobile number, I’ll call that” errr I don’t know my number…anyway, look, if you just give me your name and number, I’ll get my dad to call you back….line goes dead…1471 gave a number that couldn’t be called (not recognised)…
biiiig scam it seems
I’ve been called 3 times this month so far. I just hung up when I heard the phrase called from Windows blah blah. I knew it was a scam attempt.
Also hung up on the second call.
Today, I just said “Fuck off” and hung up. Do you think they will get the message that I am not worth the trouble?
Well, look like I got this today, Looks like It travelled to Canada, Awaiting there next call so I can have some shit n giggles. Today I got a call from a east indian woman, Private name, Private Number, she was quite angry.
AngryWoman: Hello, I am from window technical service, and we have gotten several error reports from your computer, are you the owner of this telephone number?
Me: No.
AW: Are you a family member
Me: I would think so, but maybe.
AW: Well we have gotten several reports of your computer having a virus, malware and evil hackers
Me: Oh really.
(cordless phone dies I run to other room to pick up cord phone)
AW: Hello?
Me: Hi.
AW: Why are you so quiet?
Me: My phone died
Aw: How are you still talking to me?
Me: Because possibly I can afford a second phone?
Aw: Oh. Well your computer has many problems, Hacker, Spyware, Virs and Malware, Do you know what malware is?
Me: Ye-
AW: it is a tool that takes over your computer and corrupts your files
Me: Um no. No its not.
AW: You have downloaded a corrupted file, I see it here. Are you near your computer?
Me: No.
AW: Can you get to it?
Me: No.
AW: Why not?
Me: Because I’m on the cord phone.
Aw: Well your computer is going to crash in 4 minutes If I don’t fix it, I can show you the problem.
Me: Well I gotta go.
Aw: Why?
Me I have an important call.
Aw: This call is important.
Me: Well this one is more important.
Aw: Your computer will die.
Me: Well then I will email you
Aw: I have no email
Me: How can you work for windows and have no email?
Aw: I do not need it.
Me: Well, I gotta go,
Aw: can I call you in five minutes
Me: I’ll be longer then that
Aw: Oh
Me: Well I’m leaving now, if you really know that much about my computer you can show me on there if you are from windows. Not on the phone. Kay bye.
Aw: No wai-
(I hang up)
Haha. That was fun. They call back, they are gonna get yelled at.
I just got called by an asian woman trying to scam me with this. I said my computer was fine!!. horrible im mad that they got hold of an ex directory number.
Just had a call from someone called Edward from Windows Service Centre. He was contacting me to say they were chasing up an Error Report i’d sent to Microsoft. I always click don’t send, so immediately alarm bells rang. I said I don’t recall sending an error report, he said if I turn my computer on, I can see when I sent the report but he wouldn’t tell me when it was sent. He then said it was two weeks ago, and I said I have replaced my computer since then so I can’t check as I don’t have it anymore. (not strictly true, I have a new computer but still have the old one)
I then asked where he got my home phone number from. He said I registered my computer
with that number – not possible, I have had the computer for years, the number is relatively new. ‘you must have updated the system then’ no, I didn’t do that, can you tell me who is calling and a contact number’ the number I was given is 020 1332 998. So I said I’m concerned how you got my contact number when I definitely did not give it out. He said ‘we’ll have to look into that’ and put the phone down!
I got this phone call four times in three days: the first time I said i used linux and the caller was quite annoyed by this and insisted I should return to windows immediately so I just hung up, the second time I said I was a fully trained microsoft engineer (half true) and said I would be onto the head of microsoft Ireland within minutes and he seemed undeterred by this and persisted at which point I hung up, on the third occasion I said that I was a police man and I was tracing the phone call and instantly he hung up, on the final occasion I just shouted the phone at him for a good ten minutes to relieve my own anger.
TONY, i don’t think they will have access to your computer, they just wanted your money.
Janice, be as rude as you like, as I was. I told them to FUCK OFF! a few times. They hung up and they haven’t called back since.
I am finding now that I can recognise them when they ring up, the phone rings four times then pauses and starts again – is this because they are on some form of automated dialing system ?
Yesterday I did pick it up after the 4 rings to a terribly crackly line with a lot of background noise, this time the very hard to understand Asian man even knew the name of my house ( we don’t have numbers)I read recently that the DVLA ( in the UK ) has sold it’s entire database to several companies, let’s face it if you have a computer there is a great possibilty that you also have a car. Is this where they are getting our details from? I told him in no uncertain terms that I had already reported them to the Police twice and he hung up immediately!
Janice
Now targeting IRELAND – 3 calls in 2 weeks – no Caller Id; Got my Unlisted Private number – which is very worrying. Best to spread the word about this scam.They will ask to walk you through a series of instructions on your computers…. etc
Best to spread the word among friends to lcose them off.
Thanks.
Just called me (Herts, UK). It wasn’t until he started talking about fixing the problem in front of my very eyes that I realised he wanted remote access to my pC. Knew my name. Annoying.
Just had the phone call now before i saw this post i was speaking to the chap he will tell you to click the windows logo and press R then he will ask you to type cmd and then when that comes up assoc
From the beginning of the phone call i knew something was wrong and he was very eager to make sure i didn’t shut the phone, told him i was going out now he told me it would only take 10 minutes
At this point told him i will go to pc world and buy protection software and this is where he starts telling me he will do it for me etc
BE CAREFUL AND IF YOU DO GET THE PHONE CALL DON’T BE SURPRISED IF THEY KNOW YOUR NAME JUST SHUT THE PHONE OR EVEN BETTER IF YOU HAVE TIME TAKE THE P*SS
Weve had about 4 calls from an Indian sounding guy claiming to be from Computer Maintenance which is part of Microsoft based in Auckland New Zealand (we are in New Zealand).
When you first answer the phone you receive a long pause and then a fax sounding ring before they finally start talking.
He was very pushy asking several times to hop on my computer and he would show me how many viruses I had.
I work in IT and had only just returned from a week long course so was immediately suspicious. I asked him for his name phone number, who he worked for and so on. He said his name was Sean Mckenzie (which was funny considering he was obviously Indian), then he said he was calling from Auckland and gave me a fake Auckland number (I rung after he hung up). I eventually started abusing him about how he could go around scamming people that would be unaware and so forth and he eventually gave up. It took a good 15minutes or so though.
It really worries me that they would easily scam people because they are very convincing. I havent heard of anyone actually giving them money or being scammed though… well not yet anyway.
The next call we received tonight was a similar sounding man, but I think he realised pretty quick that we were taking the mickey out of him… so he said he would ring back and we’ll be looking forward to the next call… just gotta think up how we can have them on next time! Have fun peeps
Just realised my tel number is listed on skype directory – easy pickings for these idiots – best do a purge on what access the public have on any of my numbers/emails on-line.
Google tourself.
Wish there was some sort of reverse skype with video that would give me control of these guys PCS’ – wouldnt that be cool !
Scare the sh1te out of them !
rem: EPRO solutions
Got this call about 3 months ago. Lots of people that have commented said the caller sounded foreign, indian-ish. This guy had a strong indian accent. he told me my pc was not only infested by spreading viruses to other computers.. when i told him this was my only computer he said he meant it was spreading viruses to the INTERNET..So i ask him if he has my pc specs down..he says yes.. so i say he should be looking at a 2004 e-machines desktop.. he says yes sir..then i say..huh that’s funny because i actually have a M15x laptop and i bought it 2 weeks ago..Then i lecture him on how pathetic he is,not throwing to many insults but literally destroying his character..hoping he hangs up in sadness and depression..it seems indians lack emotion as he ws immune to my counter.. so i showed him how to properly hang up on someone i nthe middle of a sentence.
Just got the same phone call from a guy with an Indian accent, claiming he was from the Windows service centre in Miami. I also asked him to tell me about my computer, to tell me the name and address of his company, how I could phone him back, or where I could confirm he was actually calling from Windows. He couldn’t give me a single straight answer. He’s called four times, and I’ve yelled and hung up on him twice. So annoying!!
Looks like this scam continues to spread around the globe…
Got a call on a very poor line on Friday evening 27th May. They knew my name,and announced themselves as some computer maintenance company(can’t remember what they called the company). As soon as I heard ‘computer maintenance’ I assumed it was a scam and told them so.
This didn’t go down well and they threatened to put my personal details on their company notepaper, to make out I was scamming them! They would then send this so-called evidence to the police.
I have now been called by these creeps four times this week and l have told them each time they have called to remove my details from thier database, tonight they simply hung up on me……………………….
Canada here. Just got one of these idiotic calls. I mean, really.
I had the call at about 11.45 today 31st/05/11 same story as all the others,Indian guy from windows service center,To cut a long story short i stupidly let him remote view for about 4 mins,he then got to the nitty gritty,and asked for £99. for one years cover on two pcs,and was quite pushy about filling in the form.I suddenly got that sickening feeling in the guts and realised that this could be a scam and told him i wasnt paying any money and hung up on him,WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF HIM KEYLOGGING ANY INFO IN THE 4 MINS HE HAD CONTROL OF MY PC? can anyone help????????
I was contacted while at the store today. Thank goodness I looked up the number before I called the guy back. The guy claimed to be with microsoft as well. I am calling the phone number the guy gave me for call centric 1-847-531-9241 same thing guy didn’t know which computer, which operating system or the type of computer that was sending out information over the internet.
I’ve just had the same phone call, that everybody else seems to have had, it was an indian sounding lady, calling from a withheld number,today’s date is 02/06/2011,she claimed ther was a security breach in windows and that unless I let her help me,it would crash my computer permanently, I told her I was at my place of employment and could’nt get to my computer, she said oh ok then hung up, hope this helps anyone else who is now worried about this issue.
Just a follow up to my previous post about my mum getting the call and then a very abusive message left on her phone. Fortunately she is quite deaf because when I listened to the message it was absolutely shocking – full of f and c words and ending by saying he knew where she lived and he was coming round that night to …
Called the police and they came round, said it was shocking but there was nothing they could do as it’s international. They must be targeting this area as I’ve just had the same call myself now – claimed to be Windows Support and wanted me to download from http://www.teamviewer.com which is apparently legit itself but a scammers dream bit of software. I kept them on for ages by pretending to download and then saying my antivirus was stopping it. So at least tied them up for a while but I am writing to my MP and suggest we all do the same.
Yes, just got a call today. I hung up on them.
I just received the call asking that I would push the micro soft logo and R, Man with East Indian accent I informed him about sex and travel. I live in Canada , in British Columbia.
Scammers! “Windows Service Centre” phoned me and tried to pretend they were in London. The delay and his accent gave it away! They tried getaccess to my computer and get me to part with £116 as an “enrolment fee” but when I pressed him for dates and times of when the alledged virus hit my computer he faultered. I demanded details of exactly where he was in London and to prove who the company was i.e vat & registration numbers. He put the phone down! Says it all really.
I just received a similar phone call from a company called expertech.com. Also a huge scam. I’m just sorry I didn’t get off the phone sooner. I called windows directly who told me they never call you. She said it is always the customer who calls when the encounter a problem. So beware.
I’m in New Zealand. Same deal. A woman trying to get me to “run” something for her. She got her supervisor as I was “too difficult to work with”. He was an a$$. Told me to pay money or he would come get my computer. So I told him to come get it, you prick! He asked for my address. I told him to f*** off. He then turned nasty. Asked for my address so he could “come over for some fun”. Hope the don’t ring back – I don’t like swearing.
I’m in the UK. I have literally just got off the phone to someone that sounds just like this scam. He said he was from Windows Support Services and that they had received Error Reports from the computer and was following these up. I thought it was odd as in all the years of having a pc ive never heard of this happening. When I asked which pc (as there are two here) and which IP address he couldnt answer, just kept on repeating the same thing (access the Event Viewer) and started to say he needed to connect to my pc to ascertain what was wrong. I asked him for the company name and number as I had to go out and he refused. Thats when I knew something was up. I therefore told him I wasnt interestged and hung up.
I have just received a similar call to all those above. I just said I had an Apple Mac computer, which totally threw them and they hung up. I then called them back and demanded my number be deleted. Not only do these people want to scam you, they call at 8pm, when all you want to do is relax!
I have just received one of these calls from an Indian chap with a long delay on the phone. He claimed to be from Microsoft and had reports that there was malware on my PC. He asked if I was in front of my PC and when I told him I wasn’t and it was switched off, he wanted me to turn my PC on. At that point I told him that no I wouldn’t and I didn’t want to buy anything. I then put the phone down. The delay on the line was such that he never got time to respond. I am in England.
I just got this same call in Sydney, Australia, from an Indian fellow from ‘Windows Operating System Service’ who told me my computer was ‘having error’ and he would talk me through the process of fixing it. I was suspicious as Microsoft have far too many users to ever call individual people when they have a problem. As people have said the line was terrible with a long delay and I could actually hear my own voice being repeated back to me a couple of times. There were also bursts of static and having followed his instructions for a while (always knowing I would never run any scripts or download anything) wanting to know where he was taking me, I decided to cut the call off during the next burst of static. He must have thought he had me on the hook since he rang back a minute later wanting to continue with the process. I told him I wasn’t going to proceed and that I would hang up.
Having now read all about the scam, where before I only had a suspicion, I kind of wish I has abused him just a little bit more. Ah well, more’s the pity.
Hi All I’ve had another two calls this week. We can now report this to ‘Action Fraud’ who are trying to record all these scams. We must try and get as many details from these people before we hang up and report it on their website http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/ This is the first step to get the Police to take action.
I’ve just had a similar call, he said he was calling from E Tech and they were a partner of Microsoft and that my computer was sending messages that my computer had mallicious files downloaded onto it. I said I didn’t believe him and he all he probably wanted to do was to get into my pc, he said he didn’t but as I don’t trust any cold callers I ended the call before trying anything.
June 8th 2011 uk
Just had a call telling me there was an emergency with my computer
I guessed it was a scam as it was an Indian with a strong accent.
I hung up immediately as I had a call like this about a year ago very similar. I dialed 1471 and the callers details were not available.
I just had a call, unavailable name and no. Indian fellow indicating my computer had downloaded something(?) and would eventually crash, when asked how he knew this, he responded by indicating his company was partnered with Microsoft. He then indicated my partners last name (the phone is in my partners name, the pc however….solely mine and purchased second hand) He then asked if we could take a look at my pc together, I indicated my puter was just fine thank you….he hung up. Unable to trace the number the call was made from.
Totally a scam! -Winnipeg, MB Canada
What is going on!! Had two calls from these people now, different people but same drivle and they have now rang my mum, luckily I had told her about them from my earlier call but this is really rediculous…all the people on here and nothing seemingly to be done about it.
This one even had a time delay, meaning they obviously calling from a long distance. I asked them how they even knew i had a computer to know i was recieving error messages (which is rubbish because my pc is fine), she hesitated, told me word for word what she said before (so she obviously reading from script) and then hung up when i wasn’t buying her story.
makes me so angry to think that they are conning people out of money and gaining access to pc’s, they got me to run stuff before and scared the hell out of me..wasn’t falling for that one again. luckily there was no damage and they did nothing to my pc but to think how they invade the home by gaining remote access is a disgrace!
Zoe (UK)
Yes, I have had several of these scam phone calls. Today, I had a variation on the normal theme. Apparantly, I needed to renew my Windows Warranty. What warranty? I have never had any warranty as far as I am aware.
Jimmy (Suffolk, UK)
Seems to be an outbreak of these calls. Just received one from a man named Spisher (I think) who claimed to be calling from the computer maintenance department at Microsoft. He said that my computer was generating malicious content and asked me to go to my computer “and we can fix it together”. I said that my computer wasn’t switched on and that it takes a long time for it to start up, but I was worried and would call him back as soon as I had logged on if he would give me a number on which to phone back. He did – 01865589324. I then asked whether if I rang Microsoft and asked for the computer maintenance dept and his name I would be able to reach him. This seemed to make him go back to the start of his script. I dialled 1471 after the call to get confirmation of the number he gave but the number had of course been withheld. I am now about to pass these details to the appropriate authorities.
June 2011.
I’m getting calls from an Indian man every single week day – for weeks. I’m sick of it. They are telling me that I’ve got a virus that I don’t know about and I have to get rid of it because I’m causing problems all over the place. I asked them for the company name and he would only give his name. I asked for a phone number to call him back, I did call back – no answer. I asked where he was calling from – Jersey (USA) They always phone the same time every day in the afternoon, every single day!
Indian guy calling from 00919025678: “Sir, I am calling to tell you that your IP address is flashing red.”
Me – chuckling – “What kind of scam is this?”
Indian guy hangs up.
Flashing red IP address??? Nice try!
When will these guys give up? Just had a call from an Indian-sounding chap (said he was called Steven…no surname) from the “Windows Operating System Services Station” telling me my computer had been generating a lot of error messages. This was too good an opportunity for me to waste their phone bill, so I kept him talking for over 10 minutes, managing to continue my cuppa and have a biscuit during the call too :-) Huge fun! With several computers in the house, I faked concern, that really I needed his help to identify which one was the trouble maker, and could he please give me the error message, so I could understand what was going on. Obviously he couldn’t supply either bit of information! He kept wanting me to turn my computer on … and I kept asking him which one I should turn on. And should I turn off the three that were already on? We went round that circle for ages, then I asked how he’d got my name and number…he would only say “from a research survey within his department”, but declined to pass me across to his head of customer services or the person in charge of the research. I asked for a phone number to verify this was a valid call as he “obviously didn’t have a clue what he was talking about or who he was talking to” (he wasn’t at all insulted by that!), and just got a random set of digits. He also said he was based in Harley Street. Ah, Perhaps he was a computer doctor??!! I had to stop baiting him then … really, it was too easy … and it was getting too hard not to laugh out loud!
So can anyone beat 10 minutes and one biscuit? I will try doing the ironing next time. :-)
I had the same call today and was given which is 0203514211
I followed the run commands he gave. When he told me they were going to connect to my computer. I did as quick search on the internet for windows service centre 02035142411. Thanks you for all your posts.
I told him that this was a scam and that the only information i could find on the windows service centre 02035142411 was about a scam.
I asked him how much this was going to cost. He replied nothing we only want to help you.
He didn’t want to give in. He asked me what he could do to prove who he was.
I told him there was nothing and the number to call didn’t prove anything.
I ended the call after 40 minutes.
Hi All
in addition to my last post i contacted Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/
They were very pleased that I called. I spoke to a really nice person called Jay. He thanked me for calling and took a report.
Action fraud gave me a password and crime reference no.
They are sending me a copy of my report and a newsletter on current scams.
I was given some advice, if these people phone again (they are calling on average 4 times a day)! They have actually just called me back! However they hung up. They do not want to give in.
Jay told me to say “we both know this is a scam, I have contacted the police and you are never going to get a penny off this phone line”. Then hang up…
If you have been taken in by this SCAM Action Fraud suggest you take your computer to p.c. world.
Please call them if you have been affected by this scam. The call does not take long and by doing to you may protect others before they get sucked in.
Its worth making the call.
have a great day
Julie
I have been pestered by these for weeks. I thought it had ‘scam’ written all over it, and luckily my teenage daughter is quite computer savvy and didn’t get taken in. Came on to this site just to check that I hadn’t been unnecessarily obnoxious to the man from Mumbai, glad to hear I wasn’t.
I had a call from what sounded like these people today aswell…I can’t beleive this has been going on for so long! A guy with an Indian accent called (the line was quite bad too) asking for my mum, I told him she wasn’t home and wouldn’t be until this afternoon. Then he started going on about how our computer has a “malicious virus” (he kept repeating these two words as if to scare me into submitting to his every request!) and I repeated that the person he asked to speak to is not here. I couldn’t really make out what he said after that but either could I tell my mum what he was saying within 15 minutes, or maybe the computer was going to crash within 15 minutes…something about “15 minutes” anyway! I asked him who he was and what he was talking about, what virus, etc…he went quiet and then repeated the 15 minutes thing. I was suspicious from the beginning so I hung up the phone at that point, and it immediately started ringing again! Has anyone else had that? I just let it ring…it could’ve been a coincidence/someone else though. I wish I’d been as savvy as some of the people on here and strung the guy along for a while, that would’ve been amusing! I spoke to my dad afterwards and he said my mum had the same call a few months ago…so they are obviously using the same details. Where do these people get our names and phone numbers from???? I’m sick of all the hoax calls we get these days…this stupid computer one and also those automated recorded ones, so annoying. Anyway…if this Indian guy calls again he’ll be well and truly wasting his time!
Just got a call from “windows service center” claiming that hackers had downloaded stuff to my computer! He tried to make me run a program on my computer for it!! Tried to get the number-he claimed to be calling from LONDON.
It’s reached Canada. I happened to actually have a virus on my computer, but as soon as I heard “Andy” (an obviously Indian-sounding man) speaking about clearing up the virus, I hung up. I knew it was a scam without even going further. If they call again, I’m going to have some fun with them. ;)
it’s now in new zealand i got caught out they don’t give you a chance to think. all Indian’s that rang me fortunitly the ph. no.s i got was for windows servive centre. demanded my money back which is hopefully coming within 72 hrs that was after threatening legal and tv action. they just apreantly sell you a service of fixing problems with your computer. but they origanally told me i was buying a anti virus programme. which was a free download also they used my 10 gigs in 1 night so peeved they need to be delt with asap
I’ve just had the latest of several of these calls. I’ve hung up before, but decided to stay on the line a bit longer this time, and ask as many awkward ‘how do you know…?’ questions as possible. When this didn’t work, and after about 10 minutes, I mentioned that I had googled ‘windows service centre’ while he’d been on the line, and come up with a list of websites reporting that this so-called service was a scam. He got angry and demanded to know the website addresses I was looking at ‘so that we can sue them’, but I told him he could do his own googling if he wanted to find them, at which point he told me to ‘f*** off and go to hell’ (except he didn’t use any asterisks!)and he hung up.
iT’S REACHES WALES (UK) I just got contacted by the man but luckily researched this site before continuing. I asked on behalf of what company he was calling and he said windows service centre so I began to believe him. I asked him which computer was infected and he said all of them which is what first arose my suspicion. This is when I came across this forum. As soon as I said ” I believe this is a scam, I have anti virus software and I’ve researched your company” he hung up straight away. I tried to obtain the call number but it was witheld. DO NOT CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION AND IF YOU DO MANAGE TO GET HOLD OF THE NUMBER, I SUGGEST YOU REPORT IT TO http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/
Hi, purchased something simular from a company called ON LINE PC HUB, this company DID do work on my computer for some 8 months, Reported to them I had a slow computer and received an email from them saying they would contact me shortly. Week later a phonecall from a man saying computer has a problem which needs fixing, I ask him if he is from PC HUB and he said yes, did a few bits and pieces on my computer then asked for a payment of £59 for one year as my license with PC HUB was out of date. How he knew all this beats me but I paid the sum and found out the company OR SCAMMER is called INTL CARD FROM MUMBAI 02030262513 is the phone number he left me with. My suspicions were aroused when the ——- told me his name was Andrew, asif. Tried to contact PC HUB but to no avail, I believe these companies or so called pc experts are all in it together sharing inside information to rip us off, will let you know if Andrew is avaliable to finish cleaning up my computer later
So, I’ve just had a very interesting phone call with someone and I thought I’d share it with you, partly to warn and partly for your thoughts. I live in NZ so clearly this scam has spread from the UK/ Australia and now to us….
I just got a call from someone claiming to be Windows Tech Support telling me that the windows server based out of Auckland has logged that I have many viruses and error logs and they were calling as they had seen those flags on the server and were calling to show me these issues for free.
The first warning bell went off as the person calling was clearly calling from an Indian call center and he eventually confirmed to me that he wasn’t calling from Microsoft, that he was calling from another company. He told me to go to my run box and told me to enter in a few commands which then showed me my error log and another windows file that had multiple viruses on it.
This guy then wanted to pass me on to a technical specialist by remote logging in to my laptop where he would be able to check my computer first hand and via a chat window, do some free discovery for me. If they found more serious software issues, then he would charge me to fix them. To make it even more compelling for me, this call center guy got his manager on the phone who was also Indian as well. No offense but when something looks like a rat, smells like a rat, it normally is cause it IS a rat…
I asked them for their website and clarification as to who they are and they gave me the below address. No phone number, registered contact details etc:
http://www.microtechcare.com/services.html
Whilst on the phone with them I also checked Google to see if there were any registered scams regarding this and I came up with the below, definitely worth a read:
http://money-watch.co.uk/7118/beware-of-the-windows-phone-scam
or
http://www.digitaltoast.co.uk/supportonclick-systemrecure-scam
They wanted to charge me NZD $95 to remote log in, check my PC and download a software app on my PC that apparently protects my computer going forward. Letting some stranger remote log into your computer and download an unknown app on to your computer seems absolutely ludicrous to me. Who the hell knows what it’s actually doing!!!
I reckon this screams dodge but I think there may be other people that might get sucked in so that’s why I’m writing this. Pays to do some research into dodgy operators like this and if you think there ARE any issues with your lappy, go get it inspected by someone local and from a trustworthy and reputable company.
My elderly father has just fallen prey to this scam. He handed over control to the caller through logmein and ended up having money taken out of his paypal acc for a copy of AdvancedsystemcarePro. I’ve cancelled his debit card, paypal acc and scanned his laptop with Malwarebytes. It appears ok, but I still have my doubts. He was given the following number to call to make the payment 02081444412. The paypal transaction went to Amit Gupta email add amtgpta@gmail.com next stop, police…
Oh dear oh dear it’s getting worse, can’t believe it’s been going on for a year and several more Forums have opened up Just had a call on a very crackly line from ‘Mary’ a very difficult to understand Indian lady. She asked me if I could spare ten minutes as my computer was sending error reports to Microsoft.
I told her I was busy with a client and put the phone down!
Don’t forget everybody to report the calls to http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/
Same deal. E_prosolutions this time (Australia). Indian. Persistent, sneaky little fucks.
At last!
see http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/microsoft-reveals-extent-of-phone-scam-june11
Hi Just got the call I am in Canada. INDIA is a cesspool of scam artists.
Anyway here is how the call went down.
Phone operator claims they are from WINDOWS service center.
ME: Really?
Phone op : yes we are receiving email from your computer etc..I have your IP etc…
Me: Do you speak english you half ass?
Phone op: “Yes sir I speak English now”.
Me: Really?
Phone OP: Please go to your computer.
Me: OK for sure what do you need me to do
Phone op: Please press window button….
Me: Are you a joke dude? what do you want next my CC info.
Phone op: No joke
—-then he keeps going “please go to your computer etc…
Me: “I am going to fly to India right now and smash my computer over your head”
—-then this is the best part he comes back with
Phone op: “do it”
ME: I just had to laugh, called him a couple of more names then hung up.
this afternoon’s caller referred me to http://www.onlinepccare.com/ (the links that do work are all part of the scam)
once he’d finally got me to own up to being a “pc technician” he ended the call rather ungraciously
see also http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/microsoft-reveals-extent-of-phone-scam-june11
18th June 2011
Just had a call from an Asian gent claiming to be from “My Windows Support” saying they had received error messages from my pc about Group 32 errors (?), application errors, service errors, virus warnings,pc running slowly, blah blah blah… His name sounded something like Sanjay Justin. He told me he wanted me to turn my computer on and he would fix the problems with me, over the phone. As I was in the middle of packing for a holiday tomorrow, it was not convenient to do this, and I asked him to go through the procedure with me step by step so I could write it down and do it when I got back. He argued and said that he wanted to do it now, as it would take the same time to write it as do it. Really I was stalling for time as I wanted to check them out….I don’t let just anyone have access to my pc!!
He gave me a telephone number – a mobile – and said he was calling through an internet line from Birmingham. 07031 839555. Called the number, it actually rang, and funnily enough, an Asian sounding man answered and would not give me his name, and said it was a private number….. So, doing my neighbourly duties, I warned him that “someone” seems to be giving out his number as a contact for what appears to be a scam as reported by hundreds of people on the internet, and that I would be passing the details on to Trading Standards. To my complete surprise (!), instead of being interested, concerned or even curious, he politely asked me to mind my own business, and hung up!! I am so hurt!! …… ;-)
And now in Montréal !!! they have called me twice already, the second time just this evening..
The first time I couldn’t make head or tails out of it.. The man told me he was from my “computer security service provider” and when I asked why in the world my computer company was not serving me in French but in broken English (with a strong Indian accent at that) he got vague and I got suspicous!
Today, I ended the conversation very quickly, I told them not to call me again unless they find somebody fluent in French!!!
then I found these forums and now know for sure these are scams..!!
Thanks
Hi Sonja from Christchurch New Zealand here. Just got a call from a man with a very bad Indian accent sounded more Chinese than Indian. he said he was from the windows technical department he was reading from a script. he asked me how often I went on the net. to which I replied “what firm do you work for?” he replied the windows technical Deparntment. to which I replied “Its a scam BYe then hung up.
Hi Sonja from Christchurch New Zealand here. Just got a call from a man with a very bad Indian accent sounded more Chinese than Indian. he said he was from the windows technical department he sounded as if he was reading from a script. he asked me how often I went on the net. to which I replied “what firm do you work for?” he replied the windows technical Deparntment. to which I replied “Its a scam BYe then hung up.
Have had quite a few calls (Warwickshire) over the last 2 or 3 weeks, with the identical “script” as detailed by posters worldwide, i.e. my computer is about to expire. It’s getting very boring. Various dialing prefixes/codes show up or else 1471 does “we don’t have the no.” which indicates an international no. Latest call was yesterday. Rather aggressive when I decline kind offer of help.
The call/s shouted scam from the outset. What concerns me is that there are people (the elderly, particularly) who get into a fever of worry, thinking the calls are legit and pay up.
In Wellington, New Zealand – have had two phone calls in two days from what sounds like the same people. The first time I hung up as I couldn’t understand the woman and then today another call from I think the same woman. She knew my name and said she was from Windows operating system tech support and that they were phoning people who used the windows operating system to make sure that their computers hadn’t downloaded any viruses. She said it was very urgent that she check my machine. That made me sceptical as I thought it would be a hell of a job to phone everyone in the world who used Windows to check their computers. She asked me to go and turn my computer on but I told her I couldn’t as I didn’t have it with me. She asked when I might have it with me and I said next week. When I hung up I thought I’d check to see whether there were any scams like this about and found this site – man, what a pain. Hopefully she won’t ring back but if she does she will get a mouthful. The number that came up on the caller id is 0012747900194.
Another call here in Ontario Canada. I just got a call from an Indian woman (Pakistan?) who said she was from Microsoft and they had received a report that my computer was sending out malicious e-mails. I also found it suspicious. Now I’m not an expert but I am tech savvy so I knew something was up. She then wanted to walk me through a procedure to identify the ‘infected files’ (.pnf type). I asked her which of my computers was the problem. She asked me how many I had. If it was real wouldn’t she already know? She gave me some sort of computer id number (888 BCA60-FCOA-11CF8FOF-00C04FD7D062, I wrote it down) to prove she was telling the truth. While she was talking I did a quick google search to see what this was all about. Looks like it’s a scam. When I asked her for her Microsoft employee number she put me on hold but I could still hear her talking to someone asking about the her id number. I ended the conversation by telling
her I was going to report her and hung up the phone.
I’m in Ontario, Canada and get these calls almost daily! It’s ridiculous. I have never divulged any information other than telling them to stop calling me and apparently this does not work. Their number does not show up in called ID.. I’ve had enough. I’m going to call my telephone provider and see if there’s anything they can do.
I had another phone call this morning. This time, it appears that all the computers in my area are sending out infected emails, and my computer needed sorting out. The conversation went something like this. ‘Is your computer switched on’. ‘No’. Can you go and switch it on please’. ‘No’. ‘Why not’. ‘No electricity’. ‘What do you mean, no electricity’. ‘We have had a power cut’. ‘Oh. How long do you think that it will be before you get your power back’. ‘No idea. Soon, I hope’. Oh, I will phone you back later and hope that your power is back on’. With that, he rang off. He did not phone back. They are a real nuisance, these power cuts. Fancy me losing my power, just when that nice man was going to sort my computer out for me. Never mind, I just put the kettle on and had another cup of coffee.
Jimmy
I was called yesterday from ‘windows operating system service centre, by Mary Williams, 0292 1252715, regarding viruses on my computer. She asked various questions which I did not reply to and I am getting these calls quite regular. It is worrying that had I given any information they she could have entered my system.
This phone call happened to my mum in Jersey, Channel Islands, she was suspicious but soon found an article on the internet reporting the same thing that had just happened to her, she is now calling authorities to report this.
I was called today. The indian sounding man said he was from Microsoft and was calling because I was registered for the Microsoft Windows service as I have a windows computer. (I was tempted to tell him I had a Mac!)
He then asked me to type in a code into the Run bar in order to view event viewer. I was then asked to count all the red error and yellow triangle icons on my screen and then tell him how many I had. Once I told him he acted like he was shocked and ironically said people were trying to take personal information from my computer. He then asked to log in to my computer I then refused and he put me through to his senior technician (he had originally said he was the senior technician).
The senior technician then repeated what had been said to me earlier. I then refused again and he said “ok” and hung up. I am now registering to the Telephone preference service but not sure if it will help. Its the 2nd call I have got.
Call today from guy based in Dublin (but with a Asian accent) from Computer Maintenance Departemnt, Windows Operating System. He seemed to get bored with all the questions I was asking and put the phone down on me!
Just received a call from a guy who told me he was an Indian working in Bradford for 2 weeks. Same story as above – he couldn’t answer any of my questions about how he knew there was a problem with my computer etc. I asked for his phone number and he said if he gave it to me then he wouldn’t get the incentive from my call as i would end up speaking to someone else. So clearly a scam. This was the 3rd call I’d received over the past week.
(IRE)I’ve gotten this call a few times over the last 6 months I usually fobbed him off saying computer at work or in mums. Today I said it was at home he asked me to turn it on. I asked him seeing as I did not call him how did he know that my computer had contracted a virus? He gave me the same story most of you got, my clever computer had told him!! I asked how would I know he was from Microsoft? He said once I logged on I would see he was genuine.I told him I was not comfortable dealing with cold callers and I told him that I wasn’t interested and just hung up. Next time he calls, as I’m sure he will, I’m not even going to start a conversation once I’m sure it’s him I’m hanging up. I’m glad I checked this out.
Just received a call from an Asian sounding man informing me he was calling about viruses on my pc he said (quickly in order to confuse me)
” you have a windows pc right?” to which I replied yes, then wondered when windows had started doing courtesy calls and why he was ringing since my pc had not been switched on all day. I promptly hung up on him. Was looking to ring windows so started a search on the web and found this thread instead. This type of scam is still occurring it seems. I am from London so be aware if you are from this area too.
just to inform you all….they are still at in. received phone call, saying that I hadnt responded to any messages or phone calls….said Microsoft would not send emails. His name was charles from ‘microsoft global roaming’…hung up after he kept hassling me to go to my computer and click on things….even tried calling back! keen!
I have just hads a call from someone saying they were from Windows Support. Advising me that there were a number of errors on my computer. They talked me through how to view them and then asked me to go to a web site called teamviewer. This then produced a ID and password that he wanted to be able to fix the error in my computer. When I said I thought this was a scam he got quite anoyed and directed me to another site to verify where he was from. Still not convinced he put me through to someone else who was very persistent. I asked for his phone number which he gave me 07031839555. He then wanted me to give him the password an ID but not convinced I hung up.
Just had the scam phone call from ‘windows 7 service dept’…sounded like indian accents from both people I talked to….said they are based in Bradford. said my computer was infested with virus. Said they had been receiving messages from it for 2 wks. When I told them I just had the computer for 2 DAYS that f****d them up!they gave a tel number as 00442927252115
needless to say it dosnt ring out.SAD people DS
Had not one not too but 3 phone call, ohh yerr and all today well yesterday now (its late).
One was a Asian accented lady, i was outside when she call and simply could not be bothers to go in a do stuff plus it struck me as weird that windows were getting stuff from my computer, yes we have windows but i know tiny bit about pcs and from what they were describing i was prity sure would have had sum effect on my pc already. That i don’t don’t believe that logs and things actually get looked at. So in short i hung up.
Later that day I received another call, saying prity much the same please were getting report from your, “windows service provider” (same as earlier)(some hidious mutant child between ISP and Microsoft Windows?) let them have there fun chatting then said no i’m okay thanks, hung up, so he rang me back, so i told him that this was the 3rd time today and if he tried again i would phone the police, which got him very adgitaded, but he didnt hang up(stange). He was talking quick dont phone police check our website, (erm no thanks considering ur probly trying to expose me to a virus i’m not gunna go on ur website) shouted very loadly down the phone, DO NOT PHONE AGAIN OR I WWIILL PHONE THE POLICE. Hung up.
So yeh its still out there and think there trying harder.
Alge4
P.S. Sorry about the spelling/grammer i’m a bad speller.
Hi
I got a call from them this morning – they are quite good at what they do. But of course I knew it was scam from the start. So I taped the whole conversation and kept them talking for 34 minutes.
Time is money to them so keep them talking as long as you can it really really cheeses them off.
Its a competition everyone – see how long you can keep them talking. But do not do anything they ask on your computer!
Just received a new one in a strong Indian accent ” Can I speak to the lady of the House ” I said she’s not in can I take a message? and he put the phone down !! Dialled 1471 number not available…
I have just received one of these calls – not for the first time, they have called my home number randomly for the past year or so. This time though I just happened to be sitting at my laptop when they called so I could check the name of the company ‘Windows Services’ and got onto this forum. I told the gentlman (heavy indian accent) that I don’t have any problems with my PC and that that it was a scam and to not phone me back. Lo and behold whilst I have been typing this they called back! Which I expected – this time my husband answered and acted innocent and explained that he didn’t have a computer so he didn’t understand why they had called! In the past I have received verbal abuse from these people because I had the cheek tell them not to call my number again. Interestingly enough, I am ex-directory but they had my name. Did they have yours? Previously they have claimed that Sky TV gave them my details as I have broadband with them – I contacted Sky and made a complaint and questioned that they may have someone selling customers information in another country. Anyway – time to get back onto the TPS I think as this is the only way these calls seem to stop…
‘Sara'(the indian-accented one) from windows services rang me yesterday afternoon in Perth (Western Australia).
As soon as she said she was ‘Sara, from windows services’, I jumped in and said “I know, I know – you have found lots of viruses on my computer”.
Cheeky bugger rung up on me without even saying how she could fix my PC!
I got this call yesterday, my sister has had a similar call twice in the last fortnight. We both live in Belfast, thankfully neither of us are that gullible!
I got a call from these scammers on Saturday, decided to string them along, also managed to record the last 8 minutes of there call.
I’ve written a blog post about the call and also included the recordings – lakeuk.blogspot.com
I had a similar call yesterday. This guy (again, heavily Indian sounding)said his name was Ryan Bond and he was calling from Windows technical support(I had some trouble as I thought he said Vindoss and he sounded annoyed. I asked how I could tell he was genuine and he gave me his phone number – 0018064163934 and an email address – admin@mstechnology.us. I said I’d call him to check that he was who he said he was & he told me to trust him as if he wasn’t genuine he wouldn’t give the number and email address. I told him to call back leter and he said should he do so when he had confirmation that I’d rung and I agreed. I called the number and got an American voice saying the number was busy. I tried a few more time (on Skype once I realised it was a US number) and eventually got his voice saying “hello” – no mention of Windows or Microsoft on the greeting either time so it’s pretty certain this was a scam.
I’ve had these people on as well (Scotland). The company was IP Global.net and I spent 20 mins on one occasion getting really angry with a guy because I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I demanded his superior who was no better! I couldn’t believe it the other day when I answered my Mum’s phone and got the same guy (well it sounded like him anyway). I wound him up good and proper alledgedly following all his instructions and then I told him there was no computer in this house! I am so bad.
Just had a very funny call from an Indian guy with a very strong accent. He claimed he was calling from Windows Support and said that my comp was sending out error reports and that it must be infected with malicious viruses, but that he could help to remove them!
Fortunately I am tech savvy and knew that this is nonsense. I never send error reports so it couldn’t have been a genuine microsoft call. When I persistently asked the guy where he was calling from he transfered me to his ‘supervisor’ (not convinced that this wasn’t just the same guy putting on a slightly different accent). So after wasting this blokes time with some really stupid questions (what’s windows? what’s a virus? etc) I finally got bored and told him that I knew it was a scam and the next time he called I would record our conversation and send it to the police. I hung up before I could hear his response.
FYI I have recently been buying a lot of goods off ebay from various different sellers in hong kong, china, etc. Sometimes you have to supply contact details e.g. phone number on the pretext (or pretence) that this is for the courier. Would not be surprised if these dodgey businesses actually just sell the data to scammers and cold callers
I just got a call claiming to be from Microsoft. The accent on the line claimed I had a virus and asked me to check my computer on the lower right hand side. My land line telephone is not near the computer and I asked for a phone number to call him back. He gave me a number that doesn’t look like a phone number to me. You decide 011918100066696. I will not be calling him back.
just got a call from an asian guy, said his name was JOHN and he said he worked for Windows service centre and I had virus he could sort out. As he was trying to get on my comp i told him to ring back.
Obvious scam.
DW
I have been called several times by someone claiming to be calling from ‘Windows’. I was immediately suspicious… and questioned her. She said that she knows I am using Windows operating system as I have registered, she asked me to turn on my computer but when I continued to question her, she put the phone down!!
Just recieved one of these calls today, and realised immediately that it was a scam (I trust nobody, sadly…). The asian guy told me that he was calling ‘from windows'(!!!), and that both my computer and a neighbours were sending out error messages. He then quoted my home address, which was correct up until 5 years ago, so looks as though their info is not up-to-date. As soon as I informed him that I no longer lived at that address he said ‘Oh, ok, then we’ll call you back’, and hung up. Am hoping that was a one-off call….
I just had a call from “Windows Operating System”. They told me that they were getting a message that my Windows Operating Backup System was about to expire. They said the computer I bought had a temporary Windows Operating Backup System installed and that I needed to install the full permanent copy. He had a very thick Indian accent so I had him repeat everything several times.
He wanted me to press the windows key with the R key to bring up the “Run” box. He then gave me a web address to type in. Unfortunately I never recorded the address.
However, I did say that I wanted to make a call first and if he would give me his number I would call back to “finish”. He gave me the following number: 714-881-1071 and told me his name was Rick and he was calling from Windows Operating System. When he gave me the number he said it like: 7148-811-071 I did a search on the phone number. It is a Santa Ana, California cell phone number.
I called my local computer shop and talked to Tech Support. They confirmed it was a scam and what they do is have you install something that basically fries your system. Then for a nominal fee they will “fix” it for you. All you have to do is give your credit card number. He has had the calls himself, and has worked on systems of people who have followed the instructions given by people.
Feel free to call “Rick” at the number above, I am sure he will love getting calls from people!
I get these calls at least once a week. Can anyone tell me how i can stop them from calling. It is not always from the same number and sometimes is from overseas.
Hi Amanda,
I am not sure where you are from, but when I got my call, I reported it to the local police. They gave me a phone number for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre who track these calls. They have a website you can make a complaint and I have a phone number: 1-888-495-8501 http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/
If you are Canadian this may be of help. If not, I don’t know what to suggest but I would guess most countries have something similar.
Sally
I have had yet another call. As soon as he started his speel, I said ‘Rescue Kennels here. Do you want to rescue a dog? What sort of dog do you want?’ Dead silence. Then he rung off. It seems that if you say things that are way off their prepared script they simply hang up on you. Others may like to try the same technique. I look forward to hearing of some interesting conversations.
I got this call today as well, he told me my computer was infected and his company would clear it for me. I asked him for my ip adress and he wouldn’t answer so I just told him I had a mac. He then asked if i had any windows computer at all, I said no and he hung up the call.
I had a call today from an Asian man stating that he was from my ISP and they had received reports that I had viruses on my PC. Suspecting that this was another scam, I told him that I worked in IT support and that if I had any issues I could sort them out myself and didn’t need his help. He then laughed and hung up on me.
My husband also had a call yesterday. These crooks are still trying, so be on your guard people.
Just had a similar call to those described above. Man with heavy Indian accent, so v. difficult to understand. Got me to go to Run and enter EventVwr. Said he was from a Windows service company, a company certified by Microsoft. Claimed that my computer sent error alerts to a server at his company. Said the server was in London. Said they had learned that my computer had picked up “junk and malicious programs”. I started scrolling down the list in EventVwr, looking for a red Error alert. I found a yellow Warning and clicked on the line, saying that the content did not look that worrying. He screamed at me that I should not open these reports as I will have just spread a virus through my computer. I said I doubted if that was true, and he subsided and tried another tack. He mentioned that they had a website, so I asked for the address. While he continued with his spiel, I looked up the URL, which got me to the website of a respectable looking IT company in Virginia, U.S.A. However, it said nothing about Windows service and the website had not been updated since December 2009. I suspect he was just giving me the address to help make himself look genuine.
He started to say something about having to connect to my computer, so I said I would not allow that. I was getting a bit bored by this time, so I hung up.
Had the call today, i am in the south of england. An indian guy claiming to be called Ryan McLaren (not very indian is it). When suspicions arose i asked for a number to call back and when they answered it was clear it was not a legit company. They just answered the phone with ‘ Hello how can i help?’, no name or anything. When i asked who i was speaking to they said whey were called windows solutions, the number was 01865 589015. This lot will try and get access to your computer through a site called ammy.com. Do not allow them in!
Wednesday 13/7/11 I had a phone call,supposedly from Windows, informing me that I had a virus on my computor that was why it was running slow.The caller was had an Asian accent. I was then aske dt press certain keys to show how many viruses and trojans I had on ykm system. I was ssked to press certain keys, and to type in my tower serial number. As I stated I had not got the number they ‘produced it for me’ and asked mt to type it in. when asked why they informed me that they could, for a small fee, remove the problems. I hung up the phone. however it left me shaken and I got in touch wit both my ISP provider and bank to inform them of what happened.
I have just put down the phone to one of these guys. They had been phoning my mother all week. After 40 minutes on the phone, including taking control of her PC she said she needed to talk to me before handing over £70 for six months support. He then phoned again and she told him to phone me. When he called me I asked who he worked for:
Jay: “Windows support”
Me: But Which company do you work for.
Jay: “Windows Support Centre”.
Me: Yes but what is the company called?
Jay: “24/7 mumble support.com”
Me: What is the company called?
He hangs up.
I then googled “Windows Support Centre” and found this site …
19th July 2011
just had a call he used my partners surmame calling me Mrs xxxx he said that he was form windows and that there was a problem with my computer I told him that I dont think so as none of my computer equipment or access is in the name he had said he tried to continue and i told him basicly you are chatting a load of xxxx and if there was anything wrong i know how to get it dealt with i do worry that vulnarable people who do not know a lot about computers may fall for this, must phone my sister as she would fall for it am going to post on face book that birmingham u.k is a target again.
I’m living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and we get several of these calls a month. I have told the last caller, today, that it’s a scam and put us on the “Do Not Call list” or I will report to appropriate authorities. They likely don’t give a rat’s behind though. Sounded like call came from India.
My dad recently got a call from an “Out of Area” number like that. We are both computer savvy; he is a Mac user and I am a Linux user. When my dad answered, he got an African-sounding person. We could not record the call, but it went something like this:
Dad: Hello?
Caller: Are you D. Young?
Dad: Yes.
Caller: I would like to inform you about some software on your computer you have recently installed on your computer.
Dad: Which computer?
Caller: The one you currently using.
(Which is weird-he has 3 different computers, all of which he is currently using.)
Dad: Um…okay. What software?
Caller: Windows operating system.
Dad: Which Windows? 98? 2000? XP? 7? (cough) Vista?
Caller: Windows operating system.
Dad: What company is this?
(pause)
Caller: Windows operating system.
Dad: Right.
Caller: Yes, yes, you definite have virus. Go to http://www.lookout123.com and I fix it for you.
Dad: Um, I don’t have my computer on right now, but my daughter does. Hold on.
(He hands the phone to me as I boot up his iMac. He suggests I play dumb.)
Caller: Have you gone to website I tell you?
Me: It’s loading.
(The computer is finished booting and I type in the address and get there at lightning speed. Actually, I just go to lookout.com, a place I can actually trust.)
Me: Okay, I’m there, I think.
Caller: You download software, viruses go away.
Me, looking at reports of this scam: So my computer becomes a bot? Ok…
Caller: No no no! Virus go away!
Me: When do I click the apple icon? *click*
That probably wasn’t necessary, but sure as hell fun!
Ian, you are some focking legend.
He said he was calling from Luton. He sounded Indian. He wanted me to type EVETVWR into the RUN box on windows. I told him I was not comfortable to do that as I believed this call was a scam. He replied by telling I was a “Mother Fucker” and all he was trying to do was help me. He then hung up.
I have just had a call from an Asian sounding man from Windows Service Centre who said that my computer was downloading viruses and he needed to show me how to stop it from doing this. I asked him how he knew this and where he got my contact details from. Apparently from my IP address. I have had this before – my old computer got a virus and the hard drive corrupted, it was out of use and I received phone call from Windows Service Centre wanting me to switch it on….I can’t…yes you can…no really I can’t…yes you can I can help you was the response. Basically there was no way I could do anything with the PC, they must have my details from some database and are trying to scam me. I just had exactly the same call. They are persistent but there is no way I am letting them anywhere near my computer details. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM. I am going to write to local paper warning people of this as the elderly or less knowledgable will fall for it for sure. Shocking.
Hi, calling from South Africa. Had the same type of call tonight. I told the gent that I was not going to put the string of letters and numbers (like a registration key)that he gave me into my computer. When I asked where he got my telephone number from he told me that I listed it when I registered my PC. I asked where he was calling from as his id was registering 0000000000000 on my phone, he told me was calling from Miami and I could call him back on his toll free number 800983995ext 0. I told him that I would speak to my technician and he could check out my PC for the ‘Trojan Virus’. He was actually quite polite and kept telling me that I could call him back if my technician could not help.
How does this scam actually work? Does the “Registration Key” give them access to my PC?
I have just recieved a call from Windows Service centre to tell me that my computer had become contaminated today and the asian sounding woman on the line could help me to repair it if I switched on and followed her instructions. I was immediately suspicious and when I tried to establish how she knew about it etc. she simply kept repeating that I must boot up immediately to prevent further damage. I rang off.
She phoned back straight away and repeated that I did not know how dangerous the problem was on my computer and would I please do as she asked. I refused, asked for her name [Rofe] and telephone number [0280915005] I said I wanted to check on Computer Service Centre brfore proceeding further. I then rang off again being fairly certain it was a scam.
I checked on Google and found this sight which makes me think I did the right thing but as a 73 year old widow with very little knowledge of how a computer actually works I can imagine most of my friends falling for scams like this. I shall be contacting them to prevent any future problems with their computers.
Just had a similar call. they gave me a number to ring back on:
0141 4163377, saying he was calling from Glasgow – name Steve Viper. This is a very ludicrous name for anyone, let alone a man with a thick Indian accent with poor grasp of english.
This happened to my mother-in-law who is not computer literate. We were on the phone earlier trying to access her Skype as she recently lost her husband whom she had known for 50+ years. So when she got a call from http://www.fullpcsupport.com she was at a loss as to what to do. She rang me and I told her not to discuss matter any further and to have them contact me.
I tried later to get her on the phone but her line was engaged. She later called me back and was exasperated by how long ‘Annie Scott’ from ‘Windows’ had her on the phone. She was trying to get my mother-in-law to log onto some website.
I rang this person back on 023-239-7020 and was surprised how quickly I got through to someone.
I am afraid to say it as well but the male person was Indian and the female person was also Indian. And by the way, who ever heard of an Indian person called ‘Annie Scott’!!!
Please note that there are genuine IT support people who work in the industry who ARE Indian and do an extremely excellent job, but it grates on my nerves how there can be unscrupulous persons who give Indian people a bad name!
When I spoke to ‘Annie Scott’ she bombarded me will techno babble and she said it in a fast manner. Now I am studying IT and am CompTia A+ certified which is to say that I think I know a little about pcs but even I was having a hard time keeping up with her, not to mention an elderly person of 70+ years.
I was livid. I told her off for putting my mother-in-law through all this bother. She tried to calm me down by directed me to the company’s website and stressed that they were legitimate. I asked her how she can know that my mother-in-law’s pc was infected. She said that her computer was listed with Microsoft and that my mother-in-law Windows OS was infected. I asked her what OS she had and she incorrectly answered XP. Then I was convinced. I asked her again to explain who she was and how is it that a company can ring up an individual. She began to speak techno babble in a fast manner which I quickly stopped and demanded that she speaks to me as if I knew NOTHING about pcs. The line then went conveniently dead.
Unperturbed I rang the number again, and got through straightaway again, to the same male person who had put me through to ‘Annie Scott’. I demanded how such a company can put my mother-in-law through so much distress. He kept trying to answer my question with a question. I admit, I should have ended the call much sooner but my blood was up. Suspicious how quiet his office was, I asked him to explain why this was. He said that he didn’t work in a fish market. Very professional, don’t you think? I demanded that he put me onto his manager. He said who do I wish to speak to, as if I would know the name of the manager. I became even more infuriated and said put me onto to his manager as I am not satisfied with him and that I wish to make a complaint. He said that he will put me through to someone who will ‘satisfy me’. Again not the type of language you would expect from a professional company.
He then put me onto ‘Annie Scott’ again. I asked for her manager and then got cut off.
Do not let these sods get away with it!
please visit: http://www.eatonbray.com/news/2010/07/international-routing-system-scam for a whole list of upset victims of this type of scam
Just had call from Windows Support Office, lasting around 10 minutes to 10:10. (I kept them talking and waiting). They made me look at the event log to count the number of yellow and red warnings. Why I should have to count them I don’t know, because “the computer sends them through the router to our local support office, which is why I am giving you a call.”
They wanted me to start a Teamviewer session (Teamviewer look legit). At this point I “ran out of time”.
I have no phone number (1471 says “There is a semantic error in the application. Goodbye.” Hilarious in its own right.)
Just had a similar call from “Windows support office” They say that they are not Microsoft but licenced partners for the Windows packages- I explained that if they had and error then they could tell me my I.P or even what operation system I have (the irony is I use a MAC!!) The company is called E-Pro Solutions. Stay well clear this is a major scam.
I’ve just had what sounds like the same scam. Someone asking for me by name and purporting to be from Windows, has just rung and claimed they’ve had an alert of virusus on my computer. When he asked if I was sitting by my computer, I abruptly terminated the comversation. Had I allowed him to carry on,I’m pretty sure at some point he would have asked for money.
Luckily we get so inundated with ” rubbish ” calls, that I’m always suspicious if it’s someone I don’t know on the other end – especially if they are all chummy and ask after my health !
I have also had two similar calls from “Windows Support Office” saying that my computer was generating rubbish (or something like that; they spoke so fast I couldn’t make it out even though I have several Indian colleagues and friends). They were also using a lot of techno-babble including saying that a directory full of .inf files was “junk” when they were valid files.
I couldn’t understand a lot of what they said but decided to waste their time by trying to understand. In the end I did manage to work out that they were referring to software error reports. I started to explain that, if these were the standard software error reports that Microsoft want to receive when a program crashes then they would not be “junk”. After a while they cut the call.
I just hope that wasting their time will avoid at least one other person receiving such a call.
Make sure you don’t give any personal details or details about your computer.
Can someone tell me what the damage is if someone falls for it? My Dad (who’s 76) got scammed a couple of months ago and paid money to be remotely taken over and free anti virus software loaded – I made him cancel his credit card immediatly and gave him an extremely stern talking to! I spoke to him last night to find he’d done it again with the windows people – he let them remotely access the computer but didn’t part with any money. Is there anything I need to do to his computer to make it safe? I’m very upset he’s been scammed twice now, it’s that horrible realisation that he’s old and vulnerable.
Any advice appreciated.
I have received several calls like this over the past few months. Each time it’s the same story… they have numerous reports of viruses on my computer etc….
Thing is, we only have MACs in the house so one time I asked the guy why Windows Support would be concerned with an Apple system.. he hung up. Once other time I handed the phone off to my three year old who loves to “CHAT” with people… the idiot actually stayed on the phone for almost 3 minutes before he finally hung up.. LOL
It’s a total scam and quite a nuisance as I get at least one call per week from these guys.
i recieved a call today from windows services dept in glasgow to say my computer is sending viruses all over the place and he wanted me to access computer,i ask questions about where he is calling from and ask for his phone number,but kept asking for me to go online,when he phoned he askied for my father who does not have a computer,which i was suspicious,the address he did give was 36 dorchester avenue avendale,kelvindale glasgow,,but he would only give his number after i checked for corupt files on windows xp
ive got one question,are isps providers are giving out our details to the wrong people,ps maybe they will do any for money?
Had a call from one of these firms today, they don’t get your information from the computer as they rang and asked for the person who had the phone line prior to me so look at who your phone line is with in the first place. He was insistent that my computer had viruses though and kept rattling on until I told him very rudely where to go. Time to make a call to my phone company as i’ve had this rubbish for 5 months now, I get more calls for other people than I do for myself
I’ve also had a call from Windows Service Team, insisting I’d been sending them error reports for some time – when they asked me to enter a code for them to remotely access my laptop I got suspicious so asked for a telephone number so I could contact them 01613810070 – guess what after googling and found all the above – I’ve not bothered
I was just called by these people. Of course, I hung up immediately. Question: How the hell did they get my name and telephone number?
Just spoke to these guys supposedly from Microsoft went through all the talk. They talked me through the process of seeing if i am infected turns out my warrenty is out of date tried to charge £180 to give me a new warranty for 5 years i immedietely new this was a scam so i have researched it and found this, they have called before how did they get my number also how the how can Microsoft know I got viruses.
been getting these call for some weeks now, today i went along with it until the indian sounding guy started asking for money.By this point i had given them access to my pc but when he asked about money i shutdown the pc completely but kept going with the call.
he semed to get rather upset when i said that i did not trust the call and that i would contact the windows support team myself and get directed to their technical department to sort the problem. at this point he told me he would blacklist my ip address and that i would no longer have access to the internet with imeadiate effect. he then asked how long could you last without this service to which i said ages, this did not seem to please him and i hung up midwa through his rant. they did have access to my pc for about 3 minutes should i be worried andstart cancelling credit cards etc, even though i never gave them any bank or card details.
Took a call this morning from an Asian sounding woman who said she was from Microsoft and they had reports of malicious invasions of my computer. It was off at the time and I asked her to call me back later on in the day. To prove she was genuine, she gave me a 32 bit CLS ID code which she said would link to my computer. I have no idea what this is but she left the Kidlington number 01865 589015 for me to call back on. When I called it back it switched through to another Asian sounding person who said they were a “Windows solutions company”. Microsoft should put out something about this to let us know what sort of scam (financial or otherwise) this is.
Mercifully,I’ve only had one of these calls, previously reported on this thread. It’s interesting, though, that there have been several references to an Oxford area code, and I think also a Manchester one. Presumably BT must know whose numbers these are and ought to be able to discover the number(s) to which calls are then diverted;and they ought then to be able to give the information to Fraud Squad. It can’t be that easy, can it?
Yes, I got a call this morning and rudely told the indian lady to shut up and go away. I knew nothing of the scam until I decided to check it out on google. Now I am glad I was so rude.
I should have added that I am in the Glasgow area as I expect they are targeting this area at the moment. I also had another call as I was reading this forum, but his accent was so poor I can’t even be sure it was from the same bunch, but I expect it was. I hung up.
I have just had one of these phone calls today. As with many of the above I was told that I needed to go onto my PC as “They” had evidence of hackers trying to access my information. I say “They” because they told me they were from Windows Technical Support. I think because I was very wary about their motives I asked lots of questions and was then transferred to the advisors supervisor. In all the call lasted about 5 minutes as I eventually hung up. I couldn,t believe it when they called me back again! Also when I didnt buy into the “hackers” story they tried the “error report” story swiftly followed by the “Your PC has downloaded infected files” story. I,m concerned about this as they may call someone who is very vulnerable and scam a lot of money out of them.
I wonder if Microsoft are aware of them using their name to do this?
The 2 people I spoke to had foreign accents, the supervisor gave me his name – STEVE WILSON – and I believe that of course! The 2 numbers I have are 00353 6724 9819 & 025380 20308. Also a vague address – Cardinal Place in the UK.
Just received a call exactly like Janette above, told them I didn’t have my laptop, it was at work, told them I would format my hard drive if that was the case of malicious viruses and worms on my pc. Then told them I was finished talking to them and hung up.
Just come off the phone to an asian sounding chap who after 40 minutes of ‘proving’ to me how riddled my laptop was (I had turned off my modem so he couldn’t access it – glad i did after reading all of this) he told me my software warranty had expired and I could extend it for £40 every 6 months. He tried to get me to log on to logmein123.com. I didn’t bite and so he passed me on to a microsoft engineer who sounded like his brother and just happened to be sitting next to him. He said his name was Mark Albert and gave me this number to call back on – 01157142007 – very close to the number someone above was given. When I did 1471 the number he called from was 01613810000. The most annoying thing is that I will never get that 40 minutes of my life back again. And my teas’s gone cold.
Just had another call from “The PC Technical Department”. I’m never worried being as I don’t own a PC, but I keep getting these calls. Tried everything to stop them, reporting it etc. Still they keep ringing me. They always ask for Mr. G***** (someone who never lived at this address; I’m Mr A). They even give me the full address they have for this person, contravening the Data Protection Act. This guy said his name was “Daniel” and sounded Asian. When I asked repeatedly for his work address, apart from “Cardiff” he couldn’t give me anything else. Eventually, he told me I was rude and put the phone down. Better than last time, I put the phone down and the guy kept ringing me back threatening to report ME! Brilliant. I love it, it’s my afternoon’s entertainment. I’m aware they call from abroad so the laws regarding checking the Telephone Preference Service don’t apply to them.
The call I received today was from 02538020308 (according to 1471), a woman (sounded asian). She wished me “good morning” at 15:00. She burbled quickly through who her company was, mentioned operating system of my computer and error messages. She got to the bit about could I please sit in front of my computer. I asked her to back up a bit and tell me again who her company was. She named “24×7..” something-or-other and said they work for the maker of my operating system. Smelling the rat I asked “which particular operating system is that?”. The line went dead. I’m sure they’ll ring back if it’s important! Not much difference between “scam” and “scum”, is there?
Just think of the vulnerable/un-technological people who fall for this stuff. YOUR A BUNCH OF THICK SCAMMING C**T’S.
We had a call from “microsoft”. I was not in, my partner answered…. She thought this Pakistani bloke was referring to my X-BOX live account, he asked her to do something on the computer, she said she wanted to wait till I got back (clever girl :) he kept ringing over the space of a couple weeks (once a woman too) until he caught me at home tonight, he said its a complimentary service call, what a nice guy! He explained about how they had received error reports from our computer, Not likley I said, I always click don’t send, I just told him I know what I am at, and I don’t need any help, he wanted me to go on some site or another, but he thanked me when I hung up saying thanks but DON’T NEED YOUR HELP. ANYONE WHO IS CONFIDENT ENOUGH AND HAS TIME, KEEP THEM ON THE PHONE, PRETEND YOUR GOING ON YOUR PC, CAREFUL NOT TO CONFIRM ANY INFORMATION, LETS WASTE THEIR TIME!! MUPPET’S!
Just had same call from bloke with Asian accent saying he was a Microsoft Technician and that my computer was sending signals to http something. I told him I also was a Microsoft Technician and assured him that my computer was sending signals nowhere. He assured me that it was and said I should check. I assured him it wasn’t but said “give me your phone number and I’ll call you back”. Needless to say he hung up. I know of 3 other people who have had this call. We need to get it stopped, My sister rang me panic stricken when she received this call a couple of weeks ago – it is not fair for people who don’t know enough about pcs to have to deal with this type of scam. Need to remember same old rule – if you want something you’ll contact them.
Just had the same kind of call from a Asian accent woman saying she was from Microsoft service and support department and that my computer has been effected with some junk files and I needed to turn my computer on. I started asking her more questions but she could’n give me the answers. She was keep telling me turn my computer on, she’s here to help me before my computer will shut down forever and I will loose all my stuff and will never be able to get it back because of the virus. I told her that I have good virus protection and I build and repair computer for living so I know what to do with my computer and I don’t need her help. She was not having NO for an answer and she was asking me if I trust her or I prefer to loose everything. I told her that the phone call sounds like a scam and I don’t trust anyone over the phone if I don’t know them. Told her that I prefer to loose my stuff then risk and trust her, knowing that there is nothing wrong with my computer. She ended the call by wishing me to have nice day and good bay. The phone call has been recorded and passed to the Police for investigation.
I have been called twice by these people & each time I have asked them what my IP address is & what operating system I was using. When they couldn’t tell me this, I hung up.
Important advice, if you need help & assistance you will always call someone…..NEVER the other way round
I live in North Wales and just had a similar call to the above, from the “Service Centre for Windows Operating system”. Heavily Indian accent guy calling himself Jason, insisting that my computer’s operating system was affected by viruses. He was unable to give me any information telling me which one of my computers was affected, and when I questioned him repeatedly about how / where he had got my phonenumber, he referred me to a “manager” who just repeated the information the first guy had given me. When I said I was going to end the call because I did not believe it was genuine, he called me a “stupid person” so I hung up. The number they dialled from came up as 01234567891 when I checked it. Is there anywhere I can report this sort of thing? I worry that people with little or no technical knowledge will fall for calls like this and give out their card details.
This outfit have called me three times in the last three weeks. First time I hung up, second time I told them I was registered with TPS and would report them (which I did), third time I let it run. Followed the instructions to check the computer- and yes- of course lots of error messages in the application section of the “computer” file- which is normal….eventually I got bored by the acting and told her (correctly) that my land line phone was damaged and she had been transferred to my mobile which had poor reception so could I call her back? yes telno given 02032866344, address given as something valley park in Reading. The line is I think a UK number that diverts to India. I listened into the UTube recording of an attempt to get the computer owner to buy virus protection- and it’s the exact same format- reported them to the fraud line and again to TPS…looking forward to the next call…….
Been getting these at the rate of about two a week for the last couple of weeks in Kent- just had another- Very tedious, I just hang up as soon as they’ve intorduced themselves
International call today,
advised she was from a windows service centre. I told her my windows were fine haha.
she said it was important to go and turn my computer on. I replied that it was on and I asked why?
She advised that their is a virus on my computer and she is calling windows users.
I told her I have a mac and she terminated the call.
I kept “John Beck” on the phone for about 40 mins today. Usual routine – calling on behalf of Microsoft – a company called Microsoft Ingenious or Genius in order to help me with the “infections” on my computer. Asked him where the company was – he said “Marble Arch”!!!! Asked how I could trust him – he gave me his MCP number (6290268) – google search comes up with a Youtube channel of someone purporting to be in Canada – Khalil Chahin – with another company name – Global Remote Solutions. Don’t know if this is the scammer or not. Asked why he said his name was John when it’s suddenly Khalil – he said something about Microsoft confidentiality!!! Very polite, very patient, potentially very damaging. Follow the advice above – don’t give out personal details, don’t allow them remote access to your computer.
I also had a call from an indian sounding woman today who said she was from the Windows Support centre and i was immediately suspicious but thought i would see what she had to say. She said that my computer had contracted loads of virus’s from the internet but as i had just run a virus check i thought it was unlikely!!! She asked me to press the windows key on my computer and the letter R together. It brought up the RUN box and then she asked me to type ‘event viewer’ into the box. I stopped at that point informing her that my brother will advise me as he is a computer software enginner and I wont do anything without checking with him first. She said ‘suit yourself’ and hung up. I dont know what they are trying to do but its DODGY!
had 2 calls in the last 2 days saying they were from windows and i had lots of hackers trying to get into my computor and lots of virus he was an asian man and was very rude and was demanding that i put the computor on i would not do it and he told me that i had to do it i put the phone down on him he phoned me back straight away and told me that i had to do it at this point i was getting really scared knowing that this man knew my number i wrote down the number that was on the phone only to find that it did not exist any help on how to stop me having these calls please
Two calls this week..usual auto poll call system…First time young woman and second time an Indian gent. First one saidI had a routing problem , second one I had problems with my PC and they kept throwing in MICROSOFT, but said they did not work for MSN. I asked for validation of their creditials, and my ISP … Both then hung up.
What a pain, and some people will get caught out :-( .
Of course… No number available on 1471
I just a call right now, the Asian women said something like my computer IP is flashing red, and I obviously knew this was bullshit, apparently I was downloading viruses on my IP.
I just flamed her and she just said, I give up.
Hi, I just want to say thanks to this forum for confirming these phone calls are a sham. There is no way I would take advice from unsolicited calls like this but it’s good to know I am right not to IYSWIM. I do wish the people on the other end of the telephone would be more polite though – usually Indian accents I have to say!
The exact same thing with me, I was sleeping then the phone rang and it was an asain man with a very strong accent he told me that he wprked for microsoft and went on to tell me my computer had contracted milliceous virus’ and files at first i was quite worried, he then asked me to switch my computer on so i told him i had but i didn’t. He started sayin my computer will run very slowly, he told me to press r and the windows button and type in eventvwr he spelt it out to me by saying e for england, v for visual, e for england again, n for new, t for trust, v for visual, w for whisky and r for rapid. I am a 14 year old girl and even i found this un-proffesional he says he will call back tomorrow and now that i have seen this website i will confront him and it wont be nicely, please dont fall for this the man is very persisstant.
Got them today, but knew it was a scam. Made all the right noise, ooh that’s terrible, thanks for letting me know, can’t believe you spotted that, great news thanks, very helpful, and went on like that for a couple of minutes listening to them telling me how lucky that they’d got me in time, and they’ve had reports from lots of the servers working for other PCs in my street, and then she started to talk me through what she needed me to do to access my machine and hand over control.
I then said ‘Thanks very much. You’ve now been talking to me for 2 minutes, and since I work for a UK law enforcement agency that’s been long enough to trail this call and we will be passing your details over to Indian law enforcement authorities in the next 5 days’.
Line wen’t strangely dead very quickly. Like to think I’ll be off their list now!!
Toodle pip!
Just had a call from these guys, talking about my computer being attacked by ‘infections from the internet’. They were very confused when I told them that I had a Mac XD
Always makes me laugh. Never used anything but Macs
Just had. Out of Area number, very strong asian accent, claiming I had a virus. Erm, no. My hotmail was hacked but I never used it and closed it down anyway. He asked me to do the WIndows R thing, but I said no, I wasn’t prepared to do anything when I had no idea who this person was. I hung up and he called back and proceeded to say F*** you multiple times. If they call again, I shall tell them the call is being recorded and I will report them.
I have been called by them three times this last week. Being a computer programmer I new my PC was fine so I thought I would humour them. So I played stupid for about 15 minutes, but the guy thought he was going to get me and he was getting excited. I get to the point where he wants me to download a program to remove the “issues” and allow him access. Only to finally get to the point where I disclose I was running Linux and the .exe file wouldn’t run! HA ha ha! He was so peeved that I wasted about 20 minutes of his time for nothing! Take that! During that time I was also able to get their contact # (in case of accidental disconnect, cause I really want my PC fixed ;) ) so I reported them to the government as I am on the do not call registry and they have no association with me. Ah good times.
Someone apparently from windows called me today and said there is “urgent problems with my laptop” and I needed to go to my laptop and she would talk me through it. I asked who is the laptop registered to, and she wouldnt answer, not knowing my name or which laptop it was regards to. As she couldnt answer i hung up. I am unsure I am presuming this was a scam and miscsoft wouldn’t be calling me about this! I think the scam may have started up again.
I’ve had this same scam today, I’m not usually such a twit but I have been having problems with Windows and their system must be clogged up with error reports from my computer so it took me off guard, I did ask for proof that they were legit and He gave me some manouvres to put into my computer ( Yes I Know ) which brought up my License Agreement number which he was able to quote correctly he then gave me another series of letters to input at which point I told him I still wasn’t satified and wanted to make further enquiries and cut short the call telling him to call back later, needless to say there’s been no second call. I’ve done the obvious changed important passwords and run a Mal ware check which was clear, I’m not sure what else I can do any suggestions please and how did they get my License number.
Yep, they are still at it as of Aug 2011. Two calls this week on separated numbers. Bastards!
I am now receiving three calls a week. Don’t know why they are selecting me. There must be a vast army of these people making these calls.If in a hurry, I put down the phone If I am in a good mood I play stupid and keep them talking for 15 minutes or so. Ask them which computer in the house has the problem, tell them you are a business and ask which department they require, ask them when they come round to wash the windows. The best answer was to tell them that I did not understand how I had this problem as I had a Mackintosh. This time he put the phone down.
My wife just received that dreaded call. There must be some way, if they are using voip, (someone surely would have software) which would be able to trace the source IP address from where the calls originate and/or the internet provider. Obtain names and home numbers and place them all here on this blog for us to reealllly have some fun……
I’ve just received my first call from these people. He said his name was Alan. Really I said, its not a very common asian name. He new my name address etc. and told me there was a problem with computer or laptop and that he new my IP address.Luckily I had heard of this scam from a 63 year old lady a couple of weeks ago who unfortunately fell for. I kept him on the line for a while winding him up in the end he hung up in temper. HIGH FIVE!
Hi I would appreciate some advice, I got this call and fell for it up until the point of being asked for money… However I followed the steps I was told to have my lap top cleared of viruses, but the asian on the phone ended up being in contro of my lap top even after he hung up as I was not willing to buy virus protection.
I freaked out and turned off the power but Im scared they still have access to my computer! Ive turned off all home share settings now and cancelled my bank card incase they can trace any deteails.
Should this be enough? Should I report this? Im worried about identity theft etc!
Total invasion of privicy!
@Glasgow sounds as thigh you have done all the right things but I would suggest that you install and run some reputable antivirus software such as Microsoft Essentials or AVG or Antivast or Bitdefender. Also important is to ensure that your version of Windows is fully up to date by running Update from the Control Panel – Microsoft regularly publish updates to close known security weaknesses
Jst had a call from ‘Windows Service Centre’. Was immediately suspicious. He asked if I had a Windows computer so I strung him along by saying I did and was currently on it. He said my computer was running slow because there were problems which had been flagged at their end (!) and could I run something to find the problem. He then took me through running eventviewer (which I dutifully did) and asked what I could see. Of course there were some ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ warnings. At this point I asked if I would be paying for this call – he said no. I asked what company he was working for and all I got was ‘Windows Service Centre’. Are you Microsoft? ‘No’. How did you get my number? ‘From our database’. Which database, have I bought software from you? ‘The Windows database – you are running Windows’. I must have bought somethign if I am in your database. ‘You are running Windows’. I dont understand how you are seeing an alert. ‘From the main Windows server…’ Which server are you referring to? (LOL) At this point he put the phone down, but I’d kept him on the line for several minutes.
I assume he banked on me 1) having Windows (fairly safe bet), 2) having alerts in the eventviewer (also likely), and 3) not understanding that there is no single ‘Windows server’ (run by Microsoft or anyone else) overseeing the global Windows installation base (!!) His luck ran out here and he knew it.
Don’t ever allow such callers to install software or take credit card details unless you are certain they are a legitimate company with a legitimate need to have you on their database. If in doubt ask for a website and a callback number, ring off and research them.
I’ve had two calls from these folks, very similar to the other stories. One man, one woman. I asked the man what his “real” name is and he said “John” – so I asked, “on what planet do you live?” Second caller was a woman who said I had a computer virus, so I said “in which computer?” and she said “all of them”. So I asked, “well, then, how many computers do I have?”, and she replied, “I think you would know that, ma’am.” And so it went. I went through a bunch of IT stuff with her for about five minutes – not doing any of it, of course – and at the end informed them I work for Microsoft and thought they would find the whole thing quite interesting. Click. Golly, I gave them my time and they just hang up without saying goodbye, how rude.
Awww I want one of these calls :(
I would have so much fun.
@Glasgow.
– Make sure you have no inbound ports open on your router.
– Turn off Remote Desktop Sharing / Remote Assistance.
– Install a software Firewall, such as Zonealarm or BlackIce.
– Run a full Antivireus scan.
This should stop any potntial intrusions.
I got a phone call with a scam about virus’s on my computer I did not give them any info but got this info from them . They were called Online PC Care 1 647 288 1790 the guy had an accent and said his name was Frank yeah right
like I would give anyone access to my computer because of a phone call
my dad had lots of phone calls from a man saying my dad had a virus on his laptop lol he dose not have the internet or a laptop or computer in his home. When i said that he said do you have a laptop i said yes and he said its your laptop that has a virus he keepet telling me to turn on my laptop but my laptop was at home so he asked my number i said my laptop is insured he said yes i know that but you have a virus he said his name was harry smith which i thougt was weired he was not english dont know where he was from. he said he was phoneing from windows when he rang my house phone i said you have the wrong number how can you tell if its not a realy from windows
I think I’ve just had this telephone call but they mistakenly hung up on me (I assume). Started the conversation by asking how I was, then told me he was calling regarding my computer, and informing me that there were many viruses going around in my area! Sadly, at this point he must have pressed the wrong button and he was gone. 1471 reveals the number to be 00912080997626. A quick google search reveals 0091 is the international dialing code for India, just in case anybody decides to give them a ring. Maybe thats what he wanted!
I just got a call from this source except the last 4 digits of the phone number were 7526 not 7626. I told the person I did not have a computer. I contacted crimestoppers but they were not interested. Probably nowt they could do about it!
I always go into a rant like “you lying B$%$%$D there is no one in India Called John or Rick or any other anglo saxon name then tell them to P155 off it makes them think twice about calling again
Over the last few weeks we have had more than half a dozen calls. Each time they say that they are from “Microsoft Support” and ask that we log into the computer. They get quite stroppy when asked questions so better not to even get into a discussion with them. 1471 does not come up with a number so they must be blocking this now. All chaps have an Indian accent and are hard to understand and are difficult to get rid of and have even called straight back on occasions.
This is craziness. I’m from canada and had 3 phone calls in one month, in 2 different provinces as i moved.
The first time the guy called i was suspicious I gave him no information called my ISP and asked them if they knew of anything going on with my computer. When they said no i thought nothing of it. Then this man called again at the end of the week and again tried to talk me into beleiving there was something wrong with my computer. At this point i told him i knew it was a scam and to not call my house again. He didnt.
I then moved across the country a couple weeks later and got the same phone call out there. They’re calling everyone in the world i believe.
Just had a call like this today had one b4 too but I didn’t answer the phone they just hung up this time I answered and they told me my pc has a problem I said I dont have one and hung up found it strange they would know my pc has a problem when I have a mac and one found out who they actually are
I’ve had about six phone calls from these guys over the last couple of months, i’ve decided the next time they phone (if it’s a she) i’m going to play ball and pretend im doing as she says then eventually i will start making sounds like i’m having a phone orgasm and playing with myself LOL, lets see if she phones back after that!
I just had a call from an ‘International’ number. Was immediately suspicious as the only International calls I get are my from my Mother in Law when shes in Spain and Id just had lunch with her.
The moment he spoke (heavily Indian accented I knew it was dodgy and Id remembered hearing about a scam as my husband manages an IT and Hotel Telecomms Support Centre. So I decided to play dumb.
“Mam! My name is Lawrence and I’m calling from Windows Support Centre. We’ve detected that you have a malicious virus on your computer because of an infected download.”
“Oh no! Really! How awful!”
*Lawrence gets very excited*
“Yes Mam! Very bad! But don’t worry it happens all the time and you wouldn’t even know it because its sitting in your router” (Really?! Sitting in my ROUTER?!”
“Oh my word, how scary! Did you say you were calling from WIndows?”
“Yes, well Windows Support Centre. Mam, if I could just get you to…”
“Ooooh, how strange because we have a Mac.”
“…. You have a Mac.”
“yes, but let me just get my husband, hes a IT technician who specialises in this sort of thing…”
*Lawrence very quickly hangs up*
We dont have a Mac.
And he woke up my baby. Grrrrr.
I got a call today from an middle eastern man who said that my computer was at risk from malware viruses. It raised suspicion because I wondered how he could’ve possible known about the viruses or get my phone number. He tried to help me but then I was transferred to someone else. The man who I was transferred to asked me my age and when I told him how old I was and that my parents weren’t home, he said that he would call back later and then hung up.. It might have been real because they called back later when no one was home.
we had this call yest but unfortunately we fell for it. we had been intouch with telewest over the last few days so it was not unbelievable to get a tech call. They access the pc and started to install avg2011.exe and teamview. I realised what was going on and pulled the plug on the modem. The icons are on the desktop but I can not un install them as they are not appearing in add/remove programmes. I have booted in safemode and ran spybot search and destroy and malwarebytes. the latter picked up 4 infections which I removed but the icons are still on the desktop. Is it possible we unplugged before any damage was done?
I have had 3 calls from these scumbags.
It is all done by Skype in case anyone is wondering as to why the low life haven’t been caught,it comes from India and Pakistan,so when you hear an Asian voice on the other end,beware.
Best way to get rid of them is to let them ramble on,then say to them you are a police officer,it’s amazing how quickly the fone goes quiet once that happens.
I’ve just had a call from a woman saying she was from the Global Maintenance department of Windows asking if I had noticed that my computer was running slowly. She did know information she could probably have gleaned from an on line phone book, because she asked if the computer was registered to (initials plus surname) and told me street address and postal code. I suspect I actually would have registered with my full name, but wasn’t sure which is why I went along with it for a bit.
I did press the windows plus R keys at her request but decided against following any further instructions to type anything in and instead asked her by whose authority she was calling and the phone went dead.
I had 2 calls – I entertained the 1st one today.
Someone calling said that they are calling from Windows Service Centre @ Singpaore.
He asked me to go to a website http://www.support.mp and gave me a 6 digit code to enter.
Gave me a telephone no to check as well. When I said that I will call the number and check. He hung up after failing to convince me to follow the instructions.
22nd August 2011
2 calls from Windows Service Centre, Martin and Rebecca. Asian accents. Warned me that I’m infected with a virus and wanted access to my system. hung up immediately did not bother to engage in conversation.
I think it’s safe to assume that anyone who calls on behalf of these so called con artists ain’t doing so on Microsoft’s benefit.
The only people benefitting are these leechers,simple as that.
Our similar call this morning came from 00253820308 which appears to be a Djibouti number. When I questioned them closely they hung up without a word. This is the second call in as many weeks
I had a phone call on Friday evening from an Asian chap who was very hard to understand but clearly saying that my isp number was flashing red on his screen indicating my computer had problems. He said he was calling from a company with some ludicrous name like Iternational Server or something. I thought “this sounds like fun”. He was very keen for me to boot up my computer but I kept asking him questions like “how do you know my isp number” and “how much will this cost” and stuff. He got fed up of the questions and got a bit impatient saying “just do your work”. He said it was a free check. I asked if they were a charity. He said no and implied they were affiliated to Microsoft. Eventually I pretended to be sat at my PC. He asked which operating system I had. When I said XP, he went and got an XP expert as he was a “Windows 7 expert” himself. This new chap sounded ore eloquent. He said if I looked at my screen, did I see something like “Start” at bottom left. I thought “no shit Sherlock!” He wanted me to go to my computer and then click manage. I did none of this. My PC wasn’t even on. He asked if I was still living in the Orton area. I said yes. He said there was an infection spreading in the locality. I said “what, in this village?” He said, in the village, yes. I said “I think that’s bollocks.” He said “You think so? I think you are wasting our time.” I said “Of course I’m wasting your fkcin time. You’re a bunch of fkcin scam artists.” He was chuntering in the background. I shouted “fkc off!” and hung up. They rang my parents the other day with the same tale of the isp number flashing. When my mother said “we don’t have a computer” they hung right up. My cousin was scammed by these gits a while back. I wish they’d rung again, it’s really entertaining.
Same scam today 22nd Aug 2011 – call from Windows Service Centre (who used my name) telling me they had noticed an exceptional amount of traffic from my computer and offering to help check for malicious software/virus. Wanted access to be able to help me. Told them I didn’t believe them and the man hung up. Source was ‘unidentified number’.
I don’t have caller id, so I don’t have the numbers of the 2 calls I just received at *8pm* tonight. However, I’m in the USA, and everything that has been mentioned above happened during the calls:
Michelle (with a very heavy Indian accent) from Global tech called asking if I had a computer. Then she asked if it was attached to the internet. She then went on to say that there were infections (not viruses, which I thought was strange) in my area, and that my computer had caught this infection, because there were red lights that were showing up on their international server. I handed the phone to my husband, who ended up hanging up on her. She immediately called back, with the very same spiel, and wanted him to start up his computer so she could send him some files. He told her that we didn’t need her, and to please stop calling us. What a pain! And we’re supposed to be on the do not call list…Makes a person not want to answer their phone, or at least let the answering machine get it…
There’s a company called whocallsme.com who often identify these scam artists.
http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/00253820308/3#p277018261629565946
I had the same happen today – when asian guy,who i could barely understand said he was from “windows” I stupidly believed him, and because our computer has been so slow, when he told me my computer was infected i thought he could fix it. he told me to download a program called AMMYY (i think) so that he could sort it out (remote assistance). i then let him take control. 20-30 mins later my daughter came home told me what was happening and took over. not knowing he was still in control of the pc she went online to download avg free (instead of buying his product) and half way through the download he took control again and stopped the download! so she unplugged the internet and shut down the pc. we have had it back on and installed avg successfully now for 2 hours. do you think i should be worried about my details and accounts etc even though ddnt hand out any over the phone?
thanks :)
Just contacted by these people. I instantly questioned them and asked for some contact information from them – a phone number or a website so I could check their credentials (even though I knew for sure that it was a scam).
I was transferred to someone else who instantly became abusive – swearing and threatening me that he could access my computer anyway, without me doing anything about it.
I simply can’t understand why he bothered to engage with me, perpetuating the lie and becoming so aggressive.
Very strange scammers indeed.
I have just received a call, I am currently trying to get information out of them, but they are not budging, they claim they are from the ‘Windows Service Centre’ but they ARE NOT!
OTHER SCAM: Yesterday I had a call from another scam (i know, two in a row) they say they are from ‘Virtual PC Doctor’ they take you to the Windows Event Viewer and tell you the Errors showing are serious, ‘THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS’ Hang up and don’t let them go any further.
Was targetted yesterday 24 August 2011 by a man from windows with an Indian accent. I was slightly suspicious because at first I thought that he was responding to a survey or something. He was irritated when I asked for his contact details and said that I do not talk to people on the phone without checking there bona fide. He kept saying that my computer was sending out unauthorised content onto the net. He said he was in London and gave an address but said that he was not authorised to give the phone number so eventually I disconnected the call.
Yesterday I was contacted by a man with an Indian accent stating he represented Windows operating systems. He informed me that many people in my area code were experiencing problems with their windows programs in their computers. I asked him where he was calling from and he said Salt Lake City, Utah. He stated that I needed to go to my computer at once and turn it on and let him look at my computer screens. I told him to do this later and he scheduled a 9:00 to 9:30 phone call for Wednesday am. I have had about 3 of these calls so far this year. Microsoft and the BBB need to get together and find these scam artists and have them charged with fraud and put behind bars for a long time!
Telephone scam call received today. Not difficult to spot – delay in phone response (caller claimed to be in Edinburgh) thick Asian accent, asked for access to my computer, gave telephone number that didn’t exist.
I had a call from an indian man who said his name was “Adam Smith” calling from Windows apparantly I have virus’s on my computor he wanted me to follow his instructions, I wsn’t having any of this, I have caller Id and the number displayed was 01613810000 he wanted me to phone 01157142007 to varify him! Would someone from windows phone me? Surely they would know my name wouldn’t they? This is the second call I’ve had like this what should I do? Just ignore it?
I get these everey few weeks – I’m even recognising the voices. I have two techniques for dealing with them:
If I’m busy, I mention the Telephone Preference Service and they ring off pretty quickly.
If I’m in playful mood, I can string them along for about 25 minutes, acting the ‘daft laddie’, before I explode and ring off.
they give you ‘dumb user’ instructions to open Manager and look at the log files. They then tell you that all the errors are caused by viruses which have been downloaded by emails. An unknowledgeable user could believe this is true. In fact most of them are simple incompatibilities between components. But talking to them for half an hour prevents that operator from netting some poor unsuspecting user.
good fun!
had 2 calls from them this week!strong indian accent both times todays was the funniest! i was told that my ip address had flagged up on their system and i had loads of viruses and malware (what ever that is) when i asked him what my ip address was he informed me it was my internet service provider address! so i said i know what it is but can u tell me what the digits are if it has flashed up! he said that he cant as it is protected by some sort of government program! i then said to him if it is protected then how can my ip address flag up that ive got viruses on my pc and how did he get my number he said microsoft have it from when i registered my pc which i know is a load of lies as my number was changed after we got it!! i politly ended the call by saying to him that instead of trying to scam people y doesnt he get a job cleaning toilets in mcdonald as he obviously has no qualifications in anything then i hung up!! cant wait for round 3
this happened to my elderly parents yesterday, fortunately they hung up eventually, but after he had dumped a programme in their laptop that made it shutdown, my husband sorted it for them today, but the guy called again while he was there, told the bloke to never call this number again. im hoping that this is the end of it….
To all the smart-arse people who as usual presume they are somehow better just because they own a mac, this scam now works for macs too.
I have also been targeted “on behalf of Windows Operating System” (from phone # 0161 156 9823… they have called me silently several times this week).
A month ago, I wasted time going through all their ‘checks’, but this time was prepared. My computer is 1 week old, I work for an IT company, there is nothing wrong with the computer. So, I played along for a few minutes (to waste their time!), then told him to stop calling and remove my # from their database.
I would really encourage Microsoft to take action against these people, it is deflecting badly on MS’ reputation.
Yep me too, with me the called a number that is never used (just for the internet connection) telling me I had problems very serious, that the up to date Nortons I have is not good enough. I was quite sharp with him saying how silly this suggestion was, thinking it was a scam, I played along. He had my name and address right (but as I said, never give out the phone number or use it so could have only found me by the telephone records… Primus maybe?) Anyway after getting very excited over the high number of warnings in the Admin section of Computer management I needed to go to this website http://www.CheckMyPcOnLine.com then remote management…. I then got bored and said there was someone at my door. Put the phone down… to my amazement he has run back 12 times (and counting while I write this)…
Me too!Had a call last week and I told the Asian sounding woman that I couldnt understand her and hung up.She rang back tonight and said that her company (BC Computer Systems??) had messages saying our computer was sending messages of corruption on the microsoft software!She asked me to log in but I immediately became suspicious and challenged her.I asked for the information in writing first before I would do anything,she told me she was too busy to send out letters and I told her “oh and I am not!!!”.She also said she wasnt going to lose her job for me!!!Very rude.Here the call ended.I felt a bit guilty,but after reading these comments I know I did the right thing!
Hey everyone, today I had another phone call from these people, it is the 2nd call this month. I also asked him how did he know my pc was being attacked, there were virus and malicious software, bla bla bla.
He called on behalf of Microsoft, an Asian gentleman by the name “Jeff Anthony” and their phone number is 01613 810070.
I hope the police or Microsoft can do something about it. Obviously majority of people are not that naive to give away personal information, but there are others who unfortunately are not aware of these disgusting horrible people.
The funniest thing is that I passed the phone to my husband and he asked to talk to their supervisor, Jeff Anthony just changed his voice intonation pretending to be another person, really hilarious!
I hope more can be done about it!
Regards,
caution!!! these f@#$%rs have been oding a lot of sxcams …
one of my freind who is a feelow reporter in india has said it has started in kolkata with a huge number of small call centre doing this scam…but the major one has been http://www.invinciblepccarellc.com these guys have been rippin off people here in u.k…with some government help they hav managed to shut down 9 such call center in kolkata…but these fuckers re the biggest one…i would urge people not to fall for these mother f@#$%rs…plzzz dont get in it your comuter is fine …regards
We just had a call from Indian sounding woman claiming similar to above, when asked which company I was told the technical department of BT, Sky, virgin media and talk talk, (top 4 isp’s in uk by any chance?) and was asked to switch on my computer, I asked again which company, again same answer, when I queried that they were seperate companies (it’s doubtful these competitors would use the same tech depts) she hung up on me! Do NOT agree to help these people wreck your computer, I also thought it strange they’d call at 8PM on a bank holiday Monday!
Same story as above (Indian caller asking about PC error messages) but called repeatedly 5 times – how persistent is that?! In the end we let our 1 and 3 year olds babble on he phone, this finally got rid of them.
Same Indian caller said he was from Windows and that the threat was that when I got on the Internet, I could inadvertently download a virus. The scary thing was that he had my full name and address. He said they were calling everyone with Windows in my zipcode. I didn’t bother to try and play him back and get a phone number or other information…just told him I wouldn’t deal over the phone with someone I didn’t know who called me unsolicited. He wasn’t pushy, just backed off and we ended the call. I’m still ticked off that he had my name and address.
If you were in Australia, E Frost, it would be pretty easy for anyone to get your full name and address from the Electoral roll (assuming that you are over 18 and are enrolled to vote as is required by law)
This scam was tried on me a few months ago, but thankfully I realized it was rubbish. I received two further calls today from ‘Luton’. I finished the first with the words ‘That’s complete rubbish, go away.’ so was surprized to be called back straight away by the same chap saying that is was not rubbish etc. etc. How do they get the name and address (and phone of course)?!
Had one of these today. Claiming to be from some company in London, even though it was an international call. He said he was ringing regarding my computer. I obviously stated “what about my computer”. He said it had errors. I replied very abruptly with “no it doesn’t, go away”, & hung up. I might play along a little more next time. Seems like a giggle.
I’ve just had a call from these people on an international number telling me that I had a problem with the microsoft op system on my computer and asking me to turn it on for them. The lady sounded as if you was of Indian or Pakistani origion. I suspected it was a scam as soon as she mention my “microsoft operating system” As i am a Mac user I have no microsoft software anywhere on my computer. When I questioned her further regarding who she was and why she was calling me she hung up. I’d advise you to do the same and hang up on them.
Got a call yesterday from an international number – this person sounded Eastern European – so don’t assume they will sound Indian. She didn’t give her name or say my name or say what company she was from (very amatuer!). I knew she was doing the virus scame within 2 seconds and I told her she was an evil, evil person. Then hung up. She proceeded to call back 5 times to swear obscenities down the phone line at me and then my husband. I really don’t understand how these people can live with themselves.
I just got a call from Seattle 1-206-397-1113 Lady with an accent maybe indian. She said she was calling about my windows based computer I said which one and she just kept saying my windows based computer. She said she wanted to do a health check on it I told her I was too busy to get on and she said she could just give me the steps to check I said no. She said she could call back later. I couldn’t understand what company she said she was from due to her heavy accent. Scam City!
From Nova Scotia, first received a call from these people a few weeks ago. What threw me was they knew my name, I had just recently moved to this area, the phone# here is not in my name. I know as well I have not revealed the phone# to anyone. They have been calling today, every time I answer there is no one there. I did look up the #, 253-802-0308 out of Washington. They did catch me this evening. Jerry his name was. Told him the same thing as last time, my computer is working fine, and I don’t need his help. They don’t like that.
Hi all, I just got a call too, women telling I am using unlicensed software, I told her I can give her my licenses over the phone if she wanted, she then just hung up!!!
She said because i was connected to the internet, they ‘windows’ was receiving some kind of message from my computer!
I just got a phone call from an asian-sounding man 5 mins ago. He knew my name. I asked him what firm he was with. He said pc connect, which doesn’t even exist, and told me I had malware on my pc. As a ‘privilege user of microsoft windows’ etc etc
He put the phone down when I started giving him a hard time.
I 1471’d but ‘the caller did not leave a number’.
I am fed up, they call me on a daily basis. Sometimes I answer & ask them to remove my number from their database (being ex directory & registered with the TPS), but they don’t. So the calls keep coming………….
Got called today in the UK from a guy with a heavy Indian sounding accent professing to be working on behalf of my ‘boardband provider’. When I asked him who I was with I was told they work ‘on behalf all six major broadband providers – sky, bt, aol etc.’ I was then told they had apparently received messages from my computer notifying them it was infected with viruses and was running slowly. I told him my computer was fine. He told me to go to ‘teamviewer.com’ to allow his colleagues to directly log in to my computer! Highly suspicious I then asked the guy which company he was employed by. He told me it was ‘pc help based in cardiff’. I then googled this whilst he was on the phone and couldn’t find anything that inspired any cofidence that this was a real company, so I told the guy not to call me again as this was clearly a scam. Beware…
I was contacted my these horrible people and unfortunately fallen for it! I was suspicious and asked again who they were calling from, and knowing little about computers you believe them so i went onto the http://www.logmein123.com page as they requested and they then gained access to my computer. I was still suspicious and asked them further questions about who they were, he then tried reassuring me by giving me his name, address, numbers and a code he has registered with trading standards. He then pulled up a registration form fir http://www.cyberastro.com for me to complete only £149 for cleaning my computer, lifetime cover??? I made the excuse that i didnt have the money in my account and would ring my husband to transfer some money and i would ring them straight back. I phoned trading standards immediately and they confirmed it was a scam. i pulled the plug, informed the police/scambusters and had my computer sorted professionally, just hope they didnt get any information from my computer! Can’t believe i fell for this, im not usually so easily taken in, but when it comes to computers i know nothing! I just hope they get caught so they cant this anymore to innocent people!
Just had the same call as many above, indian lady, very faint, could hardly understand a bloody word she said. I was convinced that this was a call from Microsoft as she kept saying that this was Windows Support and they worked for Microsoft, I therefore let her log onto my PC and show me the list of system errors. I eventually sensed the scam when I was offered an updated support contract for £80 and told her to forget it. My PC is only 2 years old and has started working slowly which is why I let her take the conversation so far. Hopefully like many others, she has not uploaded any passwords etc from on-line banking!
This is another typical far eastern call center scan to raise money, these calls are becoming more difficult to recognise as everybody seems to be employing these cheap Indian call centers to do their work for them ie. So called British Telecom. I blame these companies for starting the trend of cheap alternative overseas services. Its now impossible to get any UK support for many things purchased in the UK!
2nd time in two weeks here in Dublin, 1st time, Paul Snow, 2nd Glen Frost,,Lovely Men will fix my computer, because their aware I’am having problems, and they say people dont care,lol,at least get my name right before you rob me…
So glad I found this!
Got a call this afternoon – bad line, bloke with a really thick asian accent addresses me by name, telling me that he’s calling from ‘Windows Service Centre’.
He tells me that my computer has been sending error messages through to the centre, and that’s the reason for his call, to follow up and fix my machine. I’m already fairly suspicious – not a complete tech-wizz, but I know some stuff. I say ‘but I haven’t seen any messages, and I’ve not been aware of anything’
‘You wouldn’t madam, they only come through to the service centre’ “really???” ‘Yes’
he then proceeds to tell me how to open up the ‘Run’ box, and type in eventvwr – which I do, but only because I couldn’t find a pen, as I had no intention of actually pressing enter!
I then ask him for a number that I can call him back on as I’m not happy about this. he says that there are no numbers to call him on. I tell him that I want more proof, as it’s no leap of imagination to phone up a household and find someone using Windows, what can he give me, and he just repeats that he’s from the Windows Service Centre and of course hes legit. I was beginning to get annoyed and only got him off the phone by telling him that I was doing the kids tea, and couldn’t faff around with the computer right now. Told him to call back in an hour.
Found this site (thank goodness!) and am awaiting his follow-up call with relish . . . ;-)
I am getting so many of these phone calls, the first time was quite convincing then i thought – they dont even know my first name and why are they ringing me!! i told them i hadnt the time and hung up – i immediately googled ‘windows support scam’ and hey presto SCAM!! Yhey phone a few times a month – i usually say i dont have a computer and they say, sorry they have the wrong number! When i am playful i get mad!! i even got connected to another person as the foist dint know how to handle an irate yorkshireman!!! Lol. i told the latest he was a scam, and he go really nasty – and he hung up! if the supposed ‘windows’ operator phones again – i will ask him when they are coming to clean my windows! thes people are a pest – they give phone numbers that dont exist – have a thick indian accenbt but give names like jake , floyd and ben, and wont be drawn, one gave me a company website that didnt exist! cant windows do something, as not everyone is a savvy as some of us and they will be scammed by these people.
Just had one of these calls 10 minutes ago. Was immediately suspicious as to how they got my telephone number – not in the book, and have the preferrential system on which means I shouldn’t get cold calls. He couldn’t satisfactorily answer that question so I asked for his phone number so I could confirm he’s who he said he was. He couldn’t give it for security reasons! So I asked how he knew that I was having problems which again he couldn’t really answer. Told him that if he listened to himself he would sound like a scam! He got angry and I hung up!
Just had a call from an asian man who said he was calling from Windows Operating sytems. Same old, same old! System slow, so I said no which confused him a a bit. Asked who gave them my details. Apparently my computer is ending out lots of messages saying that I am being hacked. Well I certainly was hacked off! He put me on to his supervisor. In the end I said I would sort it this end and put the phone down. Thank heavens for websites like these!
just had a call form a asian man also he said the same things as the last post.I wasn’t quite on the ball and he got into my pc but is there any way of finding out if he has done anything or planted anything bad??
02032878834 IS THE NUMBER I GOT OUT OF HIM, I WAS VERY RUDE AS SOON AS I FOUND OUT HE WAS A SCAMMER, IT WAS A BIT FISHY WHEN HE SAID YOU NEED LOGMEIN.CO.UK, SO I CHECKED OUT WHAT WINDOWS SERVICE CENTER ON GOOGLE, AND FOUND THIS! LUCKILY!
Got the call today from a Asian sounding lady. Had a long chat and I asked for details. Eventually she asked someone and gave me a web http://www.windowsservicecentre.co.uk and said they operate from Manchester. Eventually she gave me a phone number 1622 *** 247. The number showing on my phone however was 253 8020308 (in Africa I think.
There are a few of these operating all using different methods.
I just had 1 from an indian guy wanting me to go to teamviewer and start a remote session. Asked me to turn on my computer so I booted up with Ubuntu 11.04 DVD and did everything he asked however that don’t work on ubuntu (well that part of it anyway lol – teamviewer getting too good lol).
I gave them as little detail about me as possible to keep the convo going for as long as possible. 45 mins… New record for chatting to the incompetent. By the way I’ve worked in IT for the last 12 years.
Indian guy could hardly understand what I am saying and a lot and i mean a lot of others in the background doing the same thing. Call center must be the size of india lol. Then once he couldn’t get his software to work he got his manager who walked me through what a navigation bar is on the website.
They said I was with sky, when I’m with someone else :p (they may be reading).
They gave me my correct address but no account holder name and refused to give it.
Remember if you fall for this, your giving out all your details and full access to your computer. They could install software on your computer that records key strokes, thus recording every password, username you have ever typed in. Never let someone remote control your computer unless you called them so you know who the hell it is your talking to…
Can’t wait for my next call.. I think I might give a strange obsolete version of linux a run just to see how they handle that after the 30 minutes to be taught how the web browser works again.
But next time I’m going to plug in my blank old damaged hd and install windows xp while they are on the phone and walk them through it. see how far it gets lol
i currently have received 5 phone calls in the last 2 days regarding this scam, same sort of people and same errors as you guys. after my first call yesterday and i relaised it was a scam i hung up, they phoned me a further 3 times straight away as i refused to answer to them, i then told them it was scam and if they contacted me again i would phone the police. this however did not put them off as i have had 2 phone calls today where i shouted at them and repeated the police bit. then i typed in google the scam and this site came up, so i thank you all as i know now it was a scam after all. has anyone reported anywhere else or now if you can report things like this because there has to be alot of people out there being done by these bastereds and i bet they aint paying tax on the money earned.
thanks
Just had this call from a man with very poor English! He knew my name which I was curious about as we are ex-directory!
He seemed to be reading FTP
A script as hd was unable to respond when I said he needed to speak to my husband. He kept repeating himself and the line was very bad! I ended the call and tried to call it back, online! I Put hd number in google and got this article, very pleased I ended the call!
Just had my THIRD call of the week – again apparently my computer is sending out lots of distress messages! i was watching television and couldnt be bothered talking – so i kept saying ‘speak up i cant hear you’ – i did that 5 times – poor chap was shouting for his life – then i hung up! as they say on ‘Miranda’ WHAT FUN!!!!!!
I receive calls from various specialists all advising that my computer is sending out error messages.Sometimes I just say ‘thats funny as I do not have a computer ‘ or I just let them go on.I am disgusted that these people are able to continue to harrass people in their own homes.I feel very sorry for anybody who is taken in by these unscrupulous people.
Just had a call tonight from an Asian-sounding guy from the “Windows Technical Department” advising that my computer had sent in a report 2 weeks ago about critical viruses! Very persistent. I asked for his phone number, he gave me 02088199804 and said it was his London office. Scam! I asked him how he got my error report when I am not connected to the internet (lie!) and he said the computer sends it automatically!
I asked what country he was calling from, and he kept saying he was calling from his London office (even though the call came up as International!)
I kept telling him I am a computer engineer and my computer does not have any viruses, but he was very persistent.
I eventually told him that I knew he was trying to scam me and that the call was being traced and he would be tracked down and prosecuted. He got very angry and told me it was definitely not a scam and my computer was at risk and I must act immediately. I did – I hung up!
This is the 10th time these scamming companies have called me so far this year. How can we put a stop to it??
Hi been recieving these calls on and off for about a year usually after computer flashes up “error not responding sending to windows to find rectification” or something like that might be a coincedence. but does my head in try to have conversation just for a laugh wasting there time.puts you off the nationality of the caller straight away and makes you distrust any phone call with foriegn speaker might be a good thing, but in this day and age the world does not need it. you never guess just had a phone call asian calling from Brighton windows operating technicall services? wouldn’t give me his tel number only do a call back what are these people like. Only get the calls when have a day off work they might phone every bloody day but nobody answers
i too have been called at home ,
i did get a number to call back on , saying i had to get another call , it was 00353 61748616
i later tried this number and got a house address !!!
00353 is the international dialling code for Ireland…
I live in Ontario Canada and I am on a REGISTERED DO NOT CALL LIST IN CANADA. This guy called me and didn’t even know what a DO NOT CALL LIST IN CANADA was. I asked him why he is calling me illegally from a U.S. Phone No. when I live in Canada. He called the wrong house here as I have quite a bit of computer knowledge and knew enough to TELL HIM OFF! I told him I would report him. There is a fine I believe up to $15,000.00 they can receive if they call anyone on a DO NOT CALL LIST!
Perhaps the “do not call” register in Canada is similar to that in Australia.
There are heavy penalties for an Australian-based entity breaching the Register (even if the entity is using a foreign-based call centre. Unfortunately, it means damn-all in respect to these microsoft call centre scammers who are not based in the country and are not acting on behalf of an Australian entity
Had an indian man call from Windows Service Centre. Difficult to hear so he had to repeat everything several time. I twigged, and told him he was scam and put the phone down. Number withheld
Just spoke to some woman for the first time after they’ve been hassling my wife for the past couple of weeks. I didn’t give her a chance to explain & just said I wasn’t interested. She called me an idiot & a bastard & hung up! I hope Bill Gates knows how rude ‘his’ employees are!
Ha, just got these fuckers on the line. wasted a good 15 minutes asking them to confirm any details. Kept them on to confirm any error report, or an example infection, or an email address they allegedly mailed me on.
Dear scammers, some of us actually know our stuff, and I personally take it up on myself to educate everyone who will listen so that eventually, people like you who prey on the un-knowing will have to give up and sod off.
they got really angry with me so I consider that a win for our team. three of them now having a bad day. Awesome.
Take Care
Pope
Happened to me today. Asian female saying my computer had been infected with lots of viruses, and that she was from windows tech help.Asked what type of computer i had, but got no answer.She knew my name and home phone number, asked for her number got the for security we cannot give this. Asked me to switch on the computer told her usband had computer with him on business. Asked her to call back at a specific time when he will be home, god i feel sorry for her my husband will eat her up and spit her out. Scary scam though. Glad i read your comments thanks.
Had a call from “Windows Support 4U” half an hour ago, telling me the same old thing as all the comments above. I told this asian/indian chap called “Sam Thomas” how the hell had he managed to get my number when I’m on the TPS register? He told me my computer had reported some virus activity to them and had given him my number!!! Fortunately I’d put my drink down by that time, and I proceeded to list the number of IT and Software qualifications I have and informed him that he was about to break the law if he persisted in this crap. I gave him notice of my intention to serve him and his company with criminal proceedings, and that under the Data Protection Act AND the Telecommunications Act he was obliged to remove all reference to me from their database, and never call me again.
He wouldn’t let up, trying to tell me he is offering a FREE service, so I asked “Sam Thomas” for the name of his supervisor. Sadly, “Harry Thomas” (I kid you not), his supervisor was busy scamming – I mean, helping another customer. The contact number he gave me for windowssupport4u.co.uk came back on google as a number for a call girl service. Perhaps “Betty Thomas”??? Again, clearly no relation…
I called my ISP and phone provider who confirmed, surprise surprise, they had a similar case with a different scam company recently.
They may even give your name (as it appears in the phone directory), but it doesn’t mean they’re legit.
After the first 20 minutes when he thought he had me tapping settings into my still-switched-off pc, I started to enjoy myself a bit more, and wound him up a bit more when I told him I didn’t actually use windows at all, but was using an old version of BS-DOS 6.2, which had filtered out all the BS he had just given me down the phone. I told him if he called again, the next call would be to the Police, the Government, FBI and finally, Ghostbusters.
Have a bit of fun at their expense – it’s their phone bill, or at least the Escort Girl Service’s…
I ended the fun and games by simply telling him that if he EVER called my number again, I would have the number traced and have him and his scammer friends deported. Strangely enough, after I dialled 1471 to see if the number tallied with the one he had given me, it came back as number withheld.
Rule One. Don’t believe a word anyone who cold-you says.
Rule Two. Don’t ever comply with ANY instructions these scum will tell you to perform on your system.
Rule Three. See Rule One.
Same here, called today problem with our computer,left his name and number, Lawrence phone number 02032867078 ,very hard to understand him,my wife said could you ring back when my husband is home, luckily she thought this didn’t sound right, and told him to ring back, I am waiting for them I will try and make the call last as long as possible, GET MY OWN BACK.
Just had same call today. Had a call a few days back from Indian sounding man who said my I had requested call back for pc problem.Told him I had not – was told my computer must have made request. I asked if he was from BT he said yes and something about Windows help,told him I did not have a problem. Today called again and said somthing about Windows help (couldn,t really understand),and again that my computer had asked for help and could I go online. Said no – busy and he told me he will ring again tomorrow ‘sharp nine o clock’ Checked with BT and was told no call from them for some time, then looked online. Glad I did!
I’ve had this call a few times and normally just hang up, but today I thought I’d play along – if I can keep them busy for 5 minutes or so then hopefully that’s one less person who might be tempted to fall for the scam. Two interesting variations on the standard “your computer is sending us error messages” spiel: (1) apparently they have “lost 20 computers” as a result of viruses sent out by mine, and wanted to fine me £500 for this; (2) my computer is due to crash tomorrow morning, so I thought I’d better post this now …
I just got random call this morning.My father answered and him being an “immigrant” he could not understand this fellow.I believe the caller was east indian,told me he called from the windows “service center” and immediately I was suspicious.How would they have my number when I do not provide accurate information.This dude was telling me how badly corrupted my computer was and he was very repetitive.I stayed on the phone for 48 minutes!I’m the idiot.Funny thing was he said he would transfer me to his supervisor which was clearly him posing as someone else,said his name was Jason Smith,An east indian with the name Jason Smith,I don’t know….As soon as he directed me to an anti virus software website and asked me for a payment,credit card info,debit card,I asked him for his work phone number,He hung up.My boss has over 11 business’s in a small town of 5,000 people.He has told me how much money he lost because his employees fell for a fraud,lesson learned I am hanging up right away the next time I get a random out of the blue suspicious call.
Theodore the Cambodian.
P.S. He said my laptop would shutdown and would never turn on again,he said I had 5 minutes,My laptop is still running an hour later…..
I have just been called by the Windows Service Centre telling me they had received error messages from my PC and that it could loose my PC forever if I do not take action. He couldnt tell me who I was? And when I asked him which computer he was talking about he didnt know? He said it was the PC that has windows – they all do – so he said it was all of them then. We only have one! Anyway I cut him off as it was tea time and was not in the mood for winding him up.
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM!! Someone called me today from “Internet distress management of Canada” saying it was an EMERGENCY and my computer was at risk..he said that if I don’t do something soon, all of my personal information from my internal hard drive would be leaked..he then led me to some error messages on my hard drive and stated my computer was ‘leaking’ all of my personal files onto their system which alerted him, the ‘reporting officer’. He told me that a “microsoft certified technician” would help me fix these problems and told me to go to teamviewer.com website and put in a special login and password which he would give me. Once going to the website, I realized the software is for someone to remotely access your computer from anywhere in the world and knew it was a major scam right away. I then told him I’ll get my computer looked at by someone local and hung up. He then called me back!! and was very demanding and said it was a big emergency..I asked him what computer had ‘alerted’ him (as I have 4 laptops at the home)..and he could not answer that..he then told me that it was very important that I follow his steps and download “safe” software to my computer. I told him no thanks and hung up again. I then called my internet service provider Telus and told them of this phone call..they told me it is a major FRAUD and SCAM to download a virus onto your computer and take all of your personal information. If someone like this calls you: tell them you are recording their call for the police to trace and are going to report their fraudulent activities right away.
I just got a phone call from some man claiming to be a tech support from a windows service center. He told they were getting notices or something from my computer because it had a lot of problems and viruses. I didn’t believe him and started yelling at him because apparently he couldn’t hear what I was saying in my normal speaking voice. I told him very clearly that I had a perfectly working antivirus and there was absolutely nothing wrong with my computer but he just ignored that and kept saying he wanted to show me some security code and error alerts on my computer and kept telling me to turn on my computer. I told him again that I had an antivirus program working and he just told me that my program might not be compatible with my computer! Ridiculous! I would know if it was not compatible. He asked me what program I used and I asked him why I should tell him that??? I had 2 computers at home and I asked him which one it was and he just told me to use the one with internet! I was completely outraged that anyone would try to scam me like this. I asked him how in the world he knew this number? How does he not know what kind of computer I have? He couldn’t answer so I just hung up.
I just got a call from them a few minutes ago and searched google. ohh how much fun i will have with them when they call again. =]
I received one of these calls today. A chap in India claimed to be from Windows Support. ‘Told me there were many error reports and that they wanted access to fix them. I even went as far as to open an Internet Explorer and download a programme that linked to an advisor. Fortunately, my security centre blocked it in time. I asked all the usual questions, they wouldn’t identify themselves, they refused to send me any kind of confirmatory e-mail to explain just who they were.
The best part was when I was to be connected to an advisor called ‘Harry Smith’. Hardly an Indian, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Zorastrian handle that one. The bloke called Harry Sinth with a strong Asian accent said he was indeed Harry, and was studying in India. (!!!!???!!!)
He couldn’t explain why my eror report list items were mostly sent by my Fireall and AV system, said they hadn’t picked these things up. ‘Sent him packing.
I have just received a call, I am working from home today, and am a network/software engineer. Just had some real fun with these muppets. I asked them their servers IP address, they gave me a generic router address, 192.168.1.1…. I played them on a bit, and asked the IP address where they were getting the problems from. He didnt know…. Some people unfortunately will probably get conned…
I pick up 3 or 4 calls a week from individuals claiming to be from a range of businesses, most recently the “Windows Support Centre” telling me that I have a virus infection on my PC. I used to question them to try to establish if they have any validity but recently I have given this up. I now tell the caller immediately that I believe they are being used as part of a scam (admittedly the individual call centre operator may not know this and often don’t seem to beleive me) and ask them not to call me again. I would like to see the consumer IT industry fund a campaign to locate the source(s) of these calls and have them closed down within their respective juristictions (I suspect mainly India and China but have no evidence to back this up) both for the benefit of their customers and to pre-empt a consumer backlash against legitimate IT service providers and consumer security services which operate offshore call centres.
i have received many of these calls now and having looked it up on the internet to make sure I knew what I was talking about – i let them say a few of their stock sentences then I start to ask things like. ‘I have very little money, are you sure that your service will be of benefit to me?’which they always assure me it will. Then I like to ask them whether they think honesty is important, and how they feel about telling lies to make a living, and do they think that is all their life is worth? If they protest, I try to explain to them how the thing works and tell them to go home and investigate it themselves and make a decision about the kind of life they want to lead!
It makes the whole conversation a bit more interesting and I have had some very satisfying interactions!! – including being put onto a manager who told me that he was from a very poor family, and he knew it was wrong to tell lies and that he was only doing this job for a while and would go to church on Sunday to make up for it! At least while he was on the phone to me he wasn’t conning someone else!
Just had a call from the windows scammers their telephone number 0123456789 if you get a call from these just tell them goodbye and get lost. lol. :)
Had a call 2 days ago from a person calling from “Windows Support Centre†telling me that he could fix the many computer problems I am having, and asked me to switch my computer on. I asked him how do you know…Madam, it shows up at our Centre, including your name and your details
I asked his name,the company name, location, his ID# and phone number.Told me name is Brad,his ID is WI595, phone #0280050590, location is 31 Victoria Rd Chatswood NSW Australia which is only 30 minutes away from me…then asked me again to switch my computer on.
I told him that I will get my IT man to call back as he fixes my computer.
I called that number and it was answered by an accented voice, who than asked me the name of the person who spoke with me earlier and I was told that I cannot visit their premises as they do everything online.
I hung up after that!
The wife has had a few of these calls over the last year, I received my first call on Saturday and I’am fully aware of the scam. She just hangs up on them but I decided to have a little fun with the Indian man, he had a very strong Indian accent, almost too difficult to understand. He said the usual stuff, he’s received errors from my PC and he can help, he asked me to press [CTRL]+R and asked me what has happened? I told him a window has appeared, he asked what does the window say? I said “my computer tells me your lying to me and that I should hang up”, he became very irate and started to swear at me saying some very disgusting things. I was trying very hard not to laugh and told him “I can’t be hurt by words spoken from a person in India”. At this point the wife walked in the room, I told what was happening and she slammed her hand on the telephone receiver.
damn!
Yes the wife spoiled my fun but we were on our way out the door, I’m really looking forward to my next call.
BTW he withheld his phone number.
I have just received another one of these – first for a few months. He was not put off when I said that I had a Mac – which normally confuses them! But this time I got his number on 1471:
0340016308599404
If anyone want’s to persue it!!
Had just arrived to a house where I worked for an elderly lady today, who had just purchased her first ever computer a few months back, to find her on the phone to a “support company” regarding her Internet Programme. They were saying that it was full of virus and they had to block the attacker who was doing this so that it wouldn’t spread to thousands of other computers (in UK and America!!)
It had to be done to a cost of £200 payable right away, if no payment they would block the computer and deem useless and she wouldn’t be use it or any have other computers registered in her name ever – as she would be on the banned list!!
Heavy stuff – isn’t it??? I came on the phone and told the woman (with a Asian accent apparently ringing from Liverpool (ah ah) that this is not sounding right and that there was no way the lady could pay the £ 200, was then told how much could she afford – said around a fiver. This asian lady, called Rebecca, said that would be fine!! £ 200 down to a fiver = scam!!!!! We wanted to ring them back so asked for a phone no, to which was given 0151 3241598 and when tried to ring back – it doesn’t exist – surprise surprise!!
We then slammed down the phone and wanted to make another call out to find that this company had remained on the line blocking it!! After several attempts, told them to “to clear the line as I need to dial out!”
Sorry scammers – we were too wise for you!!
Get a life and a better job!!
I too have had a couple of calls from an Asian sounding man claiming to be from Windows maitenance department, and saying I had a virus, and DEMANDING that I turn my computer on! The first time I refused, so he put the phone down, and the second time I questioned him, and again he put the phone down. I dialled 1471, and the number that came up was 00015167469347.These people must really think we are so gullible, but more worrying is the fact that people do fall for these scams- is there anything that can be done to trace them and put a stop to them?
I keep getting calls from a man with an indian accent. Says his name is dahm and claims he is from the windows service centre. He asked for me by name and then said they had recieved a message about my computer. then asked how to spell my name and what my facebook account was. I gave him a fake one and hung up. He called again right away saying he couldnt find the facebook page, i hung up. He called back a few hours later saying he liked my voice so wanted to be friends, I got mad and hung up. Got another call yesterday but didnt answer. Got one today and this time he said his name was david and again stated they got a message from my computer, i said okay then asked what it meant, silence on the other end, then he said hello and i again asked what he was calling me for and he once again reapeated that he got a message from my computer, by this time im royally pissed off and ask why he is calling about it only to tell me they received a message, so i hung up because there was once again silence on the other line. There is always people talking in the background or music when they call. Weird, Annoying, and Enraging.
at last!
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/09/21/microsoft-dumps-partner-telephone-support-scam/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=gcluley&utm_campaign=naked%2Bsecurity
Had 6 calls in the last 2 weeks.When challenged today said address was 29 Harley Street West London telephone 0207 6393 654 http://www.condo.com. Told him not to call again EVER
my wife had our first call today from the Windows service team, what a bunch of scumbags.Really feel sorry for the elderly who fall for these jokers. as it happens i was at work and did not take the call,so my wife asked him (Indian)to call back and speak to me, cant wait, as i have read some good tips on the above page as how to handle these people.I will wind them up so much, cant wait.
They kept calling me, asking for a Mr Allen (always an Asian accent, then when I say there is no Mr Allen they say there is a problem with my PC.
last week I decided to have some fun, I said I was Mr Allen when asked.
They said my Pc had a Virus, I asked if it was because I had been watching snuff and bestiality movies online. I then told him about the one I had watched the previous night with a woman being rogered by a horse. I explained that I had become over excited and ‘ejected’ all over the keyboard and that perhaps the virus the PC had contracted was my own Hep C. Bless him, even though he was flustered he still said he could help, I asked if by help he meant send me some tissues?
I enjoyed offending him for a while but my wife became so embarrassed she made me end the call.
Give it back to these people, try to offend their sensibilities. Tell them they have called a police station or ask if they mind you continuing to have sex while talking. We can’t stop them it seems, so lets have some fun at their expense.
Interesting thread, we too get these scam calls, and they always ask for my partner by name, and obviously have our ex-directory phone number. Ask yourself this, the callers are always Indian, and most of our financial institutions have moved their call center operations to? INDIA…scary i’d call it and about time an investigation was made as to how this information was gathered.
Best answer to them, say yes I’m just going to boot the computer up, and go and make yourself a cup of tea, leaving them waiting…
22 September 2011
Just had a long call from Windows Service Centre, exactly as described by others. I only objected when they asked me to pay for a Windows Warranty to protect my computer, either £99 for 5 years or £200 Gold Plan lifetime guarantee. I asked them where their company was based, and said I was not going to pay money unless I had found out more about the company. ‘Fine’ and they hung up.
As well as regular calls about my “computer problems” I am now receiving “Debt Counsel Bureau” calls – 3 to date. To the first 2 I simply said I have no debts and put the phone down but today decided to string them along a bit. The original caller (strong Indian accennt) offered me freedom from unsecured debts and when questioned said he was calling from a call centre that did not accept incoming calls (so no phone number). When questioned further he became flustered and passed me on to a “legally qualified adviser”(equally strong Indian accent) who said he had my postcode and phone number but not my name. When asked what made him think I had unsecured debts he said “we are calling every person in the British Isles and offering them this servise”
I said this must be costing a lot of money whereupon he said “Yes or no do you have debts?”. I said no and he put the phone down.Be warned – this another scam
I have had three calls of this nature in the last two weeks, one this morning. Strangely enough I have also had problems with my computer. The first call was an Indian man who I could not understand so was passed to an Indian woman who asked me to put my computer on because there was a problem. I refused and she became quite adamant so I said I was on the way out and asked her for a phone number. She gave me one (obviously a fake) and later I read about the scam and heard the You Tube video. The second and third calls mentioned me by name and started to say something about my computer and windows (again very unclear) so I put the phone down. I cannot understand where they are getting this information from and am quite nervous about our ‘security identity’. Two things I have done lately: installed Microsoft securities, and contacted my IP Virginmedia technicians (based in India) about the problems on my computer. They had to use the remote computer entry. I am not blaming either of these things but worry about leaks or hacking. Btw I am an elderly lady but not easily conned!!
Just received my 1st call from an “Andy Johnson” from Windows Service Centrewho said my computer had loads of viruses & I should boot it up etc. Asked for their telephone number to ring back 03300011298. Rang it back & it was answered…I then had a bit of a rant at how could they scam people & he put the phone down. Now worried about my security though
I just had another of these calls from an Indian on an “International” number. “Microsoft Certified Service Centre”. I told him he was a fraud and should be ashamed of himself. I hung up.
What did he do next? He rang me back and said what did I mean saying he was a fraud. I repeated that he was engaged in a scam which I knew about and could he leave me alone. He then exploded “it is you who are a fraud …. rant rant rant.”
Try it, it’s fun. Who knows who these people are but they are human beings somewhere in the world trying to defraud us and need to know how we feel about fraudsters.
I work from home and these calls are daily (sometimes more than 1 a day!)
Being aware that I am dealing with crooks, and if I have time, I use it as a bit of light entertainment.
One bloke got confused when I told him that the person he wanted was ill in bed having caught a virus from the compouter he was phoning about. With another I led him on for 15 minutes and then when he asked me to boot up my computer I told him I didn’t have one and just now one went off apologising when I told him I was Bill Gate’s advisor.
The longer I can keep them on the phone, the less people they can bother!
I get these calls quite a lot as well, at least one a week, but they are usually during the day when I am at work, and I see them as missed calls from unknown callers when I get home. I am off work today and got a call earlier, so I thought I would have some fun as I knew it was a scam – I sounded as if I was very worried about my computer and told him I would go and switch it on, but that it takes 15 minutes to start up, and could he wait on the line? He said yes, so I just left the phone off the hook and watched some TV. I checked back 30 minutes later and he was still there! I then told him sorry I don’t have a computer and he hung up.
It has reached Denmark. I have read the above comments and pretty much the same happened to me. Luckily my husband came and took over the call so we didn´t extend our windows warrenty which they wanted me to do/buy or the computer could die at any minute. But I was very conned by it all and still feel very stupid today!!!!(Received the call yeaterday.)
They guided me to a web page called http://www.swappccare.com
where I had options of buying different stuff for my computer…..
@Hanne http://swappccare.com/e/ is a glossy but dodgy site (spot the typos) designed to extract money, ignore or add to your blocked list
Have just set a personal record for keeping these guys on the phone: 1hr 5mins. Has anyone done better than this? Would love to hear.
Managed to keep the so called Windows team ( they couldn’t even say it correctly!)on the phone for 20+ minutes talking me though the bogus issues on my PC, right up to the point when they asked me to type http://www.ammyy.com (remote desktop access tool) in the dos window, I then confronted them and told them in no uncertain terms what I thought of them.. I was Extremely satisfied to here that they felt I had wasted there time :-) Oh the cheek of it.. Scammers !!
Wow, I thought I did well, keeping them on the phone for 30 minutes! I think that’s a great idea Jules, to keep them on the phone as soon as poosible. Let’s have a competition to see who can keep them on the phone the longest. I can’t wait until they call again, I’m gonna keep them on the phone as long as possible!
We also have to spread the word somehow to alert everyone to this scam, as they are extremely convincing. I have reported them to Watchdog in the UK, I suggest everyone else in the UK does this as well – http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/
Great idea about the competition Tom. I’ll let you know about any further endenours.
We are providing a public service as well. While they’re getting sucked in, they can’t bother anyone else.
I am based in Durban south Africa and have just received the same call. After explaining that i was not willing to pay anything, the woman then said, ‘oI so you are not willing to renew your Windows validation service and your Computer will crash?!’. I politely agreed and said I have my own technician to sort this out. Wihtout even saying goodbye, she hung up. Beware everyone! I will be contacting our local conusmer watch dog about this.
There have been a few small articles in my local newspaper over the past year or more about other people getting conned out of their money by these “IT Support” scams, but they always report one-off incidents and people are not aware of how big a scam this is. This needs to be publicised on the front pages of a national newspaper to alert everyone.
Just had a phone call off an asian lad, same old story as the rest of these posts really. I new this was a scam and as i was at a loose end until my little lad woke up from his nap i strung out the call for about an hour while pretending to do stuff on my PC, kid woke up so i had to hang up.
Just had this one trying to get through – I’m ignoring all numbers I don’t recognize because I’ve been plagued with similar calls from many different numbers for the last few weeks. Nearly every day and often multiple times per day. One of them even deliberately called me many times in the late evening just to annoy me after I told him he was a criminal and to f*&# off. I’m a computer professional so never likely to fall for this nonsense but if my experience is anything to go by then masses of people who are less tech-savvy and may be very alarmed must be getting these constantly.
I’ve spoken to Virgin and apart from changing phone number they had little idea of what to do about it – if the culprits are simply calling all possible numbers in rotation then that wouldn’t help anyway.
I’m not sure if there is a technical solution currently feasible, but someone in authority needs to start pressing for something to be done or these idiots will just get worse. We can’t just sit around saying they’re calling from overseas so it’s out of police jurisdiction. Innocent people must be getting fleeced or this wouldn’t continue. The Watchdog idea is a sound one as that will ensure publicity but ultimately a police/government/phone companies combined response is needed.
Just took a call from a lady called Rose who claimed to be phoning from the ‘Technical Department that supports the Windows operating system’ and was phoning me as I am a registered user of Windows. She advised that she was contacting me as we may be experiencing long delays in getting our system started up. I immediately smelt a rat and told her to write or email as I was too busy to take her call. She then gave me a contact number which she claimed was in Bradford – 020 305 15753! Judging from the previous comments, they are obviously having a busy day today trying to con people!!!
I too had a call today only the ladys name was Stella… it was so obvious it was a scam! Was about to go back to work after lunch when the phone rang… “Stella” hung up on me when I refused to do as she asked.
I had a call last week from an Indian gentleman. He asked for me by name and then told me that my Windows operating system has an error but he would fix it for me. I told him I didn’t have a problem with Windows and, if I did, my husband who is an IT expert would fix it for me. The Indian guy insisted that my husband could not fix the problem and I should switch my computer on immediately and he would sort out my problem. I insisted I didn’t have a problem. He insisted I did and even started shouting at one point. This went on for several minutes until I hung up. This is the second call like this that I have had. He was very convincing and I’m sure some people get caught by him. If he calls again I’ll be sure to keep him talking for as long as possible so that it costs him and his scamming friends money.
I recieved a call this morning from a asian guy claiming to be from some tech company thats in partnership with microsoft. Apparently my computers been sending them error messages and its vital i type in stuff to correct it! Immediately knew it was a scam and told them my pc’s absolutely fine, with a ton of antivirus software on it, to which he replied that whatever the problem is it wont be detected. I also told him it there was a problem with it i would fix it myself to which he got quite angry and insisted that it needed to be sorted there and then by him. Trying not to laugh i told him to phone me back later as i was very busy and put the phone down. Really hoping he will as i was quite enjoying winding him up and it’s not costing me a penny =P
Just had third phone call , first I denied I even had a computer and they got very confused and put the phone down. The second time I pointed out that the person was talking out of their ar$e , and then had repeated “You are a very rude man” so at least their command of the english language is sound. This time I let them rabbit and got so bored with them reading from their script that I simply pointed out that they were talking to an IT professional and were insulting my intelligence by continuing the conversation. Be interesting to see if I get a third call havent decided how I’m going to wind them up this time .. tempting to claim I’ve got an apple mac with Windows on one partition OS x on another and Linux on the third and see what reaction I get to that…yes I know its cruel but no more than they are doing to the elderly or less technically able
They’ve called three times so far. I think it’s the same guy. Anyway all three times we’ve told him not to call back and to take us off his list (in not-so-polite terms). The first time he just hung up. Second time I said my computer works just fine and I’m not interfering with that and he goes “but for how long, mam? You will see it will not work for very long” (don’t worry I didn’t do anything he asked me to, just played along), and this last time my mum tells him not to call back and he says “I will, mam. One hundred times. I will.”
Idiot. That’s at LEAST 100 wasted minutes, depending on whether I decide to stall him and bring up his long-distance phone bill :)
Jon Boot, there is no such thing as rude when you are dealing with scam “artists”
I have never considered myself to be particularly naive or fall easily for scams and was incredibly suspicious when I received this call this morning. However, after being convinced after seeing all these warnings and errors on my computer I let them have access to it briefly. The minute they asked for money to renew my windows warranty I told them I didn’t have any or a credit card and then I “cleaned” my computer which hopefully has stopped them having access to it any more. Does anyone know whether I am still vulnerable to “computer attack”? He said he would phone me back in a day or two to see if I have raised the money!
My 82 year old mum has just been caught with this, they got her to press Windows button then R (for Run), they had her type cmd but she doesn’t remember typing anything in there, perfmon.msc, then http://www.logmein123.com, then http://www.shoppconline.com h1e2l3p4 She couldn’t hear them very well and kept putting the phone down, they kept ringing her back but when they asked her for £84 she told them to go away. Meanwhile pc was on for about an hour so god knows what has happened. We are now furiously fdisking and rebuidling her laptop.
Here in Ireland we’ve been pestered with this lot for months. Sometimes get two or three calls a day at all hours. Many times the phone rings and when answered they hang up. Sometimes it’s one of two different men but more recently it’s mostly a woman who calls up and talks nonsense about viruses and the likes.
They really are persistent!
Here is what I said to them when they last phoned up.
Asian Guy: Hello, is that XXXXXX? This is Windows Service Centre. Your computer is infected with virus.
ME: Who is this?
Asian Guy: Hello, Sir? This is Windows Service Centre. You have been experiencing problems with your computer.
ME: What?
Asian Guy: Hello, Sir? Your computer is slow. You have virus.
ME: How would you know how a computer is acting? Are you psychic?
Asian Guy: Hello, Sir? This is Windows Service Centre. You have problems with your computer. We can fix it. Please connect to the internet.
ME: What’s my name?
Asian Guy: Hello, Sir? This is Windows Service…
ME: What’s my name?
[long pause]
Asian Guy: You have a virus.
[long pause]
ME: What’s your name?
Asian Guy: My name is Alan Brown. (!)
Me; Hello, Alan. That’s a lovely name. Do you like buildings?
[long pause as guy gets confused]
Asian Guy: Hello, Sir? Your computer has a virus. We can fix it. Are you near your computer?
Me: I am 12 feet tall. (!)
[long pause]
Asian Guy: Sir? Are you near your computer?
ME: I live in a big house.
[At this point I start humming a nursery rhyme !}
Asian Guy: Your computer is very infected with virus. We can fix it now if you are near your computer.
ME: What if I was a policeman?
[ I now start randomly pressing buttons on my phone]
Asian Guy: If you could turn on your computer we can fix your problem…
ME: Alan, I don’t want to die!
[‘Alan’ hangs up]
PLEASE BE WARNED; Beware these con-men/women.
Do one of two things:
Hang up immediately and don’t give them any details or access to your computer………….or…………give yourself a chuckle by wasting their time by keeping them on the line as long as possible and fuck with their heads without giving them any details or letting them get access to your computer!
Had a call like this outside of EDMONTON, ALBERTA, but this guy said he was from TELUS. The scary thing, is that we don’t even have an internet connection AT ALL, in any way shape or form…but he calls to tell us we have a computer problem, on the same day that we DID have a computer problem (We have a pc, but like I stated, no connection, and we are way out in the countryside with no close neighbors). How the heck does THAT happen?? Coincidence…I hope!
i received the call on Thursday and they claimed they were Microsoft responding to my error report which I had submitted recently. How did they know I had submitted an erroe report, which I had done about 3 days ago!!! They were so convincing and I let them access my laptop and I paid them £198 to ‘fix my software and expand my laptop memory capacity’ Now I am very concerned that they may have downloaded all of my personal information from my laptop. However they have called me back on 2 separate occasions at a time agreed. I have questioned them and they ‘assure’ me they are not a scam and they need access to my laptop to complete the cleanse. They are from eprosolutions.Are they really a scam, they seem so genuine???
Yakkity Yak, did you by any chance mention your computer problem in a phone call? I ask because I’ve long suspected that phone calls (and emails but that’s not relevant in your case) are monitored and the details fed to spammers. I blogged about it a couple of years ago after a few incidents that seemed far too much for coincidence – not sure if links are allowed here so this may not work Who’s feeding the spammers with information?
I had a call a few months ago from an man with an Indian accent stating he was calling from windows to help me fix computer, I instantly hung up, but had the same call again today, when I asked the phone rang, then continued as previous, I stayed on the phone as I was curious as to whether it was a genuine phone call because the man asked for me by name, so I asked a few of questions, he told me I had lots of viruses and spyware, which they knew because the information had been sent to them from my computer, he said he was going to show me how to get rid of them, I asked which computer, and he said you’re home computer, I said well I have 3 laptops I use at home, and he said yes they all have these viruses because they have transferred through the network, I then hung up because it sounded like a load of bulls**t. I am in the phonebook, so gonna look into getting out of it!
Then I get a similar call today, from Justin from Global Pc Support, telling me that microsoft had informed them that I had viruses blah blah it was such a powerful virus that antivirus programs wouldn’t recognise it. I questioned him and he said it was free and wasnt going to take control of computer, he told me to do a “run” search and gave his number and website as http://www.globalpc-support.com, which is a website, but looks very basic. I told “Justin” several times that I wasn’t interested and knew it was a scam, but he kept ringing back when I hung up about 4 times to the point where I had to disconnect the phone. He said he was in Middlesex, but when I asked him what the weather was like he avoided answering then eventually said it was not very sunny, I hung up then(there is a 30degree c heatwave in england at the moment in October!) He was very persistent, makes you worry about how many people fall for it. I rang the number afterwards to complain, they said their service DID actually cost money, and I complained on and the man was very keen to get rid of me, of course we wont call again.
Fed up of these calls! How do they get numbers and addresses?!
I had a call today from an Indian bloke, he told my I was infested with viruses bla bla bla and could I turn my computer on, I was nosy at first to see what crap they were going to come up with, at this point I had heard enough, I said I had turned on the computer and waited a moment, then I screamed at the top of my voice that there was crabs spiders and bugs pouring out of my computer and I would have to go immediately as we were being over run, I then slammed the phone down, the dick phoned me back to see what was going on, wot a plonker, you live and learn eh!LMFAO..
Any one calling you from India with a European name is not doing you any favours.
We send this country millions of Pounds in aid and this is what they do to us.
Do not pay for anything over the phone!!!!!!!
My parents bought a new P.C. the other day and asked me to set it up for them. Shortly after registering Windows the phone rings. My mother listens to this dribble about malicious viruses, then passes the phone to my Father, who then passes it to me. This guy expected me to connect him through LMI (LOGMEIN rescue). I use it to connect to P.C.’s out in the field for my work and am well aware of what it can do. What a load of crap. India, what a HOLE of a country. The ones that don’t move to Canada have jobs doing this? All I could do is hang up. There are some that say these guys somehow gain access to sales receipts from retailers. That’s unnerving.
My mother who is 83 received a call today ( the second in a couple of months ) she does not even have a computer! Indian woman who could hardly speak English asked her to switch on her computer. She replied “you are a scam and I am reporting you to the Police” and hung up, well done Mum. I had told her previously to tell them where to go! They even called her by her first name, where do they get this info from?
We have just had a phone call from an india guy. He addressed me by my surname and said “have you been experiencing internet slowness” (which we have!). He said id like you to go onto this website “www.teamviewer.com” and click something or other. I replied “how do i know your not going to hack into my computer and get all my personal details?” and he just completely dodged the question and said “yes sir… we keep all your info confidential” i logged onto the compute and went on the site. He said click on this that and the other, and i did so… nothing was working and i was telling him this, he was describing what should happen as if it was a windows computer. After i told him i had an Apple computer he asked me to go to another, i told him “we only have Apple computers in our house” he disconnected the phone straight away and the number was obviously withheld. I believe i owe a big thank you to the Apple corporation for making their computers not download legit files!
My mother has just been ripped off. Strangely enough she had been on the phone to talktalk after having problems downloading their visus protection. When a few hours later Windows phoned her, she fell for it. She let them into her computer, paid them money for a 3 year contract and when they phoned back today, she let them get on with it as she had to take the dogs for a walk. Holy moly,god knows what info they have taken. What do we do now? HELP
If you are unfortunate enough to have lost money to this SCAM, call your bank or credit card company immediately and report it as fraud, because that is exactly what it is. Your bank will refund the money and cancel any further payments (these people can set up recurring payments so money is continually taken from your account and you have no way of contacting them to cancel it).
Was phoned up by an impatient Indian man this morning. He said he was from Windows Tech Support and that it’s been discvoered that I’ve a virus on my computer. I repeated last him what my IP address was, and he couldn’t answer so I just played along with him. What happened was similar to what you guys experienced, he tried to take remote access of my computer. I told him to “piss off” and hung up the phone.
Just to add that after my experience with these people I downloaded and ran malwarebytes which found a trojan ?vundo??virus on my computer which had not been there before they had access to it. Luckily malwarebytes was able to remove it before any significant damage was caused and luckily I was suspicious enough not to part with any money. Can’t wait for them to call again to see if I have “raised” enough money to pay them……
Last Saturday afternoon I had the same phone call, perporting to be from Windows service Dept. in London, saying I had several malicious programs on my p.c., and that they could get rid of them with my help. I have had several error popups and trouble getting broadband to function recently, so although I thought it very odd that they had such strong Indian accents I went along with what they proposed – the first man called himself Alan and the ‘supervisor’ Stephen Jones (both good British names!). I am retired and not a very expert computer used, and had never heard anything about this scam, but by the time they asked me to typed in my creditcard details I was convinced they were crooks, so I refused to finish giving them my details and told them I was terminating the conversation. I immediately rang my credit card company and cancelled it and told them what had happened. Strangely, the girl didn’t seem to know about the scam either. I have now read all the reports on your website, and although I am pretty sure they haven’t taken any money, I am worried that they may have got all sorts of details from my computer because I too did their bidding and went onto AMMYY. Can anyone tell me if all my private details, password etc are now compromised?
Now I know this is definitely a scam, I’m almost looking forward to taking another call from them!!!
I’ve just had a call from an indian woman called Christine who proposed to work for a company working in conjuntion with Microsoft. She worried me by telling me that error messages had been sent to the server and that I should follow her instructions by typing in stuff into the ‘Run’ box which I did, and which showed a number of supposedly infected programmes (1,600 actually) which were corrupting the programmes on my PC. Still worried (especially as she started telling me not to use any online accounts etc) I was following her instructions to the point where she said she was going to transfer me to a technician who would gain access to my PC to wipe these files. At this point alarm bells rang and I said that I was nervous about doing this. She gave me their ‘official’ website which was http://www.shoppconline.com/h1e2l3p4/
Which I then duly typed into google to check for scams… and I found this page…. so thanks all for the comments before me. I stopped the woman from transfering me saying that I would contact their technical dept if I needed to.
In hindsight it’s obvious that they wanted to get me to buy their anti virus product, but this is an extremely off-hand way of doing it. OFT need a call I think!
I just got my fourteenth call from “Jack”, your Windows specialist, calling about :problems with your Windows computer”. After informing “Jack” that I use Apple and not a Windows computer, he hangs up. then calls again a few days later, then again, then again. I scream at him, “stop stalking me you criminal” but he keeps calling every few days.
I reported him to the Federal Trade Commission and was told that this scammer targets older people. (I’m a senior citizen) but it seems as if everyone is being targeted. Isn’t there anyone whose phone shows a calling number who can report him?
These scammers operate from large call centres in Asia, using automatic diallers to call many numbers at once. They then talk to the first person that answers. Not sure where they get the names and numbers from – perhaps a telephone directory or electoral register or some other database. But there are several different companies, all running this similar scam, operating apparently legitimately in India, making tens of thousands of pounds every day from innocent victims. It needs to be stopped! Complain to your phone provider and Ofcom for not blocking these calls, write to your local councillor or MP, get this scam publicised in local papers to make others aware.
I was contacted by an Asian soundinglady today who claimed to be from “Windows Operating System” and trying to inform me that my ISP had contacted them regarding some potentially damaging software on my PC. I’m an IT Engineer and I know of this scam so let them ramble on. At least this way it prevents her from contacting someone else for a few minutes and hopefully saving someone from this fraud. Next time im going to give them some fictitious card numbers lol. The number they rang from was 02538020308. Does anyone know who to contact regarding this fraud?
I have just had another of these calls. This time, I told her that I was glad that she had called, as anti-hacking software had been put on my computer, which I was trialling for Microsoft. I explained that this software would back-fire and destroy the hard drive of any computer that hacked into my computer and that if it proved to be effective, it would soon be fitted to all computers. She assured me that she was not trying to hack into my computer, but she did not stay on the phone long enough to see if it worked. So, come on you computer whizz kids, how about developing this sort of software. It certainly deterred my last caller. It would not only protect us from these crooks, but it would make you a lot of money.
JOIN THE GROUP TO STOP ALL THESE DODGY PHONE CALLS
THE MORE THE MERRIER
POST YOUR STORIES ON HERE AS WELL .
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Viewer-Windows-SCAM/257833680926155
I got this call today 7/10/11 in Melbourne Australia; immediately suspicious when indian sounding man said he was from the Windows technical dept and my Computer was infecting hundreds of others with a Win32 virus or something like that. When asked how he knew this he said bc he gets reports if errors via my IP address. Knew this was lies and got angry at him, said ok, what is my IP NUmber. He told me to log in and he’d tell me how to locate it for him! I said ok, you rang me, you tell me. He changed tack. So I said what’s my name. Again he Ignored Q and went on again about viruses and how I need to let him fix my computer andit was a free service. I what’s yr company name. He said GRS; global routing service. I said how do you know my ph number based on supposedly knowing my IP ADDRESS. he said they were both on the phone co records who supply my internet and landline. I asked him the ph co name and he changed the subject back to viruses. I felt violated and cross. I swore at him and said that’s BS!!… u r a scammer, a cheat and should be ashamed of yourself. By this stage he had run out of lies to tell but I was angry at the sheer audacity and how brazen he was that He never gave in! So I reciprocated and kept hounding him, saying that he was a disgrace and how dare he cheat and trick and frighten people like that with lies and what a disgusting pathetic scam it was. I turned the tables on him and wasted his time and wore him down with a tirade of criticism until he hung up in me. Man, was that satisfying:)
Another call today warning me about the many WIRUSES on my computer. I stalled as long as I could by doing my batty old lady act and asked for an address. He (Indian male)gave “EAST HAM GREATER LONDON E16 3UK” When I googled this I got “CRASHPADDER” rentals in Canning Town! Do look – it’s quite interesting
I also asked for a phone number and got 02032865123. The first time I rang ths a female (Indian)answered “Windows Help and Support. I asked where she was and she answered “Folrida” “Florida USA?” “Yes”. I rang back later saying I had had a phone call giving me her number. She was quick to get rid of me saying “He is ringing you back right now” He hasn’t yet. Is someone following this up?
This scam is world-wide, and completely fraudulent. To get rid of them quickly, and perhaps get crossed off their ‘phoning list, just tell them you use Linux not Windows.
I had a call from an Indian male. Claimed he was calling from Microsoft Service Centre… I immediately knew it was a fake call as I’d done my research following a similar call some time before.
I immediately replied “No you are not, you are a con man, and I’m NOT falling for it!”.
He swore at me and hung up!
Needless to say it was a “Caller withheld number” call.
Had a call today. Terrible line with an echo. Man had a very thick Asian accent. I asked him to call back as I couldn’t understand him which he did twice. Managed to make out that he was saying he was from Windows Service Centre and that my computer was infected with viruses and that I should switch it on now so he could sort it out. I said I couldn’t do it now and when he didn’t want to give me a number to call him back on I said “Why can’t I call you back rather than you call me?” and he then left this number: 13 60 38 21938. I queried this saying is there a zero before the number and he said no so I said where is it and he said the service centre is in the US but it is a UK number. He said to call the number and ask for Max Johnson. I then went on the internet and found out it was a scam.
Just had a call from these scammers. Played along with it and pretended to follow his instuctions. Managed to keep him on the phone for a good 20mins speaking to him in a borat like voice. When he finally twigged I was playing him he said he was from a hacking group and he would be stealing all my files! I pretended to be shocked and he asked me if I wanted to join his group… Honestly, me and my daughter couldn’t hold up for laughing. I look forward to their next call.
I just recieved a call about my computer, and Indian man said that he was from windows…He said that in my zip code alot of people just aquired a virus, he said that I needed to get into my computer so he can show me the virusess…I told him that I was at work, and did not have my computer, he said do you want to call me back, I asked him for a phone number and he asked y…He said he needed me to call him back…I told him that I did not trust the phone call and he said, ” I do not trust you, you looser….” I hung up on him…Beware…people out there oviously don’t have any lives and instead of making something out of theirselves, they need destroy others…..They are the LOOSERS!!!
I too received a call from these guys yesterday (from an Indian called Tyler Cage!). Although I was suspicious, I am not particularly computer savvy, so I followed his instructions and he directed me to 24sevenwindowsupport.com and I foolishly allowed him access to my PC. However, when he asked for payment, it clicked that they may not be entirely legitimate so I turned off my PC and hung up. They had access to my computer for a good few minutes. Does anyone know what damage they may have done? Is it a scam to get card details over the phone or do they do stuff to the PC too? Do they still have access to it? Any help or advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Just had a call myself and hung up on him as I sussed it was a hoax. Having ‘binged’ and found this page I’m glad I trusted my gut instinct. I mean how can they have your phone number and IP address but no name, not to mention the fact that you may have a both a PC and laptop, and tell you just to log on. I trust the Norton security software I have installed. Love the recent post from Shane (30 Sept above). Think I might try this next time, hee hee!
Yeah was aware of this scam cos I had a prior call about 6 months ago and alarm bells rang when they talked about remote access .. told em to “get stuffed”, lol .. actually much worse words !!
So when I got a call yesterday I decided to string them along as long as possible. The guy called himself Philip and said his phone number was 0161 4085987 from windowsupportonline.com.
I made out I was as thick as two short planks slowly doing his stuff. He showed me a few errors and asked me to delete them, then said I couldn’t delete them cos it was a virus, etc. etc. Haha it took ages ! Then I pretended to log onto windowsupport.com and he was trying to get me to click things. At this stage he sounded very exited he was achieving. But I then said, this has taken so long! I have an appointment and must go out .. sorry and rang off.
Philip phoned again today .. I was very friendly .. same routine for ages and I then said my wife is shouting my dinner is on the table .. must go now. He said can I phone you after dinner but I truly said I am out tonight.
What annoys me is this is happening everywhere, preying on old folk. I’m nearly 80 but luckily have all my marbles. It seems all we can do is stitch them up for hours to protect others. Why are not our police helping?
I bet Philip rings me again and I will have my fun, reading these posts has giving me more mischievous ideas !!
Received a call this afternoon. The man claimed to be from Microsoft Operating System, and informed me My computer had downloaded a virus and he needed to take me through the steps to fix it. I first asked him how he had got my number, and he said it was because Microsoft had everyone’s phone number. I enquired as to which of my two computers had been infected, but he just kept talking, insisting I needed to turn my computer on (it was anyway) and press run, to see the problems he was talking about. I didn’t, and repeatedly asked for a contact number, saying I would call him back. His response was that he was happy to provide a number, but that he was calling now, then asked plaintively when I would call. Thankfully I smelt a rat, and hung up!
I received a call this afternoon from an east Indian man claiming to be from Windows Support and that I had contracted a number of viruses because there were all sorts of error reports coming through their centre. I asked how he got my number and he told me that Microsoft had everyone’s number through their registration of various products. He too, asked me to press run so that he could set a direct connection up and show me all the viruses and was trying to convince me that I needed some product of theirs to get rid of them all. When I told him I wasn’t going to buy anything and that even my husband wouldn’t approve of this phone call the phone line went dead.
Windows Support & Services Dept telephone 02032866214
Female with Indian sounding accent purporting to be from “Windows” but wouldn’t confirm she was from Microsoft.
Wanted me to give her access to my pc using Event viewer to clear up problems.
Obvious S C A M!
Hello from Canada! Just got a call here from John from ‘Windows Support’. I hung up immediately after he asked me to boot up my computer – while I was using it at the time of the conversation. He phoned again so I pretended I was a child, and he tried to get me to go on the computer and open programs and let him remove the ‘virus’. So PLEASE let your children know about this scam as well as they may not know any better, and I learned that they just don’t care who they are speaking with and will try to get anyone to ‘buy’ their ‘protection’.
Hi – just answered the call from windows support – a woman this time – last time the man called but his accent and phone line was so poor I hung up on him!
This time when i ASKED FOR CREDENTIALS as she was nicely trying to ask me to type in a code , she came back with a well practised line of if we could knock on your door we could but we have to call everyone by phone – and I cn understadn you being cautious but we would have better things to do with our time than to be alling peple if it wasnt our jobs – and when I said that I had enough up to date anti virus things on my computer she said that it was hidden and inside behind the scenese with networking and thats why she needed to get in – I said I couldnt talk about it now and asked which country they were for time differences to arrange a call back – this wasnt forthcoming! instead she asked to phone back at a later time today. If she does then I will be reiterating that its a scam !! It would sound quite convincng to a lot of people as they are so reheresed and you can hear other discissions to cover the helpdesk type background!
I’m in the USA. Got a call just now.
Caller ID said it was 999-910-0293.
Indian accent.
When I called him on his scam he hung up.
Just had a call from an asian woman saying she is from “the computer maintenance section” saying that my “computer is downloading harmful and malicious files and if you are connected to your computer, we will show you the files”.
I asked who she was from and she said “we are connecting all registered Windows users to show them the malicious files that are being downloaded by their computer”.
I said “we have software that does that for us” to which she responded “these are not viruses, but malicious files”.
I asked for a telephone number to call them back and they gave me “020 80220363”, which cannot be determined online.
I have no intention of calling as I am fulyl aware of most of these scams, but thought I’d let you know.
Peace.
Is this now free advertising for GlobalMicro Tech or warning about scams?
I would be very wary of these recent adverts. Could be another way for these “scammers” to enter our computers!! I don’t trust anyone anymore!!
Perhaps if anyone receives an unsolicited call from this “Wonder Company” they will let us all know. I do not believe in coincidence and two glowing references on the same day, suspicious. Another address is shown as http://www.gmtus.com/default.asp
I’ve deleted the 3 comments about Global Micro Tech as they did look a little suspicious and all came from the same IP address.
I got a call from this strange number today… … …”Windows Assistance Company”… … …I have had this call, in various different guises, from different numbers many times before. They tell you that you have problems with your computer; due to “malicious software downloaded without your permissions, while you are surfing the internet” They ask you to open the ‘event viewer’, which will end up showing you that there are lots; hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of ‘Errors’ and ‘Warnings’ on your computer… … … … … … …
I am a computer engineering student at masters level and so have insight into how computers work… … …What, I believe, actually happens is that each time your computer boots up, or you start a program, the computer has to go through hundreds and thousands of calculations… … …now depending on what software, and hardware, you have sometimes it can make mistakes. ie It will try to access something that it not ready to be accessed yet, or it will try to find a particular file which is being temporarily blocked, while some other process is being performed. In the end it will sort it’s self out and the hardware will operate correctly, or the software will run… … … … …
THESE ‘WARNINGS’ & ‘ERRORS’ ARE NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT, THEY ARE NOT EVIDENCE OF MALICIOUS SOFTWARES OR SPYWARES OR ANYTHING OF THE KIND!!!
… …. … … … …What the caller will then do, is to try to get you to go to their website and allow them to gain remote access to your computer… … … … … …
—————–DO NOT LET THEM DO THIS!!!!—————-
… … …if you allow them access then this is when there WILL be malicious softwares, spywares, trojans, malwares and others put on to your computer which will allow them to access all your personal data and track any new information that you put in.
I actually usually lead them down the garden path and pretend that I’m following their commands, this is because it costs them a lot of money to ring me – overseas costs – and also it wastes their time, when they could be calling and therefore conning someone else who’s less in the know.
I hope that this helps and I advise you to download ADVANCED SYSTEM CLEANER (v.4) and CCLEANER, from reputable site http://www.cnet.com .
This site is a worldwide known independent review site for all things electronic and computer software wise. The software I have suggested are free and will (as their names suggest) help to protect and clean up your computer.
Best regards to you all,
Mr Scam Buster. (Adrian M. James.)
Hi, I had a call from some Asian people calling themselves Lex Assist and I have Privileged Support for my Windows OS. They wanted to check for error and warning files that would slow down my system. They asked me to connect my computer to a website but I refused. I asked them a bunch of questions and they couldn’t answer so I told them where to go. Never let anyone connect to your computer based on a phone call!!!
Hi!
So today I’m working from home with my work laptop (I work for Microsoft in the UK). I’ve just had a phone call from these ‘people’ claiming to be from the ‘Windows Service Center’. I asked them where they got my details and they told me ‘the computer connected to [my] home network’. Slightly baffled by this, I asked again. This time the Indian lady on the other end of the call started to get a little angry. She then told me that she would put me onto the ‘duty manager’.
The ‘duty manager’ then informed me that he was in fact from Windows Service Center. And once again I asked how he got this information. He repeated his ‘colleague’s script about the connected machine. Unhappy with this, I asked him for his Microsoft alias as that way we could talk over the Microsoft internal messenger rather than the crackly phone line. Sadly, he informed me that it wasn’t their policy to give out personal email addresses. I once again stressed that as I was a Microsoft employee, all I’d need was his Microsoft alias.
Suddenly his tone of voice changed and demanded that I give him my ‘Microsoft PIN number’ as he stated: ‘All Microsoft employees have this number, I have mine, what is yours?’. Sadly I’ve never been given this magical ‘PIN’, instead picked out the only 4 digit number I knew of through work – my extension. I gave him my extension to which he paused then followed up with this little gem:
“You’re a smart motherfucker aren’t you? Go to hell!”
and hung up on me.
As a representative of Microsoft, I’d like to inform all of you that we do not swear at people over the phone, nor do we cold call anyone :)
– As a side note I called my phone line provider straight away as I was seeking the withheld number and had a lovely chat with a customer service representative who told me that yes they do have the phone number, but they wouldn’t let me have it unless I filed a FIR (First Information Report) with my local Police Station and they decided to ask the phone company for the number. I asked her isn’t this a bit silly and she said “yes I agree with you that it’s stupid, but what can I do?”
19/11/11 I received a phone call from Martin Davies who said he was from Windows and that I had reported problems via my computor. I had in fact had a problem and assumed that the phone call was in response to this.
He ask various questions and requested that I type in a code in a specific box to enable him to sort out the problem. He listed various reports to show that my computor was corrupted and after 40 minutes on the phone asked for £199 to renew my out of date licence.
Martin, who had a strong Asian accent, was very persistent and would not take no for an answer. He even produced a form on my computor for me to fill in and make payment. The form was from E-PRO SOLUTIONS.
I asked him for his telephone number for me to ring back but he refused and passed me onto his Duty Manager. We were cut off but within a few minutes Martin phoned back and continued his assault trying to get me to fill out the form. I insisted that I needed his phone number and it was finally given as 02081339207 but on ringing this number there was no reply.
He rang back again a few minutes later with another phone number 02081339207 but by this time I had looked up this web site to see that it was a Phone Scam.
everyone, please understand that everything wrong being done by indian sounding people is not actually done by indians. most crime in UK (and I’m sure elsewhere too) is being committed by pakistanis, bangladeshis, sri lankans and arabs. Yet the blame almost always goes to the indians. we do have lots of bad apples, but in the UK at least, we are responsible for just a fraction of what is being blamed on us.
I’m just sayin…..
Brar, as far as I’m concerned, a scam is a scam, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s based in India, Australia, Canada or Nigeria. Race or origin really has nothing to do with this and I know to my personal cost (because of what was inflicted on my late mother) that some of the most sophisticated scams are orchestrated by supposedly respectable people based in places like Bristol, England. India’s a wonderful country that I am involved with through a school exchange and please be assured that we won’t think any less of India or Indians because there happen to be a few fraudsters there. We are self-sufficient in fraudsters and chancers in Britain too – just look at the way some of our banks have been run lately!
Got this in the office. Asian man who just kept saying he is calling from Windows Error or whatever. It felt dodgy straight away why would anyone call you out of the blue about your computer?
Anyway, should’ve told him we only use ipads :D
my gran was contacted by phone yesterday the man on the phone told her to go on a website(which she did) and said she had to update her windows security which was going to cost £109 she soon hung up on the caller and a window appeared on her computer from the man that was on the phone asking why she had hung up when she told me i told her he could of hacked into the computer and to turn it off does anyone know how i can fix this?
This has been happening all summer they rang today i told them not to call anymore as i new it was a scam he put the phone down they might leave me alone now!
I have had 3 calls from an asian guy saying he is from Windows UK and there is a virus on my computer. The first call I told him how do I know you are not going to put a bug on my computer – as soon as I said scam he said o.k. and then put the phone down. The 2nd call I said to him, again an asian guy – what is my name if you are from Windows you would know my name I am not telling you any information until you tell me what my name is – funny he put the phone down. Had another call today – on day off and he work me up – b—–d. Told him to call back later – still waiting for call this time I am going to say I have not got a computer and see if that stops them calling.
These people are very persistant … Mr Peter Parker (with a very heavy asian accent) from the Windows Service Centre (he stressed the Mr) phoned me 5 times over a period of 40 minutes to try to persuade me to let him help sort the virus problems their system was showing that I had with my computer. He even gave me a Customer Care number where I could check his creditials 0203 5143093 and an address for Bank Street, London. When I called this number I could hear several people in the background going through the same script (but with different names) so I just hung up. Within minutes I was called again asking if they could help was we had been disconnected!
Thank goodness I am pretty switched on IT wise.. if my elderly mother had recieved this call she wouldn’t have queried the company as she’d be worried about her computer and paid up to solve it’s problems.
I had an asian man called steve call me saying he was from microsoft support. He told me I had a trojan virus on my computer he could barely speak english. He told me to go on to google and enter team viewer i started laughing and new it was a scam. I tried to call the number back but it didnt exist. He called back 10 minutes ago and spoke to my boyfriend. Saying he was from windows, asking if we had mcafee virus checker. We have a microsoft anti virus checker which he would know if he was actualy from microsoft. He was obviously new to the job because he couldnt answer any questions and got angry when i asked why they did not have a legitimate telephone number. They previously called a week before that claiming to be a different company on a number 0131? but the guy was actualy good and new what he was on about but didnt fool us that time. I just want them to stop calling and leave us alone w*nkers.
Hi Guys. Many of you have been posting about this scam. Its interesting to read up how many of you have either fallen for it or almost fell for it.
Please read yur terms and conditions within windows and indeed any other software. They all state the following.
“We will not contact you and ask you for access to your computer remotly”
On a further note, i am not aware if any of you have googled the 0141 number being given, but this is listed on the following site http://www.winpctech.net/contactus.php
This site is a ffake front end. what they apear to be trying to do is as follows
1) They have obtained your information via an electoral role register or other database that contains your Name, Address, Post Code, Date of Birth, email address etc
2) they ask for your card details, sometimes more than one including the security code.
3) It will take them about an hour to use an offshore account via somewhere like Bangladesh to charge your card for various services.
4) once they have run the scam for a while and no longer getting funds or that the ISP hosting their site is forced to close them down, They will just open a new site on another ISP
If you have recieved a call from one of these companies and they have conned you into giving them card details. call your bank and arrange for your card to be stopped. Speak with the Fraud Department and explain what happenned, ie. you were tired and its only just hit you etc etc. They will put a stop on your card and if reported as fraud, you can claim back any money they take.
Secondly. unplug your computer from the internet by disconnecting the cable or turning off wi-fi, or unplug the Router from the telephone line. This will stop them from being able to access your computer. Then get it checked out if your not confident doing it, but in XP etc you have remote assistance which a lot of these scammers are using. Its in the following area on most computers “START” “ACCESSORIES” “SYSTEM TOOLS” “REMOTE DESKTOP CONNECTION” this is where they will get you to add the name of a program to run etc. Clear everything out under the tab markered “PROGRAMS” and uncheck the small box, then go to experience and uncheck the small bax at the bottom that says “RECONNECT IF CONNECTION IS LOST” then go to the “ADVANCED” tab and select “DO NOT CONNECT” in the drop down list. then select “SETTINGS” at the bottom of this page and check the box marked “DO NOT USE A TS GATEWAY SERVER” then hit the bottom right “OPTIONS” button again and the main box will disapear and the small box is back. just select the RED “X” in the top right corner. this should kill any connection they had. but if they got you to log into a site, you may have been told to accept a download and run it. or they may have got you to disable the download protection by altering your security settings. if this is the case, in INternet Explorer, open the TOOLS menue at the top, go to “INTERNET TOOLS” at the bottom of the list, Select the “SECURITY” tab and then hit the button at the bottem called “RESET ALL ZONES TO DEFAULT LEVEL” then hit “APPLY” and then “OK”. this should also help stop malicious software. but get your computer checked by a proffessional before reconnecting to the internet as although you may have deleted cookies and history etc. some information can be held in the back logs, if they have a small programe running that you installed by mistake or unknkowingly, they can not only see what sites your visiting, but obtain login details for your email accounts, Paypal, Ebay and even worse still. your Bank accounts. I dont mean to scare anyone. But I had my card cloned and it took over a week to sort it out, I am disabled and use internet shopping, so having to go to the bank with ID to draw cash out was difficult.
Always remember. No reputable company including Banks and Microsoft. Will ever contact you by phone or email and ask to access your pc, or ask you to confirm your account details etc. foreinstance. When you get those emails stating your account has been compromoised etc etc please follow this link and change your password ? DONT EVER DO THAT.
but place your mouse cursor over the link and look at the bottom line of internet explorer and you will see that is goes to a site that looks nothing like your bank link. forinstance. Lloyds internet banking login address is
https://online.lloydstsb.co.uk/personal/logon/login.jsp
but their link might be something like this
http://www.online-lloyds-tsb-bank.co.uk/logon/login.jsp
Notice the subtle changes, the insertion of the “-” between the words and the missing “personal”.
this would be a fake website designed to collect bank login info. Never trust it. close the email and report it to your banks fraud department. many banks will let you forward the email to them so they can investigate it and get the site closed down.
Many of you have said things about the government not policing the internet, but its also down to us to report weird stuff like this scam. unsless we report it. nothing can be done, unless they stumble on a site like this one.
Safe Surfing all
Hi Karen,
I must admit, I do love that Name he chose for himself “Peter Parker” could he not think of anything more original than the true name of Spiderman.
I am just waiting for my call and she says her name is “Gladis Night” pmsl
As I don’t know where else to report this, I thought I’d leave a comment here. I’ve just received a call from an Asian-sounding man called “Brad” at “Window Computers”. He’s a member of the “Windows Customer Service Department” and has noticed that my computer has very dangerous viruses and that he is willing to show me.
I humoured him a little to gain a few details. He couldn’t tell me how my computer has brought this to his attention. He got my number from when I bought my computer and registered Windows (even though I pointed out that I hadn’t given out my number to anyone).
When I asked where he was based, he replied: “globally” although I managed to get him to reveal he was from Las Vegas! Fancy that. I asked him if there was a phone number I could contact him on, he told me it was: 33 000 10 586. However, when I insisted on calling him back (to save him the cost of the call from Las Vegas) he hung up.
I can’t believe that anyone is convinced by these hoaxers! My only concern is how they got my phone number, which I am very careful with.
David
York, UK
You make it all appear easy, but I can’t help but feeling overwhelmed when tackling this topic. Keep the posts comming. Hell, maybe I’ll learn a thing or two!
@Alonso Saldi very surpised that the crims have not yet created boiler rooms with voices acceptable in the targeted countries
Are they only calling landlines, or has anyone ever had a call to a mobile phone / cell phone from these scammers?
I get several missed calls a week from unknown numbers to my landline when I am at work. When I am at home and I answer a call from an unknown number, it is either these “Windows” scammers or some other Asian-sounding call centre operator trying to sell me something or get me to answer a survey.
Just received a barrage of these calls today. An Asian speaking man came on the phone and was told initially not to call back. They proceeded to call again and again. Upon engaging in conversation with him he stated he was calling about errors reported on a PC and that he was calling to resolve these issues. I stated no errors had been reported or calls made and I pressed to find out who he was and why he was calling. I then got irritated and told him to stop calling this number as he had the wrong information to which he told me to “shut-up”. I engaged in more crossed words with him and he hung up the phone. Please beware of anyone who calls you regarding errors and PC reporting problems it is a scam do not engage in any conversation with them.
I have received these call today again. The call came through from phone number 0013034429287, so if you get a call from that number, dont bother answering.
Burnaby, Vancouver, Canada.
Three calls between 07:30 and 09:00. All alleging to be ‘Windows technical support’, all patently not. Atrocious VOIP, spent 15 mins asking them what time it was there, to try to pin down time-zone, spent another 5 trying to phonetically have them spell the command to run to view ‘errors’. I know it’s the event viewer, but their command of english and the ‘phone line quality was so poor, that I couldn’t make out 7 words in 8. Will endeavour to be more patient next time to get company ID/location/TCP-IP – anything.
I just got a call from them. I had an indian sounding guy on the phone, I could barely hear any words the guy was saying since it was so noisy in the background. It seemed like no matter what I would ask them they would just counter with saying that they were from windows support and they detected a virus. After 10 minutes or so of trying to figure out what he was trying to say I just said not to worry about it and I hung up the phone.
I’m UK. After 3 weeks of peace I got another call today, haha, Asian accent saying his name was Jack Thompson. He said he was in London and was a Microsoft Certified Technician .. my arse!
Usual shite wasting his time, I pretended I got two calls on my mobile and he waited patiently. Pretended I had loads of errors in Eventviewer and he was saying “Oh my god thats terrible”.
After having a larf and wasting his time for ages I perhaps saved some other poor soul from getting this scam in the short term.
But they are thick as two short planks and I am sure I will have more opportunities to waste their time at their expense.
Its still disgusting this is happening world wide and the truth of the matter is they must be earning from this or they would quit. Scum of the earth people !!
Have had several calls, last one today from a guys stating that he was “Microsoft certified department.” When questioned he said his company was called “Check My PC” after further questioning he just hung up, number of course withheld. This is probably about the tenth time I had encountered this scam, luckily I know more about PC’s than the idiots on the end of the phone and always send them packing but I try and get company/ contact details first.
I just received a call here in Perth, WA from that very Indian-sounding gentleman called “Jim”, who advised me that I have many problems with my computer.
I agreed with him that it was running very slowly – but how did he know? “Oh we have been advised by Microsoft”.
But wouldn’t I have to have an internet connection for that advice to be received by Microsoft? “Oh yes – that is how we found out”
I explained that I do have a computer, but I don’t have internet (I was nearly going to say that I don’t have a telephone either, but “Jim” might have cottoned on that I was pulling his leg if I said that). “Oh! Oh! I see” and Jim hung up on me.
My Partner received a similar call yesterday. She also agreed that her computer is going very very slowly. But when she was asked to turn it on and connect to the internet, she said she couldn’t, because it was at the computer shop getting repaired. Apparently that was sufficient information to warrant the Indian just hanging up on her.
I’ve just received a phone call from a Indian accent guy claiming that he is from windows dept. He said my computer has a software problem and want me run my computer. I asked him how he got my phone number and how can he possibly know that my computer has problem? He said I had registered with windows or maybe When I bought my computer I had registered with the company which I had not. The suspicions was I just had a new number changed, which no one know about it. He kept saying he is helping me because he is from windows solution dept.and he is not selling anything to me. I told him I need to verify his identity before I will do what he asked me to do. He gave a phone number which I had not known before in UK is 02921252715. Later ,he passed the phone to another guy said to be his supervisor name Kelvin. He said they are trying to help to solve my computer problems. I told him I appreciated their helped but still need to verify their genuine
before anyone hack into my computer. I also told him that I have to be very careful nowadays they are a lot of scammer out there claim to be genuine. He,later put down his phone.
Just had a call yesterday from “Windows Support” saying my computer had be sending severe error reports. They said they had my SSL number to prove they were ligit, when I became suspicous and asked them to call back when my busband was home they said they had millions of users to call and couldn’t call me back. That it would only take a second for their technical guy to run me through the process then access my system. I would know and be able to see all that they were doing.I declined and said I wanted to check out their website first. Website they gave me was fusionfactor.com (which looks ligit) and number was 1-201-257-5635.
Good luck, they are convincing!!
Someone rang me today and i said my pc was from 1992 and that it had windows 3.1 and also i blew up. then he called me back called me an “arse hole” and i should “go fu*k myself” and heaps of others.
Someone rang me today and i said my pc was from 1992 and that it had windows 3.1 and also i blew up. then he called me back called me an “ass hole” and i should “go fu*k myself” and heaps of others.
I have had em heaps of times, usually i just put em on hold never come back, lol!
Same as above, they keep calling me: I’ve tried getting rid of them by telling them by:
(a) I dont own a computer : they then put the phone down.
(b) I use a different provider from the 5 or 6 they mention they represent
(c) I’ll call them back (the number they gave me today was
029 2521 0789): not that I intend to of course
(d) I’ll leave the line open next time so it’s costing them, see if that works
I’m an IT Consultant and just spent the evening cleaning up the laptop of an elderly client of mine who unfortunately fell for this scam and is now £390 out of pocket…
They first asked him for £80 to remove the ‘infections’ he had.
Then they said they needed to upgrade him from XP to Windows 7 and charged him £150 for it.
His laptop is incapable of running Windows 7 (only has 512MB RAM). In fact all they did was run a program to make XP look like Windows 7 (including at bootup – quite convincing.)
They got another £160 out of him for all the time they had spent ‘fixing’ things.
Luckily he phoned me when they said his laptop was completely ruined by the viruses and that he would have to buy a new one. They were generous enough to offer a discount since he had paid for Windows 7 already!
It took quite some time for me to convince him that it was a scam.
I managed to find the LogMeIn log, which contained the scammer’s IP address (59.165.46.51 if you’re interested), which resolves to Calcutta.
Not a lot the police can do about it of course, but at least he should be able to get the money back from the credit card companies.
REMEMBER, Microsoft do not have your phone number! They will NEVER call you.
I’m in the U.S. and have had three phone calls from these people. I hung up the first two times. On the third call I asked if the caller was representing Microsoft and she responded only that she was from “Windows Service Center.” I told her that if she was legit, to email me since that is what MSN usually does. If not, then I was calling my state’s attorney general’s office because her company is violating my state’s “do not call” list (which prohibts telemarketing calls other than from charities and political parties).
Based on this thread, I think I’ll call the attorney general’s office anyway…
I’m averaging about 2 calls A DAY. I put the phone down; I waste their time; I get abusive; doesn’t make any difference. Question is, what can be done about it? Carping over, the number and call centres need to be traced and the operation closed down.
These people have called me 5 or 6 times. They use a “shotgun” calling system that dials many numbers and they respond when someone answers. There is a noticeable delay (even an echo in the line) indicating a long-distance connection. The latest call was from “Eric” who had an Indian accent and he told me he was from Microsoft Technical Support. I said, “No you’re not,” and hung up. The first time “Eric” called he had me going for a few minutes until I stopped to wonder why Microsoft would call me on the phone and not send me an e-mail or just contact me online via an online alert. I became suspicious and asked to speak to his supervisior who sounded just like “Eric” and said the same things. I was supposed to go to a website and either allow them to sweep my computer for virus infections or download an .exe program that would do who knows what. I told them that I would contact Microsoft Support myself to find out about the infection and hung up. But they are very persistent, and keep calling back. Now I just wish I had a button to summon a tracking team who would be on them with black helicopters!
hi
i had a call just now from thease people they clamied to be from microsoft he was telling me how i had a virus and so on an that he could remove them over the phone i then told him that i work with pcs and laptops everyday and that i build and fix them. he then got the hump and told me i was a blackey and a nigro even tho i am white ow an he called me a hippo im 8st come on.. he said his name was adam and he was from manchester calling from windows. called bt they told me its a scam even tho i new this all i wanted was a number but they never had it
Have just received yet another call from the so called Microsoft Windows Department. This time I checked 147 and it gave me a Manchester number but it seems imcomplete! 0161 69100
I didn’t ring it back just in case it charged me an enormous amount! But if anyone wants to bother they could report this number to BT for checking out.
Scams seems to be on the increase by way of cold calls and some of them have now woken up to the fact and have barred their numbers.
Thankfully, I am fully aware of these and usually after a couple of minutes they hang up when they don’t get the answers they were hoping for. I feel sorry for the people who fall for these calls.
I received the same type of call, I stopped the guy’s verbal diarrhea quite fast, asking him where he was calling from (cie) his name (John Ho…nice touch) etc…I then told him that I was going to retrace his call and report him to a fraud prevention unit at the RCMP. Here is the message he left on my answering machine. (Read out loud, like screaming at the top of your lungs with a strong indie accent).
” Bloody Hell, pick up the phone you (busted/bastard? unsure) mother fucken cunt, your bloody telephone it bloody fucken rings-Deling guelingueling (he makes sounds with his mouth) I’m fucken telling you second time pick up your bloody fucken phone I’m telling you mother fucker you pick your phone all you bloody bastards (pretty sure he made it plural there).” He totally lost it! I just received a second call from a different person claiming to be from Light Windows care this morning. Same presentation.I can now(and will) press harassment charges.
I’m still having fun with them.
Following 3 calls the other morning I purchased this ringtone for my mobile http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003EMB2K8 then when they called back for a fourth time I asked them to hold while I turned my pc on, I then played the ringtone on my mobile down the landline.
The ringtone is a heavily accented Indian voice saying “Unidentified caller, to with hold your number is most disresectful, this is first class bulls**t”.
I then said my pc was booting up and put him on hold and played the other ringtones from the Indian selection.
Unbelievably he was still holding at the end! I asked him if he had gotten the message, thanked him for wasting his companies money on the call and hung up.
The ringtones would normally be considered rascist, but as the last guy swore at me the gloves are off and if I can upset them in anyway then I’m happy to.
Next time I’m going to make like I have called a premium adult chat line.
After many persistant calls, I asked them to proove to me I had a problem. He guided through the technical side of my PC that I do not understand, and showed me many Red Error reports. He then guided me to try to delete them but the are not deleteable. after a few more clicks as guided, He suddenly was able to move the curser and had control of my PC. I disconnected the PC but continued to speak with Him. He tried to sell me ‘Quick Heal’ or ‘Q7’ that he claimed would fix the virus. I declined on the pretext that I had no money but would ring him back next week to purchase. He gave his Phone Number as 02032865123 and said his name was Adam Jones. a strange name for one with a strong Indian Accent.
I did call the number back and it sounded like the same guy that answered, but I hung up.
I thought I was alone! This just happened to me today, a guy with a heavy Indian accent called from Glasgow (to my home phone and knew my surname) to say I had a serious virus on my laptop which was on 5000 computers in my local area and kept on asking me to go to my computer so he could verify who he was (which I didn’t do). I asked for a phone number to call back on and he just kept repeating the same thing. When I asked to speak to his manager he said he’d go and get one then hung up. Number was blocked on 1471.
Received a call from a number that just displayed as Unavailable Out of area on my phone. I answered hello and an Asian accent said I was having problems with my Windows PC which was running slow and taking ages to start. He claimed to be able to fix this.
Immediately suspecting a scam I just left him to talk to himself for 3 minutes and was amazed to find him still on the line. I hung up and he called straight back to say a technical error had cut him off. I told him I didn’t have a computer and he said I know you do, I said it was a Mac and not a Windows PC. At this point he got a little aggressive and said I was wasting his time, on telling him it was actually him wasting my time he muttered something I didn’t catch so I told him to f*** off, even that didn’t shut him up so I hung up.
I have received 4 calls now, 3 of which were today, from an Indian voice called Richard, claiming to be from Microsoft. I told him to remobe my number fromhis lists and not to call again, but 2 minutes later, he called again to tell me that it was very important. NOTE: He claimed that if the warnings were not fixed, I might lose support from Microsoft. I told him that I didn’t belive him and not to call again, but had to hang up myself to stop his insistence. He offered to send me proof! The third call was abandoned after a couple of rings. I do hope he has taken the hint.
Had two calls today from ‘Microsoft’ telling me they had received messages via windows that my computer was running slow and they were ringing to help me (how kind). I said I wasn’t aware of any problems thank you, but he said that ‘we have been getting messages ‘and I should go and turn on my computer. It struck me while he was speaking that how would he know which one? My husband and I both own laptops and still have old ones as well. I said thanks, but no thanks and hung up. Didn’t give the time of day to the second one. Its worrying when they have your details.
I recieved a phonecall the other day, firstly asking for Mrs Gibson (my grandma whose been dead 4 years!) and then asking to speak to the home owner. He was very asian and said he was calling from windows service centre and my computer was being hacked. I told him i only have macs in the house (lies) and he was saying well i have your ip adress and it says your being hacked. Im mentioned again how can windows service centre have messages from a mac. And he kept saying, its your computer, do you have a computer. I could tell he was struggling with the english as i was making him go off track. Then just to make his life even more difficut, i told my second lie, which was that i dont access the internet from my computers, only my iphone, to which he replied, well, its being hacked. Hehe. I laughed and he hung up! RUDE! ;-)
JMy wife answered the phone again, a call from Windows service Dept (Not MS), she – for some reason, will just not say we don’t have a PC, but that I am a Network security bod – which I am. So he phoined back i picked up the phone. He started the speel and I said holsd on I only have a Mac and a Linux box. the reply was “You can ***k off with yor f*****g Apple macs you ****”.
Very professional!!
well i got a call ut of the blue from some asian woman saying they’re from “Windows Operating Systems” from the Registered Customer Care Dept, she sed that to go into “Computer Management” and she said there were over 20 errors and wanted me to pay to get it fixed. I asked how she got my home phone number and they claimed from the router (wat a retard). She sed that Windows Operating Systems looks after routers in the region. I asked who was in charge and they sed “John Parker”. i asked for a phone number then they gave me this one “025061278”
Rang it after woulds and it wasn’t a real number.
Googled up “Windows Operating Systems John Parker” and it led me to this site.
Just got a call from the Windows Service Centre here in Switzerland. I was really confused but luckly did not start the computer and told him that I will check with my Mac Support.
just had the cal from this number. I am in the UK and the guy told me I had computer viruses and that they have been tryin to contact me! Apparently my computer had been in danger this week from something I downloaded? I find it strange as I ony got back last night from 10 days away and my computer has been switched off.
He tried everything to get me to think he was from a genuine company yet would not give me the name of it? When I again asked where he was calling from he told me Liverpool?
He tried telling me I was like his father and if he did something wrong I can hang up, he told me my computer operating system, my CLSID number (not sure what that is) and then asked me to go to a website http://www.ammyy.com and to select the button to work with an ammyy representative in remote sharing.
I knew it was a scam as I was also on the internet reading hundreds of posts through various forums about this at the same time so was trying to extact info for others.
At this point I terminated the call.
Do not give any details, DO Not allow remote access!
I live in the US and just got one of these phone calls last night out of the blue. Man with an Indian sounding accent telling me he was from Windows and wanting me to type in some code to help with the red alerts and yellow alerts that he said have been coming from our computers and that I was the registered owner of the computers. I have two sons who are very computer savvy and they knew right away that it was suspicious so I hung up on him.
My elderly father has been getting these calls for several months. Being in the IT industry I thought it was very suspicious – its very unlikely anyone in India can tell that he’s having errors on his PC (which doesn’t even get turned on very often these days). I have answered the phone to them several times and tried to get more information but as soon as you ask questions they disconnect the call. Don’t trust them!
Recently I have been having calls to my house phone and my mobile and every time there has been total silence from the caller. This morning my caller i.d. identified the number 00253820308 and it seems to have come from Djibouty which I believe is on the Horn of Africa. The worrying part is that have accessed my mobile phone number.
Just received same scam myself at 9am this morning. An Indian sounding voice claiming to be from Windows Service Centre and wanting to rix my PC for free due to it having problems and errors reported. He knew my name, my address and obviously my home number – I am supposed to be X directory.
Luckily I had a pen in my hand when the phone rang. When I asked for his name, he claimed, “Adam Edwards”. I asked for his phone number of which he replied “127 517 8932…” I immediatly asked him to repeat it, at which point he started randomly saying different numbers.
I queried his western sounding name for someone that was clearly of an asian background – he tried to chaneg the subject. I asked him where the company he worked for was based and after a pause he replied “Manchester”, I asked for the address and he replied, “752….” and then he hung up…..
Same scam here. I could barely work out what the first guy was saying because his Chinese accent was so strong but then I was put through to ‘Nicole’ who had a nice Indian lilt After fannying around getting me to open msconfig, she asked me to install Team Viewer to give her access. That’s when I made it clear I knew what was going on and she said her goodbyes.
It would be nice if Team Viewer could create something that would backfire on them when they connect, gathering information from the scammers or at least infect them with a nasty virus.
I jut had a call from an Indian guy and I could hear a lot of other iIndians in the background – they were at a call centre. He said he wanted to talk to the house owner etc as everyone else said. I asked him for his company name and he said Windows (not a company) and that I had reported error messages etc… I asked him for HIS phone number and “click” – he hung up.
First one I have had like that.
HAD SAME CALL TODAY TOLD HER TO TURN INTO A TURKEY AND GET STUFFED THEN HUNG UP.
We have just had one of these phonecalls from an Asian man who worryingly knew my mums name!
He said we had multiple viruses and infections on our computer and that he could get rid of them for free. I told him I already had an anti virus and he scoffed and said that infections could get through that!
In the end he was on the phone about twenty minutes and when he attempted to gain access remotely to the computer I immediately shut down the computer and told him that he was a scammer.
DO NOT BUY INTO THIS SCAM!!
We have called our local newspaper who said they will call trading standards and is also looking into the scam.
Even more worryingly the phone number displayed on our home phone had our area code at the beginning!
I hope nobody else gets taken in by this horrible scam!!
I was contacted yesterday by one of these companies. The usual patter was offloaded but what these guys didnt know was that I have been working in IT for over 25 years. I asked them for my I.P and was told it was 192.168. I told them that was the standard I.P start to any router. They informed me that McAffee couldnt detect these new viruses and they were very harmful. I then told them what they wanted me to do before they even started. “So you want me to open up a port on my PC so you can login remotely, clear any spyware etc from my already fire walled and heavily protected PC and while you are at it, you want to plant your own spyware to monitor my key strokes and gain access to my personal files?” It was at this stage that I lost my rag, said some things I shouldn’t have but left the fellow in question in no doubt about my feelings !!
Experienced a version of this – Indian man calling about ‘problems on my computer’. He was persistant over a number of occasions I hung up on him a few times in evenings but he finally got through to my wife during the day and caught her off guard. Fed her the usual crap about computer at risk, full of virusus etc, she should go to this website….(Birmingham based globaltechpro.com and may I say its worth a visit just to read some of the customer recommendations, seriously if you are feeling a bit shaken by this and want a laugh – all written it looks like by one bloke, their most accomplished English speaker Im guessing(!)and with the most staged set of pictures you will ever see)…let us in for a look they said (she did), go to run etc etc they got in, mouse curser moving around the screen, access all areas and they showed her all the imaginery flashing virus alerts and said they would make all the poison on my PC go away for £200 – she said phone my husband later (he did later). They told her I shouldnt have Norton and Macafee on same computer since they ‘cancel each other out’ and let viruses in. First thing I did when I got home was to reboot in safe mode (press F8 key at startup) go into C Drive/program files and set about uninstalling Iobit/Advanced WindowsCureV2 and deleted it from trash. If you try and uninstall it on normal setup it wont uninstall. Not sure what this file was and yours may be different if they have managed to get in. Indian man called back later, there was a lively exchange during which he was called a c*nt a number of times (which I regret having lost my dignity)and he replied with a polite F*uck you sh*thead. Interestingly he tried to keep me on for as long as possible making me wonder whos bill the call might turn up on, undeterred his colleague called back another 2 times asking ‘why you no pay’ why you no pay’ only £50 now, for 5 years, you need to pay. I told him to burn in hell then got onto phone people to stop calls from this type of scum. Dont be quick to think that you are getting your own back sounding off at them or keep them on the phone too long to waste their time, chances are its our phonebill (feels good though!)
Going to be checking phonebills very closely next couple of weeks.
Just got a call from Windows computer department, caller ID from Illinois, the guy said I have problems with my computer. I told him I don’t have a computer. He hung up.
Just received a call -didnt catch his name as it was a bad line, however same old story as all the other posts on here, telling me to switch on my computer as its been sending out warnings and messages to the ‘international server’. Questioned him over this and he just kept repeating himself about the international server and that he was a Microsoft Certified Engineer. I decided to have a bit of fun and wind him up and questioned everything he said and asked for contact details, he gave me a number, post code and company name of ‘High Global’ but when i asked him to spell it, he seemed to struggle – would of thought you could spell the company you work for!! All the details obviously dont check out.
Anyway i told him i had a firewall, full antivirus etc, but he told me that was no good! So i then told him i was a Microsoft Certified engineer, which he seemed to ignore and kept saying about the messages to this ‘international server’.
After 20 mins of me winding him up, pretending to follow his instructions and just questioning everything, i got bored so said i would call him back. Will be interesting if he does call back as next time he will have more of the same (depending on how much time i have when they ring!)
My mother got called today by those idiots. She doesn’t understand English so she hung up, but seeing the caller ID I thought it was probably some scam because we have no family or friends outside of the Netherlands.
I hope they call back sometimes. I’ll be the one answering the call then, telling them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine :)
Scottie – Perth Australia
Just received a call from a “Patrick Di’Souza of PCSoftwareCure at 66 Albert Road South Yarra Victoria.
He addressed me as “Mr Robin S**”. I didn’t bother to let him know that was my Daughter’s name and nothing like my given name.
He was ringing me because I am registered with Windows and he has noticed that I have been having some problems.
Different name – but same spiel as several other calls I have received.
I asked how he could possibly have got my name and phone number, as I had a pirate copy of Windows (it is legit.), and I don’t have internet (dash – I’ve blown that now, too). So ‘Patick’ referred me to his supervisor (same voice, different name – “Harris J Ford”). Harris J told me that they go my name and number from surveys that they conduct. I kept up the story that my copy of windows was a pirate copy that I had obtained illegally under a false name and address. Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) this did not concern him at all.
While we were “chatting” I googled PCSoftCure – all to no avail. I also checked the name/address in the telephone book (through the internet) – and of course I was shocked and distressed to not find any such place recorded as having a phone! (although he assured me their number was 03 9001 1180
Harris J “invited” me to dinner with him and his girlfriend tonight so that he could re-assure me (hell! I have better hurry – three hours to travel the 3,000-odd miles from Perth to Melbourne to meet Harris J for dinner).
Harris J eventually cottoned on that I was kidding him and decided to try it on with someone else.
I had this call yesterday. The number was withheld. Same indian accent to say that my computer was infected and that I should connect my computer to the internet (my computer was already connected) and that he will tell me how to get rid of the infection. The worrying part about it is that he knew my christian Name. I put the phone down on him as I always watch all the scams on TV.
Same happened to me today. I was sitting at the PC at the time, i used an Arni soundboard to have a bit of fun with him but i suspect it went straight over his head. Best quote from him “i will not allow you to infect the internet”
Problem is that some people fall for this bullsh1t.
what nonsense! First of all he called me Mrs xxx (my partners surname, there is no Mrs xxx). When I asked him how he knew all this he said as well that my pc sends automatic error reports. When I he asked me how many warnings & errors I just said 1 (I didnt actually check) he kept whispering ‘to himself’: oh, Christ! – as if my computer was already a lost case. That was the final clue I guess, no professional expert would do something like that!
What I want to know is how they know my name partners name! It annoys terribly that they do stuff like this.
I was told to type in spyware on my computer by these scammers. What does this mean?
just had phone call from our asian friends telling me I had a
viruses, —-when I told him I had no bank account at the
end the SCAM he put the phone down–result.
NOVEMBER 29th
Just had scammer on phone about virus on my computor-
he soon put phone down when I told him I had NO bank
accont.
NOVEMBER 29th 2011.72 year old,
This happend to me, i answerd the phone for my mum and they tolled me i had something wrong with my computer i ignored them for a while then said my computer is fine. they said it wernt and this was the second time they had called me so i just hung up:/ next time im gonna let my dad answer. whahaha.
Only just now my dad called me saying that some one had just phoned and said that Windows had told them that a virsus had been downloaded. Thank fully he just said to them he would get me to look into it and put the phone down.
I cant belive that this is still going on !!!
contacted today at 1600 hrs strange because i had to contact sky
yesterday because internet had been down since sunday winds funny
they should try to scam me today??
We received a phonecall today from a man claiming to be from Windows Service centre. He started by saying that a payment hadn’t gone through and that they wanted to refund the money to us. I asked how much it was and he said 210 Dollars? I questioned the currency and he changed it to Pounds. When I asked for a name he gave me an english name of David watson when he was quite clearly from an Asian country and was not native to England. He could not provide me a with a telephone number to contact him on. He later called back and left a stroppy message saying as we wouldn’t take his call we could no longer have the money back.
So, I’ve just got such call like an hour ago. The guy had clearly Indian accent and had a bad pronunciation in English. He told he was calling from Windows Microsoft Systems and that my laptop is downloading something bad. I told I had no laptop, and he confirmed I had. Then I asked him again where was he calling from, he repeated from MOS, I told that was a nonsense. I asked for the phone number and he didn’t give, I asked for his name and company’s name he mumbled smith, but didn’t spell it after I asked him. I told him I’d report his call and I hang up.
Strange, I live in Stockholm, Sweden, and the guy told he was calling from there.
Anyway, it’s good I hang up on him.
I have just recieved this call told me my virus protection wont detect the virus lol said he was windows service station number is 02032397020
I have just had a call very similar to the one above. Veery strong Delhi accent and first it was a woman, then when I questioned where and why she was ringing she put on her colleague, a male and he said he was from Microsoft Windows and that I had downloaded some malicious files. As it happened I had just downloaded a new browser and so it seemed plausible that I might have accidentally downloaded something I shouldn’t have, especially as I keep getting pop-up messages asking me to download “add ons” which I keep refusing to do and saying “Don’t Enable”, then they pop up again and I click the “x” to get the message off screen. He rang at 7.50.a.m. this morning and I was in bed but he still wanted me to go to my computer so he could tell me what to do, then I became suspicious. I told him to ring back at 10.00.a.m. when I was out of bed! Of course now I have read this thread I will be ignoring the phone call.
The thing that worries me is that I recently had to contact my cable company with a problem accessing my new account with them and it involved them having to “take over” my computer because I couldn’t set up a new email address with them. They eventually succeeded but as per usual I was dealing with people with pakistani accents so I worry now that they have passed over my details to some unscrupulous individual to hack my computer. As I only moved to this address recently and have a new phone no. how else could someone have got access to my phone no. and knew I had been downloading files?
Should I complain to my cable company ?
i have had 3 of these calls in a week, they have very english names when they are clearly very indian – it sounds so authentic but they are so convincing with all the background noises. i have asked them all for phone numbers and been given 3 different ones which i queried. i commented to the first caller that their phone number did not even exist!
I had a problem with renewing my subscription to Norton Security, so I googled “contacting Norton” and found a phone number which took me to company called GURUAID, who claimed to be connected to Norton. BEWARE! I’m sure they’re the same scammers.
Sydney, Australia. Had one of these guys calling today. Same deal as what you other guys have posted, thick Indian accent – telling me that my pc had sent reports to them about a virus. I could barely understand what he was saying because his english was that bad. I then got transfered to another guy but his english was not much better. After about five minutes I hung up. Mainly because it sounded a bit fishy but also because no matter how many times I asked them to repeat what they just said I could not for the life of me understand what the hell they were trying to say. I then googled and found this and a couple of other message boards about this scam. I just hope that they dont figure out that it would be a good idea to hire people who have english as a first language to help them in the scam. Most people want to hang up as soon as they think that they are getting a call from an Indian call centre, but might have more of a chance of getting conned if they are talking to someone who speaks perfect english.
Had the call just now. I asked for a name & number to contact ehm on, they gave the same tel. no as one of the recent posts, 02032397020 with a contact name of Andrea Williams. When pressed they even gave an address for “Windows Service Station” as being 36 Glasgow St. London. I have not bothered to check as it is so obviously a scam.
I had just been handed the phone by my wife and spoke to a mumbling hard to understand Indian sounding young chap, who said he was from Microsoft and told me my computer had a very serious computer virus and that he could fix it .. my replies not being withstanding he told me ” fuck you ” .. then he went on to say he was going to fuck my wife my sister and my mum …. I told him he should try my dog and it would suit him better … what a rotter … no number left of course … is there a way of tracing these malicious calls back and dealing with these twats ?
I just got a call. Guy said he was calling from Windows about my error reports. I have had errors so I didn’t hang up immediately. I asked how he got my phone number and he said because I was a registered user and he had my name, address, phone number, etc. That made me suspicious also as I don’t believe I have ever used my home number. I said who are you with and he said Windows. I asked for a phone number that I could call him back and he started to give me and 877 number. I said hold on so I can get a pen. I noticed the call was disconnected as soon as I set it down. Definite scam.
Well he just called back. At first I heard two people mumbling in the background. He finally came to the phone and said again he was from Windows. I told him to remove my phone number from his list and to never call again. He continued to talk and I told him again and hung up. I hate these calls!
Had 3rd call from Asian sounding guy in ten days. Told me he was working on behalf of Microsoft. They had detected virus infection on my computer.Sensing this was a criminal I asked him for his company name – G Tech Support he said. Asked for phone number, he gave me 02030510987 & when asked where he was ringing from he said from Virginia in the States.When I asked for his name & business address as I wanted to check this was not a scam, he hung up on me. I contacted Microsoft who informed me they never cold call anyone & this is a scam, just as I thought. Why is it that all these people performing these criminal acts are Asian & why is nothing being done to lock this scum away?
Phoned by these people today- the name they gave was Lets Assist. I played along with them – pretending to do as they requested (while at the same time getting information online about their scam). I kept pretending to do what the woman said while not touching the computer. Then I said my computer had frozen and what were they going to do about it. A ‘technical expert’ was put on the line, and I wasted his time for about 30 minutes. Eventually I asked where exactly he was calling from, and was the company working on behalf of Microsoft. He blustered for a while. I then asked him if there was a charge for the service. He said that it was free but if they found that there was a problem there would be a ‘small fee’. At that point I said that there was nothing wrong with my computer and I knew he was trying to scam me. I finished the call by telling him not to phone my number again. I actually enjoy toying with these people. It’s the second time in two weeks – last week I got a similar call from reputedly a different company and played the same game with them. Waste their time, have a laugh – it’s about all that can be done to annoy them. BUT NEVER TELL THEM ANYTHING or DO ANYTHING ON THE COMPUTER THAT THEY SUGGEST.
yes this is done with yesterday ……..and i did every thing they told me they gave me a code of 8 digits ……..i was scar ohhhhh .but now i did new windows instalation …but i m not feeling save …can any1 sujst anything to me ..:(
Hey Guys,
I am from Singapore and had received one such call awhile ago..
It was this indian accented man that warned me that my computer was being hacked and apparently my IP address was being used for illegal matters..
The man then continued on to say that he could help me clear my computer from these threats and asked me to press the windows button and some other button…i think thats the way for him to manually control my pc from where is(is there such a thing?)
I really did not know what to do,so i just gave the excuse that i was busy and had to leave the house..
the dude that said that ‘i have to be responsible for my pc as it is being thretened by the hack’…or something like that..
when i asked him to call me back at night,
he sounded dissapointed…
Hmm…should i believe him? i have not experieneced such a thing in Singapore before…=/
I have received calls like this several times. One of them came at a time when my computer was switched off, so how could she know if there was anything wrong? I asked the caller (who claimed to be phoning from Manchester, UK, but did not have a Mancunian accent but sounded south Asian or Far Eastern) if I could call her back after switching on my computer. She refused to give a number (the caller ID on my phone read “out of area”, indicating that the call originated from outside the UK) but said she would call again. An hour later, she called again and I told her that after running various tests including a virus scan, there was nothing wrong with my computer. She accused me of wasting her time, to which I replied that the feeling was mutual, and the call ended.
The latest incident came today with a call from an “Anna Jones” of “Windows Service Centre” claiming my computer was wrong. This time I told her that there was nothing wrong unless she had hacked into my computer, in which case she was committing a criminal offence. She thanked me (sarcastically) for wasting her time and ended a call that had lasted no more than 30 seconds.
Just received one of these calls at 4pm today. First a lady with an Indian accent told me that my computer was sending error messages she’d received from Microsoft windows. I asked for her company name – line was bad, so couldn’t hear it. I asked where she was calling from, she said Birmingham. I asked for her name, but she just passed me to her male supervisor – also Indian accent. I asked him the same questions – he told me the company was called Global PC Solutions and was based in London.
I asked for his phone number – 020 8123 9285. I rang off, tried the number, but it wanted me to leave amessage. I didn’t. On 1471 the number I’d been called from was 09999 100244, but when I tried that, there was no connection.
I checked out Global PC Solutions on google – it appears to be a bonefide company in Birmingham selling computers and software.
I’m pretty sure that the original phone call was not from that company.
I wonder how long they can keep up this scam for?
i was just contacted by phone saying my windows operating system was expired. i told him straight up that i didn’t believe him and got phone number of 1-888-670-5065
I’ve had this call several times in the past few weeks but only today let the conversation go on beyond ‘I haven’t asked for your help, goodbye’ and hanging up. They claimed to be a Manchester based company ‘Windows Service Centre, Computer Maintenance Dept.’ I said I was too busy and hung up, and then went online and found out about the scam. dialling 1471 on my telephone produced ‘you were called today at…’.
Just got my first call over this, what is a load of nonsense!
I’ve just had a call from an asian sounding guy claiming to be from ‘Windows’.( I thought it was the ‘phone jacker’) – Kayvan Novak doing his best ‘internet service providings’.
He told me that Some error messages had been sent from my computer and that I have viruses on my hard drive that he needs to remove. I asked him how he got my number,he laughed and said because we are Windows and we know! He then wanted me to press the windows key on my keyboard,then press R then was going to tell me what to type in…no no no,that was enough,of course I didn’t do this. I told him I thought he was going to actually out something malicious onto my pc and hung up.
Nice Blog :D
I always use buyers-beware.co.uk to report scams.
Not a bad website to be honest
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Hi,
Just had the call, they took me through some instructions showing me some errors on my computor. When i saw an error sign i told him and his reply was “OH MY GOD SIR, THIS IS SERIOS”… no normal person would respond like that so i got suspicious and asked for his number to call back as my line was bad. He gave 0208 1339 334, i called it up and the guy said “Windows Service Center” but when i asked him to repeat it, he wouldn’t… i though this was strange so checked online and found this forum. They were just about to give me a 6 digit number which gives them access to my computer. At this point i hung up..
Still the calls keep coming. When I am busy, I simply tell them that the person they are asking for (me) is not in and that I know nothing about any computer. They very quickly ring off. I have just had another call, but this one used a different approach. He asked me if I remember making a payment of £128 to Microsoft in March. Apparantly, they had decided that they would refund that payment to me. Interested to see how they proposed to refund this non existant payment (let alone why), I agreed to put the computer on. Sadly, after about 30 minutes of playing around waiting for the computer to warm up and the internet to come through, he seemed to lose interest and rang off. Shame. That would have paid for my Christmas!
I just got off the second call from these clowns. All of them had Indian/Pakistani accents. The first one (unintelligently) kept going on about my Windows files. The second one asked if I was the owner of ‘this phone number’, then said there was a problem with my Windows.
In both cases I just said I don’t have a computer. The first guy was incredulous so I fobbed him off with me being a poor old retired guy who can’t afford a computer. Next time I’m going to tell him I use Linux and see what happens.
had a call from these guys today and i must admit i did believe it as my computer has been really slow< that was until they starting asking for payments< i then told them i was not paying for anything and hung up, im in the newcastle area
Have been rung 3 times now by this bunch. Recently today and they asked for the previous owner. When I said she had passed away they said they wanted to speak to the owner about their computer problems (huh!). They did not know me from Adam and certainly would not have known if I had a computer, I told them I hadn’t got one.
Next time they ring I think I will offer for them to speak to my husband who is an inspector in the CID (lol) !
I live in Holland en the story from me is he Same as above Here, they connected to my computer, andere they wanted to sell me a virusprogram to protect my computer for my live.(€ 300)
I could stop IT ontime becourse i closed my computer.the guy was from India, and he told me his name was Kevin brown, andere he was calling from Amsterdam. ( so he says)
He gave me a telephonenumber 080018000148418, i think he was calling from england
I too have been targetted, in fact second time this morning. The first time the company called, I asked them how they knew I had a computer in my house, they had no answer, then I told them I don’t have a computer. This morning they’ve rang me and I decided to play dumb for a little bit. I asked them to provide me with a website: http://swappccare.com/e/ I said to the agent; ‘so what benefits do you gain from helping me target these ‘malicious viruses’ and how is my house number linked to my software?’ he immediately passed me on to his manager because he started stuttering. The manager said to me if it wasn’t a legitimate company, why would they have a (dot)com website, my response to him was I am a media student and i can design and upload a website within a couple of hours. After I told the ‘agent’ that I was not comfortable with allowing a stranger to talk me through changes on my PC, he then started saying how dangerous it is, I said to him; thank you, but i am pretty sure my Microsoft firewall will help, and with that, I calmly put down the phone.
PLEASE be aware of these scammers, do not give them acess to your PC. Computers hold a lot of personal information be aware of who you allow to access these informations. Besides their website looks fake and they refused to provide me with a number to call back after i check them out online. SCAMMERS!!
I live in East Lothian and have just received an ‘Out of Area’ call from Peter (with an Asian accent) from Windows Head Office. he told me my system was about to crash and asked if I’d been experiencing problems. He said he could prove he was genuine because he knew my Windows ID number. I asked him for it and he gave me a string of numbers and letters. He asked me to switch on my computer and he could talk me through the problem. I said it wasn’t convenient and would check and call him back. He gave me a phone number – 15132 40611. He was very reluctant to say where he was phoning from but eventually said California. I don’t have Windows!
I live in the Netherlands, just came back from a Xmas shopping trip to find a missed call from 001513240611, looked dodgy to me, was curious having had an attempt at this scam from another number a few back, googled it, found this page. If they call again whilst I am home, they are going to be politely invited to take a long walk off a short pier!
My mum took a call yesterday saying computer wasnt working and we have had internet problems so she presumed it was that and said they’d need to ring back when her daughter was home. I just took the call and it was an international call and a lady with an asian accent claiming she was from windows and their office was getting print outs saying that there was an error with my computer. I was suspicious and said I didnt think I had a problem with my computer and she replied “then why has your bloody bitch mother (in an asian accent) been banging on about me rining you back!” I promptly hung up. I presume it wasnt windows and my call wasnt being recorded – not that she had said it was. Wonder how many people fall for it and what it is they are actually falling for :(
I got a call today from a man with an indian accent and was told my computer was going slow and that it would soon crash.
He said he was working on behalf of all internet providers and rattled off a few i.e Virgin media, orange, sky etc.
I had heard of this scam from a neighbour so decided to play along pretending i was worried.
He asked me to switch on my computer and press control and R and then type something in, i pretended to do it and strung him along for a while.
In the end i told him that i hadn’t even turned my pc on and knew he was a scammer.
His answer was “you are a stupid idiot” “you know nothing” “F**k OFF” then he put the phone down. I think thats the last i hear of him!
I have received numerous calls from unknown numbers, many with asian or middle eastern accents.
Always the same story that they have been reveiving error messages from my computer and that my computer is at risk from viruses and malicious codes.
Have been receiving calls for about the last 2 or 3 months and they keep calling back.
I live in Canada, and have lots of friends being bothered by this as well.
Just had a call this morning from an Indian sounding lady saying she was from UK. Wondering how she got my name and number as I am in Belgium. Told her I will sort it myself as I had to go to work, she wanted to call me back but I said no. Am waiting for another call as they seem to be persistant and this time I will record the call, act dumb and pretend to do as they ask, then will tell them I cant seem to do it on my mac :)
Windows Service Technical Centre ‘YOur PC has been sending errors messages to the internet’
This asian guy is working though the Southampton area today. He had my husband name and our phone number and gave his name as Jack Dawson and his ID no as WDG0612 and he gave a phone number of 0208 1330602.
I was off work wih a bad cold so he woke me up I suspected a scam but was talking to him to see how much he would let on. I cut him off when he wanted me to run a DOS application
Scam is still ongoing.
Just had a call from 0016313639897 with low quality sound. She was an english speaking lady with Indian accent, claiming to be from the Windows Service Center.
She told me that my computer had visited a website which had downloaded malicous programs and asked if I was the owner of the computer. She said she was calling from my area. I asked her to repeat all of the above, especially from which company she was calling. She realised that I was not quite so trusting and that I was suspicous, she hung up. I called the number back immediately, and it is not a valid number.
Ive just had a call on my housephone from an indian sounding gentleman claiming to be from microsoft windows, he wanted me to check my computer and tell him some codes because they think there maybe a virus on my pc!, i said to the guy err im not stupid m8 stop calling me or at least try calling off of a number thats not witheld for a start then i might talk 2 u!, He went mad and shouted YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT, FUCK YOU! IM GONNA KEEP CALLING YOU EVERYDAY UNTIL I GET THIS INFORMATION!
I am also a Brit living in Belgium and wonder how tese jokers got my number. My wife took the call (from a woman) and passed it over to me very quickly (“we’re calling from windows” didn’t sound right to her). I took up the phone to hear an Indian (?) male accent following the usual script. Intrigued as to how what was obviously a scam might play out, I let him go as far as asking me to press Control +R. I asked hime again where he was calling from and what his number was. He hung up.
I called my internet provider who have sent me a form with which to file the incident. The help desk indicated that it was so they could eventually block the caller if it became harassment. For action against the scammer, it would be necessary to pass the same info to the police. I shall do that, but to give the scam the widest publicity would seem to be the most effective measure.
Was rung today by woman saying she was a firm called e pro but working for Windows. Said we had a lot of junk mail on our computer and if I turned it on she would be able to get rid of it. She wouldn’t answer any of my questions, such as what her phone number was, but kept saying she’d be happy to give all the company’s details to me when I’d turned on my computer. I hung up.
yes i have been done
paid 118$ dollers and they got into my computer they said they will shutmy computer down i have droped a right one can i cancel
regards
peter
hi peter oldham
you can cancel if they left you a real ph no you can ask for a refund but don’t ecpect it thay will say they will and that they have done it but they dont i got sucked about 5 months ago asked for money back still waiting and they are still ringing when i bring up my rufund they hang up not holding my breath got caught when tired and not thinking straight lesson learnt
Still the calls keep coming. There must be numerous groups of these scammers trying to part us from our hard earned cash. Presumably, they get their information about us by purchasing lists from online retailers. Once you have purchased something on your computer, you are at risk of your details being sold on to anyone willing to pay for them. The sad thing is that they only have to get lucky now and again to make a good living. At least, my last caller was original. I was asked if I remember making an online subscription payment of £168 to Microsoft last March. No, I said, as no such payment was made. Well, she said, Microsoft has decided to refund my payment. No reason was given, but I was required to switch my computer on. After this, the procedure was as per usual. However, my computer is very slow, and it took a long time to get it ready for their instructions. Just then, the trip switch went off and so did the computer. I assured her that it would not take too long to get the electricity back on. Sadly, she did not wait long enough. So, I wasted half an hour of her time and blew my chances of getting back my non-existant £168. Happy New Year.
Chris,
Wow just remember to put mony into your account details of same would be needed. Bet the cash flow will be one way from you to them. The polite but can’t say your name properly person that tried the computer scan on me used the London based IT SOLUTIONS to try to fool me. I phoned them to let them know that scammers were using their good name the reply was we dont deal with domestic clients so it dosen’t matter. These people are also targeting the over 60s Which data base have they had this from I wonder!
I received a call last week from an well spoken lady with an Indian accent who said her name was Jenny Anderson and she worked for ‘E Pro Solutions’, a partner of Microsoft, and was calling regarding my Windows Operating System. Allegedly they had been made aware of a very aggressive virus which was attacking my software, as a result of which my computer was running very slowly. Their solution: renew anti-virus software at a cost of £119. I hung up.
I just took a call from a south asian sounding gentleman on an international phone number with exactly this story. When asked, he told me his name is Dennis Watson and he is from Epro Solutions. He gave me a south London phone number to call back on. I have passed his details on to OFT. Can they do anything about these scammers?
i’ve had 2 calls from these people 1st from a asian sounding man who said i had a virus on my computer and asked me to turn my computer on so he could tell me what to do to fix it, i just said i’m not going to do that and hung up, the next was about 3 weeks later from a american sounding lady, who said the same as the 1st , but she couldnt tell me who i was , she just kept asking for the owner of the computer? got so fed up i ended up screaming down the phone at her and hanging up!
I just received a phone call from an Indian woman who called herself Annie. Said she was calling from the Technical Maintenance Department of My Windows Support and that they suspected my computer was infected with a virus or malware, because I was sending Microsoft numerous error reports. She said they fear that my computer is going to crash soon but they would help me. I told her that I haven’t had any error reports for many months and didn’t have time to deal with her phone call. I asked for her phone number so I could call her back, then I hung up. She said it’s 30218893311. Wherever the heck that is; I haven’t checked to see whether it works. But I’m sure this is a scam.
Jan 5, 2012
Rec a call from an Indian Man, saying he was from Windows E-Solution, or he said Windows XP Solution not sure, anyhow he told me I had a virus and to log into the computer with evendvwr and he would guide me from there and clear all errors. I asked how he got my phone number, he said it was linked to the call center.. ? I then asked him his phone.. which he gave as 505 240-6756 said he was in Washington DC.. I told him Id call back tomorrow.
I later called to see who answered they did say they were Windows and how could they help.. I then asked for there address and they were hesitant to even give it.. I said this is a scam and they slammed down the phone.
in the past 3 weeks i have had numerous calls from the same number just “00” showing on my caller id, claiming that they are from national computers services or national consumer services. asking my if i had any problems with my computers wifi or internet connection. i was told a long time ago about this from a friend who fell for this and instantly remembered what he told me. i then decided to get into defence mode asking him hes name and company telephone number. he then proceeded to say “sir this is not a scam im here to help you” and i say “yea your going to ask if i have a computer and it is full of viruses etc” and he was reluctant to answer again i asked for hes name and told him i had been in touch with the TPS – Telephone Preference Services and had reported them previously and that i was recording the call. i again asked for his name telling him by law he had to give me it and he hung up on me. do not give any details to these people they will get sick and stop ringing you or just do like i was told tell them your recording them
I was called at about 8am on 7 Jan 12 by a lady with a strong foreign accent telling me that there was a problem with my computer (this was not the first such call). I asked which computer, as I have 3 and was told it was the one using Windows. She claimed to be from the Global Maintenance Department of her company “The Windows Operating System” – phone number 020 8123 9257 (the phone seemed to be on mute between every couple of digits quoted). I was suspicious because of the background noise in her office, the fact that she thought Microsoft was the manufacturer of my computer and her desire to know when I would be phoning her back. 1471 told me the number had been withheld.
A family member has received a call today from this scam. Thanksfully no details were given but the Indian Man (Roger!) was persistent and said her computer would be at risk from viruses and that he was trying to help her. this has left her feeling woried about this now.
Interestingly, she only bought her first computer in November and she has had these calls ever since – could it be linked to the purchase, with details being passed on by the store?
The contact number he gave was 08000 148060 – when you goole this, there is a match for a firm supposedly called. All looks genuine, but it is not. I have tried calling this number and it goes to voicemail. Interestingly, this number is also for a marquee hire company?
Just googled ‘phonecall from windows rep about malicious malware?’ and found this website as I’ve literally just had a call from a guy who calls himself ‘John Parker’ (an Indian accent on a very bad phone line, could barely hear him).
He told me that they had my IP address and it showed malicious junk files had been downloaded to my computer and he could show me where these files were to remove them. He also said that my Viral-Software wasn’t doing it’s job and that my microsoft operating server wasn’t seeing this either. At this point I asked for his phone no. and he gave me this no. 02088195911, thought I’d log it here so if anyone ‘googles’ it they get this page.
Several alarms here as I use a mac, I have a very good firewall and have all the highest security options ticked on it AND with my internet provider who are PlusNet. I told ‘Mr Parker’ he was talking rubbish and that I don’t use a PC with Microsoft/Windows as its operating server and that I would also be reporting him.
I contacted PlusNet and they said they would NEVER contact me to tell me this, also that there is no way they could tell if a virus had been downloaded to my computer. He was aware of this scam as it had also happened to him (again he told them he wasn’t falling for it and he know’s it’s a scam).
The very helpful chap at PlusNet said to log this with Ofcom: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
I would advise you all contact them as the more that are logged hopefully they will make others aware.
I think the main things to remember is that Microsoft are a huge corporation, they would never contact you.
I hope this helps!
I have just had a call (phone number private) from an Indian man saying he is from Microsoft and that someone from my house has send in an error report that my computer is not running correctly and running very slow (no-one has) and that to click on ctrl and r and put in eventvwr, which takes you to the Event Viewer and then to click on Application which shows you all the errors and warnings etc etc …. I then put the phone down on him, and he keeps trying to phone me back .. this is the second time this week this has happened. I have googled this and know it is a scam but they did know my name :(
Oh no! i was called just two days ago and i went through the same thing.. she made me go through application-run and this even viewer thing.. i gave my name and home address thinking it was true.. but they kept insisting on giving my bank details but i refused to and they kept saying “its fine, its fine, just put your details it’s fine” and thankfully i didn’t give it! but I’m kind of worried because they got my name and address :((((
Same as previous comments but for me this has been going on for weeks with a phonecall at least twice a week – I know it’s a scam but how do they know my name. I know now when they are phoning as up comes International on my phone so ignore but becoming a bore – had one this morning at 0900.
Still ongoing in my area too, seems that occasionally there are new companies at it with new tactics – one local woman lost £400 last week when she let them connect to her computer. I have contacted local council, MP, Police, Watchdog, etc – no-one can do anything about it as it is international. They are powerless to stop it and just say you should be careful who you give your details to. But these companies are very clever and are deceiving people into thinking they have received a real report and that they work for Microsoft, even though they rarely use that word, and say they work for “Windows” or “Windows Support” which is a term that anyone can use.
I once asked a caller if he worked for Microsoft, and he said yes, so I asked if I could speak to Bill Gates… he hung up!
I get a few of these calls a week, and I just play along with them if I have some spare time – I tell them my computer is slow, please wait a few minutes for it to boot up, then I go and make a cup of tea. I check back in 5 or 10 minutes, and if they are still there I tell them it is almost finished.. I keep them hanging on as long as possible.
Not sure how they get names and numbers – possibly from a telephone directory or electoral register, or they may be buying our information from other companies, eg. your local gas or electric company. But this problem needs to be dealt with at an international level, local government is unable to help, and the Government apparently have more important things to worry about, so for now all we can do is fight back and spread the word and give as good as we get to these f*#K@rS!!!!!
Got a call at 10am today from a lady with an Indian accent saying she was from windows help and support centre and they and been sent error messages from my pc and that it could crash at any time as it was infected by viruses. I told her that I was fully protected by Norton which would alert me to any threats and fix them, however she said it was to do with the windows software and she could only fix the files if I went onto my pc while speaking to her. I said Norton which I pay for would detect this but she still insisted that only windows could detect this problem. Her tel no was 02032391328 and her name given as Kate Smith. I told her that I was not able to go on my pc right now so she asked for a time later in the day, very insistent so I said I would think about it and then hung up. I ran a full Norton scan on my pc and there is nothing wrong with it, so I will check to see if she had my email address. She had poor English and was very vague when asked direct questions. This is a total scam so I did not fall for it and neither should you!
This is becoming ludicrous – have now had four phone calls from these people in the last two weeks, including one at 9 on Saturday morning and another before 9 today (Monday, ie two days later). I have tried swearing, putting the phone down, telling “John” he should be ashamed of himself and I don’t know how he sleeps at night and reasoning with them “We both know this is a scam and I am never going to fall for it so please, mate, just take my phone no off your list”. As long as there are people who fall for it (how is this even possible? how can people other than the very elderly be so amazingly gullible) it will carry on but I would really like to find a way to get them off my back once and for all.
Have just had a phone call to say he was from microsoft and could fix my corrupt files Told me to turn computer on. I asked him how could I tell that he was genuine and he said he could tell me the license number I had to press windows button and r together then type assoc andscroll down to zfsendtotarget where he read out the long number after that.He said thats how he proved he was genuine. I didn’t trust this as he didn’t even know what windows I was using. asked him to phone back in 10 mins and for a phone number which was 02030269204 and his name was Drey. He phoned back and I told him I wasn’t interested
Got a call this evening at home in Spain. Lady sounded nigerian. Said she was from Windows operating system. I told her I didnt have a computer, she asked why would I say that when she was getting viruses from it. The lady was speaking broken english not spanish which is odd for a domestic call in Spain.
Rat identified and I hung up. Bunch of W@nkers
Got another call tonight just after 6pm. Pakistani sounding male telling me he is from Windows and can he have a word about my computer. After already nearly getting conned once I said ” you will have a job on, I ain’t got a computer!” and hung up.
Next time I will not be so polite and will tell them exactly what I think of people who spend every waking minute trying to con people out of money! This scam must be costing thousands to operate with all the hundreds of operators they use. They must be creaming off millions off poor unsuspecting suckers. It is time someone did something about them.
The first call was answered by my mother and, not knowing much about computers (having recently begun to understand the term “phishing”), asked them to call back when I was home.
I just received the second call while at the computer and searched for the company name, “Creative Solutions Windows Service Department”, as soon as the caller mentioned it. When he asked if my computer was on I replied “Yes, and it’s telling me about the Creative Solutions phone scam.” He promptly hung up.
I’ve had another couple of these calls recently. I don’t know if anyone’s posted a link to the article that appeared about this in the Guardian last year, so here’s a link to it you may need to copy and paste):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres
It’s pretty clear from this how and where they operate. Would be good if a consumer protection organisation in the UK could take this up at government and diplomatic level, to persuade the Kolkata equivalent of PC Plod to pay them a visit.
Had a call about 3 months ago from a number 00353 11111111 Indian Man, was suspicious straight way with the caller ID, i was on way out, after several mins of telling me i had virus on computer and being insistent could i switch on for him to sort, I said give me your number and i will call you back,He then put the phone down?!. After several checks found out it was a scam. Rang The Guards and then eircom(would be BT in UK) and the National consumer advice logged a complaint. Yesterday i was having problems with Broadband and phoned the Company I am with WHO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS, I got an Indian there who called me MISS David (very odd) not my name but my husband’s first name, said he would get tech to call me back straight away?. Well i had no call, but i get 2 missed calls this morning from the very same number that tried to scam me before 00353 11111111 ,Asked to speak to Miss David!!! Im now thinking my internet provided has obviously passed on details to scammers, this all sounds very miss marples, but really doesnt take a lot to work out!!and at the end of the day my supplier must have thousands of employees and some are obviously crooks??? this time i was ready for them, i answered the call he told me in broken English he was Luke Dalley from Global Active Microsoft solutions said i had problems with viruses and if i turn on computer he would sort, told him i would boot up straight away he thought he had me…uh uh uh… i left him on hold 8 mins , i check line he had gone….shame….20mins later he rings back, miss David remember me? uhhh yes i say, hold on?, this time i listen in back ground lots of other Indians all making similar calls…. he starts calling me miss David you there? oh yes hold on i say… weve now been online 15 mins approx….. miss David??….sorry i say, sorry how did you get my details again? He says when you brought PC you filled in a card, oh did I?? …is your pc on yet? ohh yes its very slow (not even on, have no intention of putting it on)…hang on!!!. I disappear again….miss David…..he then gets fed up and says something like ‘f**K THIS’ I’m obviously irritated the twat and I’m now delighted. But he thinks he has me, so he calls back…. i dont say a word he puts phone down and calls again and again, on the last call, im sorry but I lied!! I say… i would like to inform you I am a Garda(he didn’t have a clue) so i say a Police woman, i am investigating computer scams, could you help with some questions?…hello, helllllo? Are you still there???..he hasn’t rung back yet????. If I’ve wasted his time and saved someone else being conned out of money or whatever he was after I am delighted, And the information I have obtained I have passed on to national consumer advice.
Had this call today “Hi I am ringing about your windows computer” at that point I hung up. I imagine they are using an auto dialer as I give my number to very few people and are x directory.
HI, I got a call today from an Indian person telling me that they were from Virgin Technical team and that they observed unclean broadband packets being drop and ask me to log into a website call teamviewer or something which I immediately decline to do, I ask them how come they were sending me to a non virgin website and ask them to send me an email…at that point the guy just hang up!!!!..be aware, be very aware.
January 19,2012
Just received a call from Justin at Windows. He said they have been monitoring my computer all afternoon because they are receiving so many Error message from it. He wanted me to go on the computer and in 3 minutes he said I would “see with my own eyes” what the problems. I asked for a number saying one of my relatives who knew more about computers could call him back. He gave me 323-454-1245 saying it was a N.Y. # , but was very insistent that it needed to be fixed right now. He offered to call back in an hour or whenever I was expecting that person.
This morning some Indian who named himself John (right…) called me. He told me they had information that Microsoft doesn’t have because they monitor Cisco routers (some like that). He also said that many viruses were downloaded onto my computer and asked if the PC was on. I asked him what the company name was. It was Windows. I said: if there’s a problem with my Windows, and is was necessary to do things by phone, Microsoft would call me. He pesisted, he needed to have me behind my computer. When I asked again what the exact name of the company was, and he answered Windows, I told him: Sorry, but I dont trust you. And hung up.
My wife received a call this week from a lady with non british/US accent who asked for me. She would say what she wanted. Today (after the call this morning with so called John) she or another woman called again. My son just hung up on her when she asked to speak to me.
I had a call a few minutes ago from a very Asian sounding gentleman going by the name of “Alex Brown” (yes…). It came through on an ex-directory line with Caller-ID showing “International” which always means a cold/scam call. Said he was from Windows and was calling about viral infections on my PC. Although I had not seen this site, it was pretty obvious it was a scam call. Being rather short tempered I told him I knew it was a scam, gave him a mouthful of abuse and told him he should be ashamed of getting a job like this.
209-220-1908 is the number that called me for this. I don’t even own a Windows machine anymore! Absolutely ridiculous.
This just happened to me I live in QC Canada, my caller ID said unavailable name & number. The guy had a very strong indian accent he tells me he’s calling from Microsoft and they are getting a constant error message from my computer. The alarm bells in my head starting ringing so I asked him if he’d like my bank account number and password? He was like oh no it’s not like that I told him he should be ashamed of himself and hung up on him. Jack@$$! These people make me so upset because I imagine my mother she would totally buy this arggh what can we do?
I just had a call from these people, I can not believe its been running for so long and they keep on going! It there anything that can be done about this???
My mum called me 20 mins ago from Norfolk very upset saying that she’d received a call from “Peter Morrison” from UK Windows Support Team. Her computer was sending them messages saying that malicious and harmful material was on her computer and could she boot-up her machine so they can sort it with her over the phone. Another man came on the phone, a “Scott Smith” and he gave her a telephone number of 1274792881 saying the office was in the UK but they have an American number! Thankfully Mum asked them to call back and phoned me immediately. Thanks to this site, which came up as soon as I did a Google search I was able to call her back. I explained that it was a scam and if they called back to ask them to provide her with the IP address of her machine. 10 mins after my call they phoned again and guess what they put the phone down when the question was asked! The gentlemen were both Asian sounding and the line was very bad. Thankfully they didn’t get anything from Mum other than worrying her sick but giving her a laugh when we were proved right :-) The shame is that they pick on ill/elderly people who don’t have the technical understanding to know what to ask…Shame on you, you nasty nasty people!!!
I just had a call from an Indian sounding guy, who claimed to be calling from the ‘computer maintenance department’ apparently my computer is downloading lots of infected files or something, and is therefore at risk?… sounded fishy, so I asked from what company he was calling… he replied ‘Windows’… I said “we don’t have windows in this house”! so he replied “well a MAC then” !! I told him I thought it sounded dodgy and didn’t have any evidence of where he was calling from, and told him I was going to hang up as there was nothing wrong with my computer. He started getting pushy and told me that “I didn’t know anything” !! I told him not to speak to me like that, and terminated the call. Really intimidating stuff though!
I was contacted 2 times in the past 3 days I hung up on them. everyone remember get good anitvirus software like Norton 360 v 5 update and scan daly
We moved into a an elderly relative’s house (86 years) and have been targeted for the last year and a half. I knew this was a scam as another relative in the Edinburgh area had been sucked in. I keep them talking to get information but a website is the only thing I have had so far . It is very concerning that they are targeting the elderly and I would love to know how to stop the calls. I have tried TPS with no luck
I’ve just had an Indian sounding man call me and say he’s from Microsoft Windows Technical Support and that the error messages that I have been recieving have automatically sent messages to Microsoft informing them that there is an issue. He knew my name and which internet provider I was with. He then said that they had identified that someone is trying to open up my IP address to China. He said the support was free and that he just needed to talk me through it and it would all be sorted. I asked him for a number and some written correspondance to confirm who he was and where he was from but he said he couldn’t do this until after he had sorted the problem out. PUT THE PHONE DOWN IT’S A SCAM!!!
Got the first call on Thursday. They told us we had 68% errors on our computer and were required to take out 6 year extended warranty for £360. Said my computer isn’t even worth that so l wasn’t interested. Had another 6 calls since claiming to be from the legal department telling me l need to take action as my computer is now illegal
I have had a call from the Technical Department of Windows Operating System. They told me that my computer was full of malicious files, and that for a fee they would remove them. Unfortunately, this has turned out to be a despicable scam as they have conned me out of a quite large sum of money. I can provide some names of those I believe to be running this scam. They are: Sam Anderson, Sohaib Ahmed, Sajid Ali, and a man named Anas Khan. His e-mail address is khananas01@hotmail.com. I hope that this information will help track down these scamsters. I believe that they operate in Calcutta, India.
I have been getting three to four phone calls a WEEK for the last two months from a company wanting to discuss my Windows security. When I ask for their company name, they won’t give it to me and their telephone number is witheld so I can’t report the calls. When I asked them how they knew I had a PC and who had given them my details the Asian woman was extremely rude and hung up. Now, everytime they ring and I tell them “No, do not ring me again, take my number off your system” they go silent, hang up and then ring me again a few days later!!!
I am at my wits end….how do I stop these people ringing me! They call late at night and I have two young children and am sick and tired of the calls. Any help would be appreciated!
They called me today, very persistent, luckily I didn’t fall for it – but were very convincing
I too just got a call from an Indian woman. I said I was too busy to talk (knowing that I have had a call like this before) and she asked “busy doing what?”….she offered to call me back later but when I asked for her number instead to call her she hung up on me…..I hate these scammers.
I just got a call from a guy on a very bad line with an Asian accent but called ‘James White’ saying he was phoning from Global IT Technicians on behalf of Windows and that my PC was giving off red and yellow alarms or something. I got his phone number adn address and said i’d check them on the website. haven’t tried the number because i’ve seen this thread. he said the adress was 145-157 St Johns Street London 0203 514 0065….
scam!
I have bee recieving these calls for about the past 6 monthes once a week, samescript each time i tell them i have no PC, They cannot get off the phone quick enough, i asked for a number to complain of the harrasment and got given a dead number,, this clearly is a scam that is still very active in its pursuit!
The last call that I had followed the well used text. I said, “Thank you for calling. The fraud squad have asked me to record these calls and pass the details onto them. I am obliged by law to tell you that I am recording this call. Will you give me your full name and the name of your company?” I actually got about half way through my script before I got the dial tone. Since then I have not had a single call and I can only think that there is an exchange of details detween these scammers.
grrr just had some foreign wa***er on the phone telling me he was going to ‘help me reboot my computer’ as I have had ‘some error messages on Windows’ I said I was fine but he just repeated himself … lol yer right mate … was very insistant until I said he had sh*t our calling me as I don’t even have a computer!!!
strangly the line then went dead … and guess what … the last number to call my line was not available!!!
My mate saw my post on Facebook then gave me the link for this website.
Think I will use the Fraud Squad script next time
I just got the same call today, here in Denmark. A very computer-sounding voice saying he called from ‘Windows’… I hung up after a couple of minutes.
I got the same call today, I clicked on and asked where he got my details and how he knew ? he just kept insisting i go to my computer, I told him i wouldn’t and hung up…he called back another 3 or 4 times and then when i shouted at him to not call and hung up he called back and called me a F***ING B**CH
We had the same people phone today, my wife left them on hold for 15 minutes, eventually they phoned back and told her that they would come and f*** her with a bamboo cane, and kill all her family, they read out her address and said they’d be around in 45 minutes. Nice, police are around now.
Just hung up on a a guy named “Jack” with(caller ID indicated “unknown phone”) saying that my computer with it’s windows operating system had been identified as having virulent files downloaded “from international sources”. He called me on a phone that has no computer connected to it (I use another phone connection dedicated to my computer). He just said this phone number was connected with my windows operating system and he was a service tech making a call to assist in eliminating the problem. He wanted me to turn on my computer and follow his directions *duh, ya’ sure, I’ll do that* and when I said I would not allow him access to or would not do anything he advised me, he got huffy and said “Well don’t blame us when your computer crashes…” I told him I wouldn’t and hung up on him. ***BEWARE***
sorry…edit to last message: caller said he was from “Creative Solutions”
Hi there all
Had another call from these scum bags a couple of days ago at 7.10.a.m. !! I was fuming as soon as I heard the voice, obviously Pakistani and obviously from that area as the time difference meant they would have thought they were ringing during the day when in fact I was fast asleep and not happy to be woken for a second time at that time of the day. As soon as they started their speel I just said “why don’t you just bog off!”. I would have ignored the call as my husband begged me to do but you never know if there has been an accident or illness in the family and I resent the fact that I cannot answer my telephone without speaking to these thieving b’tards……
I can’t believe that this scam is still going on some two years later. Why doesn’t the Pakistani government clamp down on these criminals. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh………………………..
Next time the language will be worse.
I have just had a call from these today. 50 minutes he was trying to convince me and wanted to log me on to logmein123.com.
I said I wanted to check this out and put the phone down he called back and I again put it down and I found this.
The accent was thick Indian sounding. He never mentioned money but I guess that would have been next.
I had never heard of this scam before but I shall let my friends know of this.
Feb 12 2012
This scam is still happening. I was called tonight and had to put the phone down on an Asian sounding woman going through the same spiel as in this article.
Just had a call from them myself. I played with them a bit whilst i googled it. seen it was a scam so played with them some more. I did exactly what they asked, except i didnt! i used my “virtual” computer which was actually me tapping on the kitchen table. They asked me to do this and do that and i said ” whowaweewa” i have thousands of virus and stuff. they then tried to sell me a package to get rid etc etc. I asked for his name, company trading number and telephone number to call back on. I got a fake name and number David Wallis on 02032396595.. i suspect this was the next person on his list to call. he told me i was not to give his number out to anyone or bad things would happen to me… Bring it on.. Scammers, but you can always play with them a little before hanging up, might lighten your day a little that way.
This literally just happened to me they called from an “unknown name” the number showed 1322 the 1st time they called, the lady said her name was Rachel although she had an Mid eastern accent, then telling me she was calling from Windows International, and that I had a virus on my computer, I assured her that I have an antivirus system, she said oh we know that’s free, I responded with no that I pay for and I’m not telling You the name and no I’m not getting on my computer and going to the website that she to me to go to which I wrote down http://www.ammyy.com and she told me to download the file I played along acting like I was getting more and more information from her asking for a number she said it was on the website, then I said no it isn’t and that I knew she was a fraud and that if I went to the website I would get a virus I then hung up the phone, after this I received 3more calls from an “Unknown name” with the numbers 1322 1 and 11120… I didn’t answer, and I suggest anyone who receives a call from this number to do the same. It’s a stupid scam and I feel sorry for anyone who falls for it!
I have received several calls from this outfit, over the past year, they normally start off by asking if I had been having trouble with my computer. Last December I did have some minor problems and I would occasionly tick the dialog box asking me if I wanted to report this problem or glitch to Microsoft. When I received a call at the same time they said that they are receiving numerous reports of problems on my computer from Microsoft. They asked me to go to my computer and asked me to type something in the run box. Up came various boxes with red traffic lights, the caller said I had a corrupted Windows program and then asked if I would like to speak to a technician who could help me. The technician asked if he could have remote control of my computer. I foolishly granted him control. He went into the DOS program then said my operating system was corrupted and was affecting the url and that he would have to close me down instantly. He offered me a new Windows operating system for £180.00, which he said he could download and set up for me.
When I said I wanted to consult with an IT friend and that I could buy a new Windows operating system from PC World if neccesary, he became forceful in attitude and said that he would close me down and that I would not be able to use a computer again even if I purchased a new computer or operating system.
I then realised that this was a scam and said I was not going to buy an operating system from him.
My screen went blank, and would not open up again, this is because he had put a password onto my computer, fortunately a friend who is an IT expert had some software that he loaded onto my computer which enabled him to get into my operating system and change the password back again.
I have since received two phone calls asking me if my computer is alright. I just say yes, but still feel uneasy, not knowing if it is a genuine call or not. I can tell from their response they they are disappointed.
2nd call in 3 months – But this time my in-laws receievd a call, answered by my wife, from an thick accented man who stated the usual “We are from Windows, we can see you have an unwanted program on your PC, please log on and we can delete it” – when asked he said the Company he worked for was “Creative Solutions” and when further questioned re a phone number he gave the number 403-456-3965 and said he was in Florida. We did not progress with the call.
Now why would someone in Florida be phoning someone in Waitomo, New Zealand ?????? (not sure where Waitomo is – have a look on a map – great place
Got a call from this lot on Saturday morning. Kept the guy on the run around, and the kids amused for about 10 minutes before telling him I only run Linux. At this point he said, “…why you waste my f*%$*&% time?”. The only suitable response was “… because YOU wasted my F%$£… time!” They sound like a really professional outfit. Hope they call back soon!
Has a call today from a it support solutions claiming that my computer was sending out rogue information. I asked what version windows do I have they did not know nor did they know my ip address. I asked for their phone number which I used to call back , who answered as credit solutions online!. They were adamant that they were proving a service? I did not participate in what I assume was a scam. Thought you might want to know.
I’ve received 3 calls so far. Today I decided to speak with the person. Very thick Indian/Pakistani accent to the point that I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. He transferred me to his manager “Mike” who also had a thick Indian/Pakistani accent. I asked if there was a charge, he said no, but if I paid a nominal fee it would be for a year. I finally got him to tell me the fee was $111.00 (?) Wouldn’t give me a number to call back on. I finally told him I didn’t do cold calls and not to call again.
Got the call today and so glad to see my gut feeling that it was a fraudster has well and truly been proved right. I have signed up for the telephone preference service so always give unwanted callers a bit of a mouthful. This guy didn’t want to give me his phone number and after questioning him he said to me “I see..you don’t trust me”. He left me with the company name which I have now looked up on the internet to find your comments. Thanks.
hi,I got a phone cal last evening say about 5.00 pm and they said there are some harm full viruses that are hidden in my computer and are damaging my computer.First i was afraid of taking the cal then when listened to the man i thought he might be from a genuine company .Then as i switched on my computer he showed me the problems in my computer and the damages my computer had.Then he helped me with a compatible Anti virus as he said and provided the services free of cost,then he told me that there are some fake companies running all over the world and they cal the customers and take their details.But he is calling from a genuine company and showed all the possible legal details of his company.I was very happy and satisfied with the services i received and advise every one to take technical support and help as they are a genuine company.
Where have we heard this before? Nowhere does it give the name of the company or any telephone number. No identification. Seems like self praise to me.
Hi. They almoast had me and are still trying.(persistant little buggers) I had a call out of the blew some weeks ago now from some one clameing to be from Windows Operating Systems. They said that I had a searious problem with my computer but they were calling to help me. ( I am a novis euser ) The chap with a real strong insian acent perswaded me to let him help me via remote assistance. (Great I think) I see stuff going on on my PC that he is talking me through so I’m thinking great, wot a service. Then it comes can he have my card details so he can signe me up for the lifetime premium service for £160. I give him the info but tell him there is not sufishant funds in the account because I am on benafits because of a long term injery and he must call me back in a cople of weeks. I told a frend about it and was enlightend so canceled the card right away and changedall my passes for every thing. Should I do any thing else?
Donte get had like I almoste was!!!!
Well I think it’s safe to say Sean is possibly from ‘windows support’. What a great idea everyone lets all do what Sean says and trust these phone calls when they’ve been PROVEN to be fake…. That and the bad grammar/spelling mistakes kind of give it away.
Remember there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that even your internet provider can tell you if a virus has been downloaded to your computer (as told to me from my supplier PlusNet). If in doubt just call your Internet provider.
Just had a phone call very similar im in the Northwest of England, I hung up on them and told them that if they wanted me to check anything on my pc then they would have to prove that they were working for Microsoft. Hope they dont ring back as that one call was annoying enough.
Just had a call from someone pretending to be from windows security, regarding an issue on my computer. He was a very rude Asian man, when I asked him what version of windows I was using, he told me Vista, which I have never used or will use. He then called me a liar and a Bulls**ter for wasting his time, and that God would punish me for liaring. When I asked to speak to his supervisor, I was called a Bitch and a Motherf***er and he hung up.
These people need tracking down and shooting
Just got the call in Switzerland. Same story. No real info. Said she was in California. When I asked about the weather there, she hang up.
Had a call at 9am this morning. Aparently my harddrive is becoming damaged due to a virus and distress signals are being sent to Microsoft. The gentleman claimed to be from Microsoft support centre and became rather up-tight when I said I currently had no access to my computer. I asked for a number and he avoided the subject, saying he would try me again Monday.
It sounded like there were a lot of people in the background. Somebody needs to sort this people out!
MLC
my mother in law phoned saturday 25-2-2012 to say she had been called by some 1 from india saying he had all her details & that she had a virus & he could get rid of it for a small fee so i told her it may be a scam
Just had the call tonight!
Indian gentelman said to work for “windows” and “windows” had reported a serious problem that he would show me how to fix!!
Oh dear says I!
Thinking how strange that “windows” now seems to be a Company in it’s own rights and no longer part of “Microsoft” (must tell Bill Gates).
So I play dumb an go along with the flow, his call not mine!
Tell me more!
“Is your computer switched on” he asked.
“No”
“Can you switch it on please and I will talk you through the fix” he says.
“Oh dear I reply I am afraid my son has taken it away and will not be back till later”
Him: “What time I will call back”
Me: “Well it is Sunday so he usually rolls in drunk about midnight but Mother and I go to bed early in case he beats us again”!!! (not true but worth a laugh).
Me: “Has this anything to do with the Porn he has been downloading? I have told him it is wrong”
Him: “No No it is a problem with windows”
Me: “Which version of windows is that then?”
Him: “Windows 7”
Me: “Oh yes that will be my son’s computer then. You must speak to him. My old computer’s are Xp and Linux”
Him: “I will call back tomorrow”
Me: “O.k. bye bye”
Wife: “Who the hell are you talking to and whats this about a drunken son that beats us!”
Me: “Did not catch his name but he was trying to rip me off with some sort of scam”
Can’t wait for tomorrow if he rings back.
Gives me something to do in me old age.
Rick
I had that call today (27.2.2012) it just sounded too suspicious, I didn’t fall for it. But I’m worried for other people falling for it and I can’t believe they didn’t get stopped yet, it’s been around for a couple of years.
Had a call yesterday from a ‘very nice man’ who was very concerned about all the computer scams around at the moment and assured me that he wasn’t one of them. BUT my computer had taken it upon itself to let him know that it was struggling to cope with all the nasty things I had downloaded which is why it was rebelling by running slow [which it isn’t] He politely asked me to hear him out because of the ‘problem’ my computer had and that he wasn’t from Microsoft he was from Windows!! I pointed out that Microsoft, whose product is Windows, doesn’t ever make unsolicited maintenance calls so why was he ringing me. He insisted again that he wasn’t from Microsoft he was from Windows and would I please hear him out. Got bored at this stage and hung up.
Had a call today from a guy in Asia claiming to be from Creative Solutions.
He said there was something wrong with my windows operating system.
I said thats funny, I don’t own a computer! (of cource I do-i knew about the scam) -he then hung up haha
I keep getting phone calls from “Microsoft Windows Technical Support”. The phonecall is always a very humourous one. My last call began with a man telling me that i had downloaded a virus to my PC and it was slowing my machine down. All i had to do was turn on my computer and follow his simple instructions. So i said to him (after having the same conversations with this “company” many times before) “Hmmh thats funny! Please can you explain to me how you have my details.” The man replied “when you bought your PC you registered with Microsoft and we have all of your contact details from there.” First of all the PC isn’t even mine, it’s my boyfriends and secondly it’s 10 years old and since then we have moved over 100 miles away from the place of purchase so it’s awfully funny how they managed to get a Portsmouth phone number from 10 years ago when we didn’t even live here! I went on to say to the man on the phone “ok can you please explain to me HOW i have managed to download a virus onto my PC when this computer isn’t even connected to the internet?!?” He went on to mumble and say “errrrrr???” for ages and then told me that he would pass me on to his manager. I could have easily put the phone down at this point but i was well aware that his “manager” would be the man that they whip out at any given time to do the hard sell and i was curious as to what he had to say. Once again i got the same standard request as the other guy however when i told him that i’m not connected to the internet he decided to keep ignoring it and gradually becoming louder and louder in his repeated requests for me to go over to my PC and to turn it on. I was suddenly in my mode of any reason for an row and shouted “I can’t download anything to this PC as i don’t have the internet so unfortunately you wont be getting any scammed money from me today!”He slammed the phone down on me. How rude!
The easiest way to get around this scam is to either put it down right away (they have a tendancy of calling back though if you do this) or by saying “oh that’s strange as i have a Mac computer so nice try!”
I just had a phone call from an Asian Lady. Saying she was from BC something (couldnt understand a word) when she insisted i logged on my PC i mentioned i was already online with my Netbook. (they had no idea what a netbook is) this in itself caused me to LAUGH!
I just had a phone call from an Asian Lady. Saying she was from BC something (couldnt understand a word) when she insisted i logged on my PC i mentioned i was already online with my Netbook. (they had no idea what a netbook is) this in itself caused me to LAUGH!
Seem like this scam is still going the rounds as I have just had an interesting call from an Indian-sounding voice calling himself Michael Murphy! ( how unlikely is that!!) His story is that my computer is full of viruses and he can get rid of them if I will just switch on my computer. I told him I was not about to give him access to my computer and had no wish to continue the call. He switched off, no doubt to try more productive contacts elsewhere.
After this I googled “windows technical department” ( where he said he was calling from), and found a link to Money – watch which confirmed it had been an attempted scam.
same – phone call from what sounded like an indian woman saying she was from microsoft and that there was a problem with my computer. She asked for Mrs Christopher which made me very suspicious, as I’m Mrs Patricia, and Christopher is my partner who lives elsewhere!! But she was very insistent and I very nearly fell for it. She told me to press the windows key and the r key together, and a new window opened, she gave me a password, and at this i said no and that i didn’t trust her.I’m in Spain, i’ve no idea where she was calling from but in the end i hung up on her because she wouldn’t shut up
Just had a chap with a very strong Indian accent trying to tell me my computer had been infected with viruses. He claimed to be from Windows. Now, I’m no computer buff, but I’ll take an educated guess and say that if Windows were concerned about my computer they’d find a way to a) contact me via email and b) have some means of authentically identifying themselves. As it happens, my phone is ex-directory but this chap didn’t seem to appreciate what that meant in respect of his call. I asked for the name of his company and where he was calling from. He said “Luton” then gave me a lot of blather before the phone went dead. I rang 1471 and, surprisingly, got a long delay before a lot of noise reminiscent of the background noise of earlier (like you’d immagine a busy call centre to sound), then a familiar voice says a tentative “Hello?”. Great, methinks, matey hasn’t realised it’s me. I say “can you give me your telephone no?”, and get a puzzled “01223 938482”. I then ask for the name of the company and get “E-Pro Solutions”. “Thank you” says I before hanging up. Needless to say the number only achieves ‘number unobtainable. Pity, the police might have been interested. Oh, and googling E-Pro Solutions, elicits hundreds of E-Pro and E-Bro suggestions. Life’s too short. But I do wish the scammers would self-combust or something.
Father got the call today in Sweden.
They claimed to be from “Windows” (gee… They can hack, but not even get one of the worlds largest company names right?) and asked him to turn on his computer, at which point he turned the already running computer off, and phoned me.
Same story, with an Indian calling from Windows Technical Care.
His name was David. I didn’t trust it and I told him I don’t deal with computer problems, but my husband can call back. He left the number 1 209 227 6966. Fortunately we figured out that it was a scam. We live in Holland.
I’ve been getting these calls for months, even though I have always told the caller (who always has an Asian accent with a name that just doesn’t seem right) that I do not believe they are who they claim (Windows Service Station) and I outright refuse to follow any of their instructions. Got another call from them less than 20 minutes ago and this time when I refused them yet again, I was given a ‘claimed’ Glasgow number (2032397020) After hang up, a quick online search confirmed my suspicion that this is nowhere even close to a Glasgow number but just happens to be the number for three places in Connecticut USA.
I get this scammy call once in a while. I usually tell them to wait while I load my call-trace program and they hang up. Sometimes I whisper creepy things to them like “There’s a leak in the boiler room David!” and giggle. Its fun. I hope they call back.
I can’t believe there’s nearly 2 years worth of this scam phone call on 1 webpage!
Needless to say, they’re still at it. I think I might have a look at this call-trace software malarky, it sounds like fun!
In NZ & just had THE phonecall, obviously calling from somewhere far away, also had an Asian accent, cos of the delay. Asked for a phone number to call them back on but told it was an urgent issue. Phonecall ended with him sying he would f*** me. I suggested he do something more meaningful with is life. Can’t believe these guys are still at it 2 years on. Maybe little ole NZ is at the bottom of their list :)
Hello from across the pond! Sounds like this scam has been hitting the U.K. market for quite some time and now I think these scam artists are trying their luck with the U.S. market. Have they no shame or decency?
Anyway, this morning I got an unexpected call that showed the number as 000-000-0000 ‘Unavailable’ on my caller i.d. (land line). Basically the area code, and U.S. phone number were just all zeroed out. I usually know that means it’s some sort of telemarketer, etc.; although I already have my phone# on the Do Not Call List here in the U.S., which is basically a federal mandate requiring all telemarketers to stop calling my phone#. So that means it could only be from a survey company, a charitable organization or from an overseas number.
Reluctantly, I answered the phone and our conversation went something like this…
Me: “Hello.”
Caller: Some guy with a very thick Indian/Pakistani type accent says, “Hello, is this _____?” uses my first name.
Me:”Yes”
Caller: “Hello, yes my name is Sean” and sir do you have a Windows operating system?”
I thought it was weird that he was using my name to identify himself and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t his real name based on his accent. When is the last time you saw an Indian/Pakistani guy with an Irish name? :P
Me: “Yes, why?”
Caller: “We’re calling from a Windows Update center and we think your computer may have installed malware and viruses. Are you at your computer right now?”
Me: “No”
Caller: “Can you go to your computer right now?”
—At this point I’m a bit miffed that this guy has the audacity to try and inconvenience/pressure me into going downstairs to turn on my computer, etc. I’m also pretty tech/computer savvy, and knowing that I just (yesterday)upgraded and updated my antivirus/anti-malware software (with a very trusty program), scanned my computer, etc….I knew this guy was nothing but some sort of salesman trying to get me to buy their software or some sort of scam artist trying to get my credit card or banking info.
So without hesitation I give him the following line,
Me: “No, I can’t get to my computer right now and I have all the latest anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware programs on my computer already.”
Caller: mumbles something inaudible) in his native tongue (probably cursing and swearing, because he knows he’s been stumped…caught…stopped cold)
Me: “Thank you” ….
I then hang up the phone and go down to my computer to see if anyone else has been called by this number/”company” to which I then come across this site.
I believe I got a call from this number a few days ago, but I never answered it.
By the way…anybody proactively calling you regarding your computer’s security or installed programs/hardware is 99.99% of the time going to be a scammer. Do you think Microsoft or any tech company has the manpower to actually do outbound calling for situations like these? Nope.
Just remember to never give out any of your personal information and especially never give out your banking/financial information over the phone to anyone that you don’t already have a business relationship with and trust.
Hopefully this story will help someone else in some way to keep them from getting scammed. Glad I had my wits about me when this guy called. Unfortunately, a lot of our senior folks that are a lot less tech/computer savvy and a lot more trusting of people that call on the phone fall for these types of scams. :(
Just had a call from same evil, dodgy ‘company’ and although I totally disagreed to give them any money, I am worried they have somehow made access to my computer system. Can anyone advise me on what to do to solve any problems?
Thanks
Got a call this morning from ‘Widows'(Indian accent)regarding my ‘slow Windows’ operation. I told her, truthfully, that I was busy and advised her to ring back in half an hour. She promptly did so and asked me if I was at my computer -which I was – before passing me on to her ‘supervisor’. A male voice, also Indian, proceed to tell me about my slow computer which ‘Widows’could sort out etc. Suspicious of any such unsolicited (and unprecedented) contact from Widows, I asked for particulars of his company. He informed me he was from ‘Quick Resolve’. I asked hin if it was a free service, knowing full well that the answer would be no. I told him that in the first place my computer was not running slow and that if he provided me with a telephone number I would contact him in the event that in future my Windows was running slow. He said he was Frank Williams (a likely name!) and that his number was 0113 350 8424.
Having hung up I googled Quick Resolve which soon confirmed the scam I suspected. The evidence is that they do in fact install downloads etc.(which gives them a veneer of legitimacy) but ones which are unnecessary in the first place, and secondly perfectly free for you to download yourself.For this ‘service@ I understand they charge up to £150.00.
Curiously, aout ten minutes after hanging up, I got a call from the first female caller, seemingly bullying me into renewed contact with her supervisor. Having in the interim obtained some technical jargon from the blog on Quick Resolve, I asked her what my IP address was. She hung up pretty promptly thereafter.
Don’t know much about this IP business, but it seems a good bit of armoury against these scammers, and will qickly expose them -check it out!
There were however some disturbuing aspects of their contact.
1. How did they get my telephone number and address?
2. I am a pensioner. Do they target women over 60 or men over 65? I ask this as quite a number of people approached in the blogs I read concern senior citizens, presumedly more vulnerable to pranksters.
3.Most disturbingly, I did receive yesterday a warning on my pc monitor (that one on a blue background) advising me of some problems with my slow computer. (I had a similar scare a year or so go, associated with some company which was trying to sell me subscription to some anti-virus scheme costing around £75.00 for a year or somewhere in the region of £150.00 for three years. Needless to say I ignored this bogus scare and the matter was soon clarified by an anti virus scan which showed I had no infected files. I wonder if I was being softened up for this latest scam? Curiously, there was no sign that my computer was slow. Also, I had as a precaution run my Anti Malware programme and no viruses were detected.
If this sort of activity conducted by these scum scammers is not unlawful, it is only because there is a despicable tolerance of white collar ‘crime’ by the police and those responsible for framing our laws, not just the UK, but in virtually all countries worldwide.
Yesterday my wife got a call from an asian man who she had trouble understanding. Said he was from Windows and that we had a problem with the computer. She said as far as she knew there was no problem with our computer and that we had a ‘man’ who helped us with computer problems. He said that he would not be able to help with this as only Windows could do it. she was asked to turn on the computer and he would tell her what to do. Being suspicious she said that she did not know much about computers as her husband dealt with all that. He asked to speak to her husband, she told him I was out and would not be available until the next day. Thinking that he would be put off. She then contacted our computer man by e,mail to ask if he knew anything about this – she was told it was a scam.
Today I received a call from this man and I asked for his telephone number and company name – he gave me the name of EPRO Solutions, Midland House, Luton 9BP ST, telephone 0122 3968782. He asked what I wanted this information for and I said that I would be checking it out as I believed it was a scam – he told me to ‘go to hell and take your computer with you’ and rang off.
Phoned me today. I let them tell me how my computer was about to expire and then told them that I only have Macs in the house. They then told me that it was the windows elements of the Mac OS that where vulnerable.
I told them where they could stick it.
They put the phone down.
They must think that I’m as stupid as they are.
Hiya, just wanted to add my contrubtion that I got a call from ‘Alex Gordon’ of ‘Windows Support and Services Glasgow’, who obviously didn’t count on my running a software company and having heard of this scam before. I went along with it for a while out of interest, wondering what he would ask me to to do. He asked me to open up the cmd prompt and type in ‘assoc’, then hit enter. I asked him to hold on a moment while I googles what that would do, then informed him it looked like a bad idea, as the top result was someone saying after they’d done it none of their computers would run. He told me that that wouldn’t happened and that I had to trust him, which I pointed out wasn’t necessarily true. Next I asked him to hold on while I googled his company name. This page came up, and I said “Ah, interesting. For your company name the top results is ‘Beware of the Windows Phone Scam'” He hung up. Can’t imagine why.
But the services the people render are awesome!!
Though I paid money but, I am happy for the services this fake windows support and services department people are giving…!!
I have had a phone call this evening from an Asian sounding gentleman saying he worked for Life Windows Care. Again, like everyone else, telling me that they were getting error reports from my computer which the user would not be aware of.
He told me to turn on my computer and press ctrl and r at the same time. I then had to type in eventvwr which did indeed show an list of error reports ten minutes before his phone call.
He told me that there was a problem with my Firewall and that when I had had accessed a website I had got a virus. He would send me a link which would then allow one of their technicians to access my computer to resolve these issues. He wanted me to type in http://www.support.me
At this point I trusted my intuition and said I wasnt happy to continue as I had never heard of them. He said he was calling from Washington DC and gave me a phone number +(00) 1206 201 2371 and that they would call me back tomorrow. I did call the number back where an American/English man answered the phone “hello”. I could hear lots of talking the background where they were obviously making similar calls to lots of people. I hung up.
I shall be sharing some very choice words when they call me tomorrow. Though I will be asking for a name as they sound like they have some great ones i.e. An Asian man called Frank Williams haha
I received (another) call last night from “Sarah” calling me on behalf of ‘Windows’.
I didn’t get on too well with Sarah, by laughing at her when she introduced herself.
When she asked me what I was laughing at, I told her that ‘Sarah’ was a funny name for an Indian working for a scam organisation. She insisted that she was not calling from India, that she was in the Philippines (same difference so far as scamming goes) and that her English is ‘very good’ and not like Indians who can’t speak proper English.
Anyway, she ended up telling me that we Australians are very rude and then hung up on me.
I’ve had two calls today from Indian-sounding people (one female, one male), saying they’re from ‘Help Desk for PC’ (yes, that’s supposedly the name of the company). They claimed to be responsible for the software on my computer, and said they’d been getting error reports from it. Each time, I told them that this was obviously nonsense, and a scam, and told them to stop calling me. After that, they hung up without bothering to try to explain themselves. There’s no way on earth that I would let them access my PC, but it’s a nuisance nonetheless.
Just to warn everyone they are STILL at it on 9th April 2012
Indian man rang my dad up today and said he was from ‘windows service centre’ He said that he had a virus on is windows pc machine and that he was able to fix it for him. to remedy the situation he said he would get me to download a tool for him to run on his machine.
phone number was from: 1-209-227-6966
http://www.wtcare.com/index.html
http://www.niasbusinesssolutions.com/
personally i would stay well away from them websites above, as they use the same phone no, and contact details..
don’t believe anyone that phones saying their from “windows service centres’ or anyone asking for access to your pc on-line or asks for your banking details, or any personal details..just say go “jack off”..
Received yet another call from a pleasant Indian-sounding lady who had been advised that ‘windows’ have said there is a serious problem with my computer.
I didn’t get off to too good a start by laughing at her and suggesting that I only needed to give her access to my PC and she would be able to fix all my problems for me.
Anyway, she said she would ‘refer’ me to another nice Indian-sounding lady (who had an identical voice). After a fair bit of dilly-dallying around, during which I tried to get her to tell me how she was advised that my PC had a problem – did my PC send her a letter in the post, or a telephone call, or an email?
She then said she would ‘refer’ me to another nice Indian-sounding lady (who had an identical voice). So I have now tied up three Indian scammers – only 1.29999billion to go and I’ve got all of India!
The third lady ‘explained’ that my PC didn’t actually advise her of its ‘problem’, that the ‘problem’ was in the PC when I bought it new. She even quoted a 30 alpha-numeric code which she said was my PC registration number.
I said ‘so you are telling me that the PC was faulty when I purchased it? Right! Transfer me to your PC replacement department, because I want a new PC – not a ‘repair’.
The nice Indian-sounding lady suggested that I was being very difficult, and she didn’t think I wanted her help after all, and hung up on me.
Next time (and there surely will be a next time), I might try propositioning the nice Indian-sounding lady and ask what her fees are for an intimate massage with ‘extras’.
I have had one of these calls about once a day over the last few days. On aprevious occasion I asked what version of Windows do I have and they hung up. Today I asked where they were and was told Glasgow. On my caller display I had international. I asked for their phone number which was 9126 328 725. I pointed out that the number was not a Glasgow number and he said they had “government” number. While he was talking I typed the number into Google and found that the number is a mobile registered in Calcutta. I kept asking what the errors were and how they knew. I also asked them to tell me my IP address but never got a direct answer. A true scam but people will fall for it.
I had one of these today (17 April 2012) so it’s still ongoing.
The caller was Asian. He claimed to be from the ‘head department of windows’ and said he was calling with regard to the problem with my PC. (I don’t have a problem with my PC.)
I asked him what his actual company was called, and he just kept insisting that his company name was ‘Head Department of Windows’, repeatedly asking me if I understood.
Do folk really fall for this stuff?
Look, nobody knows you’ve got a problem with your PC unless you’ve reported it first, for example to the manufacturer, your retailer, your ADSL supplier etc.
So anybody calling up cold like this is a scammer, end of story. Tell them to go take a hike and DO NOT give them any information on you or your systems.
They are still at it – trying to invade Scotland now! Same story, Windows Operating System Service Centre and wanted me to open my computer – I told him he was having a laugh if he thought I was going to give any information at all to a complete stranger! Credit to him, he stayed cool ….. I asked him his name, Reg Daniel, his telephone number he said was 020 8140 9146, and his website he said was http://www.bcnix.com. He continued to answer all the questions I asked him, problem was I couldn’t understand what he was saying most of the time. He said again they had been monitoring my computer and he needed me to turn my computer on – I told him I had a few computers in use, and which one had the problem? For the first time he hesitated, and then said their records only showed one computer. At that point I ended the conversation – but I do wonder how many people fall for this scam?
They are definitely getting desperate – trying to squeeze anything out of a Scotsman!
Just had my call from the Windows Operating System Service Centre in Bolton, UK. They asked all of the usual although could not tell me which of the 5 PC’s to use apparently they are all badly infected?
For your refference the command line assoc command itself does not harm your computer.
Details from google – Assoc
Displays or modifies file name extension associations. Used without parameters, assoc displays a list of all the current file name extension associations.
Also unless you follow a weblink by them or physically change a command or setting on your pc they should not have remote access to it.
Best thing I could advise you all is to say you dont have a microsoft computer and hang up, if you need PC support use someone you know or a reccomendation from someone you trust.
Another new twist to the tale. Just now we had a call on a MOBILE PHONE. Where the hell do they get the information from? Caller I.d. showed +9999100398 James ?? gave a number to get in touch with him:6844288 Both are clearly bogus numbers. Having subscibed to this site for some time we knew it was a scam and eventually managed to get him off of the line by promising to phone back (some chance)
My Mother that is in her 80’s was hit with this a few days ago. A call fro windows servicw Centre. Thankfully she took the number and said she would call them back. She then called me and asked if it was a nother scam. Thank you for this site, I can let her know she was right. The mans name was Allen Greg, and the numer that they game her was 11267770328. And he gave her his extention. it wa 216. She will not be calling him back. I really like the idea of asking the ip number!! I will ell her to ask that the next time any one calls. about her computer.
I am called at least once a week by this bunch of criminals – it is a different person every week but the same script. I have asked them repeatedly for contact details and telephone numbers. Some hang up immediately some give a false number. I tell them I have no problems and they are illegally contacting me for private information. They always insist I have a serious problem with my Windows operating system and that they have all the details in front of them – I tell them they can’t possibly have all the details, if they had they would know I worked on a Mac operating system … at this point they always hang up.
I had the same phone call today of somebody called Mr Hector not being that PC clever. I didnt find anything that suspicios until i came to a page asking for details and offering me lifetime protection for my PC for the pricely sum of £ 180 i told the guy to Feck off but id allowed them access to my pc am i under threat.
I just had the same call again from a London number 0203 318 2917 however when I rang it back it didn’t have a normal ring tone so I have a feeling it’s a forwarding for somewhere else, probably with a higher call charge which is annoying as I spent about 20 mins on the phone to them argueing. whoops ;(
Had a call about an hour ago from Asian man wanting to talk to me about my computer. I asked where he got my number from to which he replied “we get numbers from all kinds of places”. I told him I was on the telephone preference register, he asked me the registration number, which I didn’t give him and he then told me he was going to sue me and he’d see me in court. Then hung up. Cheeky **********!
I just got a call from some Indian lady, saying there is some infection going around, she wanted me to go to my computer and she would take me through the process to insure this doesn’t happen to me. We just said the computer was broken… but even then she wouldn’t stop and put us through to the “Technician”. We said the computer was broken and we were going to get a knew one. They soon backed off. I’m really quite concerned how they got my number, and this is in little New Zealand!
Been called a few times, as I work on my own I thought I would keep them on the phone make a cup of tea and wind them up, what fun wasting their money. The fact that there is a space between answering the phone and someone coming on the line should tell anyone it is a random call.
I’ve had at least a dozen calls from ‘windows tech dept’. at first I assumed it was a scam and my 10 yr old son had great fun taking the phone calls and pretending they were talking to the police station and asking for their names and addresses. However, they persisted and recently I took the call and the speaker was convincing enough for me to take details and research myself, particularly as my computer has been crashing a bit recently.
I can’t believe they still call us after all this time!
Had a call this morning- i’m by no means gullible but they sounded very convincing said they worked for microsoft (two male’s told me this) they said if I didn’t sort out the problem then I would have my IP blacklisted therefore have no internet access! I explained as I have just been made redundant I need internet access to apply for jobs! I was then transferred to a lady who babbled on the told me it would cost a mere £299.99 to sort out the problems found! Then the penny dropped- I asked out of curiosity to direct me to the website where I could register that’s when I saw digitechpchelp.com come up and asked why it was a microsoft page seeing as though they worked for microsoft she replied we are not microsoft after TWO OTHERS had clearly stated they were calling direct from microsoft which was the only reason I stayed on the phone! wasted my time and panicked me initially with their insistence my computer had been hacked and was being used for illegal purposes! I got extremely high rate with her she passed me back onto one of the guys who then started inisiting again they DO WORK FOR MICROSOFT…seems they can’t decide if they do or they don’t! I feel like a real fool for entertaining them and their nonsense- I just hope others read this before wasting their time and / or money!!
Just got a call from an Indian man. So they’re now calling the Netherlands as well. Got the idea this was a stinker quite quickly. He said he was calling from the Service provider for Windows operating computers. We only have apple computers at home :-)
The number he gave me was+44 020 32397720. After some googling it came up (without the +44) as an Indian number as well.
An Indian-sounding person just phoned my house and asked for my mother by her first name; she wasn’t home and I told him so but he didn’t seem bothered and decided to tell me he was Alex from the technical department at Windows. I found this incredibly strange but heard him out, soon telling him that I couldn’t understand cause the line was fuzzy. He said he’d try to get a better line and phone back. He hasn’t yet though.
It’s spread to Malta now. I was a little worried that there was something wrong with my software since this happened in the midst of the ACTA drama – but it’s licensed, I checked. Thank God I found this article to help clear things up.
This has been going on for years, I felt left out…until today! Please make sure any elderly relatives or friends know the basic rule…NEVER give ANYONE remote access to your PC or ANY money unless you’d trust them with your life!
Mine used an illegal number block causing 1471 to tell you it’s 0000-0000etc, but same Indian accent and usual scam protocol. When I googled they are targeting the whole globe, no country is safe!
I live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am 74 years old.
I have read about telephone scam from Indian speaking lady etc.
So now the thing has come to my place.
Had the call from Asian woman saying “error reports etc.” & asking me to click on Windows logo & R. Then Applications & asked if there were more than 3 ‘warnings’ or ‘errors’ I said there were well more than 3 (the pc listed over 23,000 apps & every day there was at least 1 warning & 1 error.) I was playing dumb as I suspected this to be a scam & told her so. She was so blase though as if she was laughing it off that I didn’t trust her. I asked her to e-mail me but she said they weren’t allowed to e-mail people. She kept asking if the computer was in my name so I said No it’s the wife’s. She asked to speak with her but I said She was at work!(She wasn’t!) She said she would ring back on Monday. I’m tempted to give my wife a script to play along and waste their time but she’s not as devious as me and she’ll tell them in no uncertain terms to Fuck Right Off!
I can’t believe this scam has been going for so long and hasn’t been highlighted by the consumer programmes. It’s up to the normal people of the world to spread the word as usual!
Got a phone call from these people today. It was only after I hung up the phone that it occurred to me how STUPID that caller assumes the receiving caller is supposed to be. They’re lucky I just said, “Please don’t call here again.” (If I hear back from them, they will indeed get an earful.)
This Scam continues. I had two calls today from the same organisation. If you string them along, they get really annoyed, I managed to keep them for about 15 minutes. I have CLI and unfortunately the number is simply International. We ought to be able to get this stopped by BT. They or the Indian telephone company presumably have to pay BT money for calling us. Although this is the 5-6th time they have called me over a month or so. I would really like to catch them out in some way.
I just got this call at 12 mid night. I live in the US so it is making it’s rounds here too. I mean really they are calling from Windows Services for my Windows OS? At least say you are calling from Microsoft dumb a$$.
Just now I had a phone call from a man stating that he was from Windows, and a partition on my computer hard drive was infected with a virus which was sending a signal to Windows. When I asked him what company he worked for, he said something like windows pc for you.com I said that I never heard of it. He kept saying that if I cared about what happened to my computer I would let him fix it. I asked him where he got my phone number & he said it was on file from awhile back when I was having problems with windows. I ended up telling him,” listen to me- it’s my turn to speak. If I get on my computer and find that there is a problem on it, I will be the one to call someone.” I said that this sounds like a scam. And he mumbled something like ok, if you don’t want to take care of this that’s up to you and I said bye.
He never once said that he worked with Dell or Microsoft.com or anything legit so I don’t believe him.
They are trying their luck in the Netherlands now. Was woken up at 0800 this morning, when I told the man that he had woken me up I let him waffle on for a couple of minutes, I didn’t answer him at which point he yelled down the phone ”are you sleeping?”, I had great difficulty not laughing at him, he said would I go and turn my computer on, I told him no and that I was going back to sleep, was treated to what was probably a stream of profanities and at that point I hung up. Oh yes, I don’t even have a Windows computer.
I think one of the adverts instigated my browser to resize, you will probably choose to place that onto your blacklist.
HiEveryone!
I enjoy these guys as I lead a boring life and they brighten up my day.
Had two of them this week!(so far).
Today my caller said his name was Michael
I told him that was not his name as his “english” was appaling and his parents would not have given him such a name.
As he continued with his jibberish I continued to explain saying
“Michael is a given name that comes from the Hebrew: (Mikha’el), derived from the question “Who is like God?”
Did he really think that his “curry munching, cow pat burning mud hut living parents really thought they had brought a God Like offspring into this world”
I think not!
I told him that he had become posessed by the devil and he was under the illusion that he could cure sick computers.
I said I could fix his problem if he would like to give me his credit card details I would cast out his devil and set him free.
I included that I also take PayPal.
Nedless to say he hung up so I was unable to help him.
Unfortunately this means that he is still out there somewhere and will continue to phone you!
Looks like Michael has had a busy week!
I was contacted today by an Asian sounding chap who had strangely also been given the very English name Michael. He claimed to be calling from ‘Microsoft Windows Operating Department’ and insisted that I turned on my computer as they had received error reports.
I managed to extract the following number 12138240760 and the fact that he was calling from somewhere in South Asia before telling him that I didn’t own a Microsoft computer. He told me that I was a liar along with a few other choice names and finally hung up. Didn’t even get a chance to help him with his phone manner!
I posted a few days ago about a phone call I received from someone claiming to work for “Windows” ect, but I forgot to mention that I am in the United States. It looks like most of these calls are going to the UK so I just wanted to let it be known that it is also in the States now. It is just sad that people spend there precious time on this earth lying to people and causing grief to complete strangers. What kind of miserable person must you be to work scams such as this? I’ve often wondered the same thing about those who invent viruses and spread Trojans ect… But, one day it will catch up with them I believe.
Same thing happened here, surprised I’ve never had one before because it’s been going on so long!
An indian man names John Smith phones, asked for my parents who I said weren’t in. He proceeded to tell me that our laptop had a virus… when i mentioned all my family had different laptops, he told me that ALL of them were sending virus messages… I asked him if anyone in the family had asked for his help, he then aggressively shouted at me asking ‘do you or do you not have a laptop!’ I told him that he would have to call when the home owner was in, so he’s phoning tomorrow morning… I am very excited to keep him chatting, let me tell you!
Thinking of pretending to be doing all of the actions until the payment part, at which point I’ll say ‘Oh, you said laptop? I thought you said toaster!’
I just had my first call from the computer scammers for a while and I pretended to play along with it. When they asked what I could see when I said I’d done what they asked. I said there was a word displayed – which I then spelt out S C A M – and then everything went silent and the phone went dead!
Hi, Got an international call today from a asian trying to speak english telling me of error messages from my computer, when I would’nt play ball with him (partly because I didn’t understand what he was jabbering on about)he completly lost his cool, F words abounded from his nasty little mouth. I stayed in touch and just laughed at him until he hung up!!
Client got the call this morning from Windows Support. They had a team of at least 3 people who came on the phone. They had her go into the System log and claimed some bogus thing about corrupt files. With the threat of a problem that was corrupting her files, they talked her into installing ShowMyPC(TightVNC remote control), moved or deleted all the files off her desktop and were deleting her windows menu items when the user pulled the plug on the PC. They wanted a credit card to fix the problem. The TightVNC software was still installed and set for remote access although not listed under installed programs. I’m currently looking for the missing files … they don’t show up as deleted, aren’t still there hidden … aren’t discoverable by searching for file names. Might be compressed and moved.
I got one of these calls tonite…some guy from India Windows Tech Support Department warning me about my computer. Couldn’t help him if I wanted to as I couldn’t understand a word he said !! Told him I was busy and to call me tomorrow. I am now ready to tape our convo if he calls back…and then that tape will go directly to the real Windows Corporate Office…this stupid scam has got to stop !!
I forgot to mention, I am in Canada….this scam is indeed worldwide.
My father-in-law, who is 80, has just had this happen to him. We called by E-PRO Solutions (tel: 0208 133 9207). He said an Asian sounding man said he was calling from Microsoft as my FIL had viruses and malware on his computer. Sadly, my FIL comes from a generation of people who believe that everyone is good. Having parted with his Credit Card details he phoned us and we immediately said “SCAM!!”. He’s now on to the bank to stop his credit card and heaven knows what information they have either put onto or taken off his PC as he allowed them to VPN to him for hours! How the hell can these companies still have phone numbers that have been listed for years still being used and why has the OFT or Police not stopped this? They only need one vulnerable person and, sadly, they have probably just found one.
As these call centres are based in India and other Asian countries, they are not breaking their own local laws by making these calls, although they may be treading a very fine line.
All they are doing is calling up to offer you a service, and you can either agree to it or hang up. Yes, under our own laws, they would be banned as their practice is immoral and a complete scam, but for now they are still able to get away with it…
Just had a call from an asain lady on 001222 to say i had a problem with my windows even though she could`nt tell me wether i had xp, or windows 7 or 8 etc. so where is my problem and how can it be fixed. i asked for more info but suprise, suprise the phone was cut off. Me thinks there is a scam again !! Beware of this number
This scam is alive and well in Canada. The calls have been coming almost daily for three weeks now. I have tried hanging up or telling them to stop bugging me. Now I just ignore the calls. Hopefully they get tired and give up.
I got a call from someone claiming to be a “Senior Technical Officer” from the “Windows Technical office†in London. Some guy with an Indian accent was telling me that my computer was riddled with viruses and the problems could only be fixed if I cooperated with him and let him talk me through how to fix the problems.
I could smell that it was dodgy, so I let him talk about it, then asked a few questions myself. His first reaction was telling. He chuckled and said, “What do you think we’re going to do, turn on your video camera and spy on you?!†What a bizarre thing to say and definitely not something anyone at Microsoft would say to ‘put customers at ease’!
Then I asked him how he got my landline number and he waffled something about how when I first registered Windows on my computer, I included my landline number among my personal contact details. Right there I knew it was bullshit because Windows is registered on my computer since long before I acquired my current landline number. So I tested him by asking him when Windows was registered on my computer (which he should have known)… but the line went dead!
Good riddance, evil scumbags!
Received a call today from an Asian person indicating that he was from Microsoft and i had a very dangerous virus on my windows operating system. He asked for me by name but had the wrong name which made me suspicious straight away. He then wanted me to press the windows button & R at the same time i was not happy with this and i told him this and that i was going to terminate the call, Which i did i Then rang 1471 and got the number 01158408095 when you ring the number back all you get is ” this number is not a valid telephone number”
I should add that I’m in France but the call was from the following UK number: 00442071837634
In fact I remember getting a call from this number about a week before but it went dead when I picked up, so maybe they stake out their victims before moving in for the kill. He knew my full name so they may use basic personal data as a launchpad for doing more extensive online research (by searching social media accounts, etc), building profiles on people then tailoring their pitch according to the profile they have of their ‘mark’.
okay i was beyond stupid and dumb and fell for this!!! i let them access and now i dont know kind of info they have encounter or received from my computer!! im really sad i click and download the ammyy file then they gain access to my computer they went on showing the error on the computer!! thennthey tried to do something else on my computer didnt let them so they just hung up!!! i dont what to think or what to do!!! i dont know if the have gotten any personal info!!!
I got a call from a guy with an Indian accent Saturday. He told me he was from Global Systems Care – they have a website, but as it was a cold call I was not happy. I asked for a number to call them back – they gave me a Dublin number. (I live in the south of Ireland.)I called them back but they were slow to tell me where they were based. Like the comment from Sam above, I was naive enough to go through the windows and R button and they controlled my computer. They showed me all these “errors” on my system, siad that a scan showed my computer’s internal security had expired and siad my email showed numerous security alerts. We eventually got to the solution – a security download. I made an excuse of needing to talk to my husband – they rang me back when I did not make contact! I am convinced they got my name from the phone directory because of the name they used. Worried that they may have been able to access info, or that they may cause a future problem.
My sister in Europe just got a call from a company “National Computer Maintenance Dept”…she is really not Tech savvy and got scammed into giving her CC details. Thank god I called at that time and told her to immediately cancel her CC and power off her PC. She gave me a number & I called them as I am in Singapore. They claim they are based in California but the teller had a strong Indian accent. I called them claiming I got a missed call and he tried to sell the same S**T! Claiming there was a problem with my PC and when I asked did they tie up with a service provider he had no answer, I asked for his name he did not give it..he insisted only they know what’s going on inside and the ‘naked eye’ cannot see it.
The number I called was 1-510-3744990. STAY AWAY AND DONT SHARE DETAILS!
After my post on the 30th April i cant believe that these cheeky bastards have tried again, this time i played him along for a while then vented an unrepeatable tirade on the guy, dont think he will call back again.
Speaking of Cheeky Bastards..they called again today on another line and started with the sales pitch. When my sister said her PC was with a technician she said “why?” … “I’m a technician why did you give it to someone else”….the audacity of the telemarketer! My sister told her off and told her to stop this racket of theirs…the sales girl quickly disconnected!
Can nobody do anything about this? It’s disgusting that these people have no ethics scamming people!
Indian spoken guy called me, I played along with him, He asked what I was seeing on my screen I said Eastenders(Iwas watching it at the time) Asked me to do the task again,and again asked waht do you see, again I said Eastenders, He got annoyed saying, You don’t even have on you p.c. do you, I said no, becauce I know you are a scam. He started shouting at me to listen, I shouted back If I’m the customer you listen you me. Go get a proper job and stop trying to scam people,and trying to get information from my p.c. He said I know all about you you phone number is………… and you name is …………. I said I wasn’t that person (I wasn’t lying it was my mums name but she doesn’t have a p.c. account) He told me he didn’t want to speak to me anymore, I said ditto and remove my number from his list.
I tell them that they are talking to the police.
Indian sounding guy called himself David – employee id number:12532 called my ex directory home phone last week introduced himself as from Global PC Solutions – Microsoft certified software engineering partner. Said there was a new virus that invades MS Windows and causes computer to slow down. Long story short I fell for it and allowed them to remote access my pc. They (a senior technician) then ran a programme that seemed to id lots of problems but said they would sort it all for free. Eventually I challenged him when he said I would first have to pay a £170 fee to update the Windows warranty and that thereafter they would sort out my PC. Eventually he grew tired of my scepticism and ended the call. I called their number to make a complaint about the way they were nisselling and spoke to another Indian guy who after a feww minutes trying to justify their actions gave up and called me all the names under the sun.
I am just wondering if you allow the remoteaccess to your pc in to your cmd what can they do with that imformation?
My wife nearrly fell for this one, fortunately I managed to stop her but only after they’d accessed the pc through showmemypc.co.uk. Does anyone know if the scammers go any further and collect other data from the home computers,e.g hacking bank accounts, credit cards, e-mail accounts or identity fraud?
They’re still at it. I’ve just had the call but when I told the Indian sounding lady at the other end of the line that I was an IT engineer and asked for the IP address of the computer she claimed to know all about she became very defensive and hung up.
No, they don’t appear to carry out fraud or ID theft, they just hope that you will voluntarily pay for their ‘services’. The majority are legitimate Indian businesses, but of course this type of business practise would never be accepted by a UK, US, Australian, etc business.
These guys are from KOLKATA, INDIA.
Working under the roof of BOOT CORP TECHNOLOGIES, KOLKATA, INDIA.
They are similarly scamming with US and UK.
Do something to stop them, The software they seems to download is a freeware and the no. they seem say as unique only for your computer is fault, it is a common no with all the windows pcs……
Guess, this might help to f**k those guys……
Been receiving calls for over a month at least 30-40. Sometimes I think that the callers may not know they r working for a scammer. They seem kind of genuine. I’m so tired of the calls. I demand each time that they remove my name and not call again. I tell them every time that I do not have Microsoft or windows.
Last time I was bored so I played along and pretended to type and repeat what she said. She was so mad when she got to the end and I explained to her that I have asked you to stop calling. She said, “I don’t know why u people call us and waste our time and hung up. Isn’t that rich??? btw always East Indian accent.
I’m from Australia and received a phone call today from an Indian lady claiming that she was from the ‘Microsoft Service Centre’ and that my computer was infected with a virus. I was aware of this scam and politely told her that I no problems with my computer. She was quite persistent and said it will only take 5 mins to look at my computer but I hung up on her.
This is how I believe she got my details: I recently purchased Microsoft Windows 7 and took up an offer to upgrade to Windows 8 for a discounted price. Microsoft emailed a link to me to register for the upgrade which required my personal details. Within an hour of registering online, I received the above call. How co-incidental is that??
I got a call like this the other day. I actually went through opening up the files on my computer and seeing the red X’s over some files. I don’t know how this woman knew my address and she was saying something about how they were recieving signals from my computer. I asked them if they were from Comcast (MY PROVIDER)but they gave me some kind of phony name like National Computer Service. I hung up on the woman but she has called something like two times since then. What do these people want? Where did they get my number from? Has anyone actually went through the whole thing with them? I hope the FCC investigates this.
obviously like your web site but you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very bothersome to tell the reality on the other hand I’ll surely come back again.
“and I to find it very bothersome”
let us know your spell checker then and we’ll avoid it! :0)
Fade off of these scammers….!!!!
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September 19, 2012
Have been receiving calls on my cell phone for several weeks that the number is listed as “unavailable”. When I have answered, there is no one there….but today, there was an Indian man on the phone that I could barely understand. He stated the usual about that my computer was corrupted. He had my home address and wanted my IP address and to turn on my computer.
Refused and asked for a phone # to return his call. The number he gave me (559) 529-5300 was answered by another Indian man. I do not give out ANY INFORMATION over the phone
September 19, 2012
Have been receiving calls on my cell phone for several weeks that the number is listed as “unavailable”. When I have answered, there is no one there….but today, there was an Indian man on the phone that I could barely understand. He stated the usual about that my computer was corrupted. He had my home address and wanted my IP address and to turn on my computer.
Refused and asked for a phone # to return his call. The number he gave me (559) 529-5300 was answered by another Indian man. I do not give out ANY INFORMATION over the phone and hung up.
I received a call today and was told that my computer was at risk and they could take me to a website” http://www.helpdesk4pc.showmypc.com” and it would show me all of my threats. They said that they are from Windows and can see that my computer is being hacked. I was asking questions as for how they know all of my computer information and how they got my number. She advised me that because we have a Windows computer all of that information is given to them. I told her I was googling the address she gave me and told her it was a scam. She insisted that it was not a scam and other companies are trying to scam people. She gave me a number of 866-662-2747.
i have just been scammed. silly me. indian sounding men (one called mark) from windows service centre said that lots of error message were being sent from the computer (true because i was on it at the time and could actually log off!) but silly me continued to run cmd then added ASSOC – that was when they hung up! what have i done?
I have just recieved a call from some asian bloke saying his from windows support and that my computer has some virus which he would go step by step on how to fix.I thought this sounded very suspicious as i had a call a few weeks ago and after asking a lot of questions and not doing as he asked he finished with DO YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE,Which i said yes he then told me to F*** off.very professional from window support. This time he gave me the telephone number which was 020881334233 and he said the post code was WD23 1GG we have two phones in our house with differnt numbers so i dialled on the other and some asian lady answered saying windows support i hung up on both calls does this sound like a scam ?.
My sister is getting the same thing. I answered one of the calls today. Some dude with a heavy asian accent proclaiming to be called “Dave”. I told him you’re name’s not Dave, you’re some scamming dirty rag head, and how did you get this number???
Dave (Abdul) shortly hung up afterwards.
Don’t be polite to these people, they have no right to call you.
Had a few phone calls from Indian men over the past couple of weeks. First one hung up on me after I confirmed my name, second one there was no sound at the end of the line. Today was the 3rd time, an aggressive pushy woman was telling me they had received error reports from my computer.. I asked her how? She told me that she was from Windows support and they just know..I said my Computer is working fine and has no viruses, she replied with ‘No you have no idea what is going on with your computer’ and repeared that I had no idea after I questioned her a few times.. she then put me through to a ‘technical support supervisor’ I heard her shout ‘Stu’ in the background then a man answered claiming to be ‘John’ although they all had extremely heavy accents with broken english. She asked me to open run and type in ‘eventvr’ then follow other steps.. I recently paid (through the official Windows website) for an extra year in my care pack.. so initially thought it could be something to do with this. Although alarm bells were going in my head, I was really worried that my computer did actually have a virus! Luckily I went with my gut instinct and hung up on him, only for them to ring back continiously until I disconnected the phone. I’ve been informed that as well as taking payment for doing absolutely nothing they also ask you to type in codes on to your computer so they can install spyware on to it.. this then tracks your usage of your computer and provides them with the password and account details to all your accounts.. including internet banking details – SO BEWARE!!!!
My advice would be to tell them to do one! And add any extra abuse that you feel necessary :)
I received a call from an Indian named Charlie from Windows Service Center on my cell phone. I asked him where he got my number and he replied through my licensure agreement with Microsoft. I said really? I told him I wasn’t home and asked for his phone number which he gave me 347-321-8983. I also asked for his address which he said was 66 Albert Bark Rd New York City NY. The number and address were fake! He told me they were receiving reports from my computer that showed that while checking my email and browsing the web I was downloading spyware and viruses that would infect my computer and shut it down. I told him that I was aware of his scam and that I would file a report with the FBI so they could continue their investigation into his scam. You can file a report when you get one of these calls by going to http://www.IC3.com. Please do not fall prey to this scam as they can hack into your computer and monitor your keystrokes giving them access to any personal account info you may have on your computer. Tell all your family members and friends about the scam. You have no idea who you may be helping by getting the word out, so talk!!!
This scam has now reached Switzerland!! I can’t believe I fell for it but unfortunately I did ! I am always very suspicious but I guess the indian sounding “windowscare guy†on the phone was really convincing as he made me do everything he asked… I feel sooo stupid ! I had never read anything about this scam and that’s unfortunate that I found all those forums and reports after it happened to me! I immediately called my credit card company to cancel the payment but it was already too late… so I had to block the card. Then I changed all my password, did a full scan of my pc, checked for new installed programs, checked regedit but could not find anything… no logemein, no ammyy, no windowscare anywhere… strange enough, I saw the guy use Ccleaner en delete every program he installed before ending our logmein call… then I restored my pc at an earlier date and scanned it again with eset32 and malwarebytes but it did not find anything…
Is there a chance that there still might be something infected on my pc or that they still might access my pc remotely???
Received two calls in Western Australia this week (so far!) from the Windows people.
I was on my way out on Monday and didn’t have time to haggle. So when the nice Indian man with the very English name told me that my window was infected, I told him that I was really in a hurry – just get a pencil and paper and I will give you my bank account and password straight away. Cheeky bugger hung up on me!
The call tonight from the Indian lady who introduced herself as “Adam”.
She told me that my Windows computer was “infected”. I jumped in and asked ‘which computer?. To which she replied ‘the one with Windows’ – but which computer? ‘All of them’ she said.
Anyway, she persisted, and asked my to connect my computer to the internet. ‘I can’t’ I replied ‘I don’t have internet’.
‘In that case, you will have to take you computer to Windows’ she said – obviously thinking quickly.
When I asked her for the address of ‘Window’ that I should take my computer to, she hung up on me.
Gosh! I went out of my way to be nice to her – I didn’t swear at her, I didn’t proposition her, I didn’t curse her ancestors – and she still hung up on me.
Hi there, I got a call today (UK) from a lady and man in India saying she was from ‘Technical Depatment for Windows Operating System’, and that they had recieved error reports from my computer (which is corrupt so I thought it was genuine). She guided me to the INF folder. Then she started talking about somebody accessing my computer from her company. I then said I was busy and she said she’d phone back on saturday. Is this a scam? or is she genuinely from Windows/Microsoft?
Please email me an answer, really not sure what to do :(
Sam
I had the same call this morning, half n hour later telling me its ££89 to fix it :(
It’s a scam – the rest of this page should give you a clue!
I just had the call from ‘Windows support’, Indian sounding man, who told me I had errors on my computer. Went through looking at my computer, manage, view etc., and was then told to do something I was not happy with so put the phone down. It rang again and I did not answer, then found this web site – thank goodness I smelt a rat.
Got a call in California, USA. Same bogus story and then I hung up.
I had a call from number 00390252812010, a Bryan Smith called me with the story as told here.
He gave me a number to use when I restart my computer.
He gave me a mail adress @windowsdepartment.
He tried to get money for securety.
Had a bad feeling about it. Took me some hours to get rid of them.
:(
Have just had a cold call from MY WINDOWS SUPPORT according to a guy claiming to be Martin who gave me their helpline number as 2030262037 and he claimed to be based in LONDON (spoke with an Indian accent). I advised him that he was phoning me on a preferential registered telephone and I would be reporting him for making a unauthorised cold call. He in fairness thanked me and rang off.
Had a ring from a ‘Kiara’ with an Asian accent from Windows Complaint Department who wanted to give me money back! Shock horror! I paid to get my computer checked with a Post Office credit card to the correct amount, and now I’m supposed to get the money back as there had been some sort of discrepancy. She wanted a credit card number to put the money back into it, She was not happy when I told her I had no personal credit card and if they like they could post me a cheque. Could not do was the reply. Surely this is a scam as well yes?
Can anyone from the Complaints Department answer me to verify what this is all about?
Yeah ~ I’ve just been phoned by an Asian fella who said my pc had been hacked & that the hacker had been using my detils. Was still in bed so I said to call back (while I think of what I’m gonna say to him!).
I was called last year with the “your pc is infected with serious viruses” thing, like all the above. I really didn’t trust the phone call, but kept him on the line for about 30mins ~ they’re persistent that’s for sure. The thing was ~ & NO-ONE has mentioned this above ~ is that he said I didn’t have to give him any details & that HE would tell ME stuff about my pc to prove he was genuine.. And he did. .. HE told ME what my IP address was !! And he was correct. This has worried me ever since. How can he have my IP address ??
Just recieved the fourth call from ‘windows technical operating systems’. Indian guy as normal. My problem is that I live in Greece, when I answer in english, there is a pause before they begin speaking, are they fluent in greek now!
I told him to remove my details off the database or I would sue for harrassment. I somehow feel they will call again.
THIS AS TO BE STOPPED, I even had them swearing at me when I said I was not interested. They should be hung by the neck I am really getting cheesed off with them calling, its now 3 times a week…
why is this allowed we have the technology to put an End to this somehow
Hey,
I just noticed your web site: Beware of the
Windows Phone Scam / Money Watch when I was exploring delicious.
com. It looks as though someone enjoyed your blog so much they decided to
bookmark it – good job!
Saturday 2 March 2013, I have received call today from asian lady insisting I switch on my computer as there were problems with it. I refused, asking her to explain who she was working for. All she kept saying was I am from Windows, this call is genuine. I replied that it was not, I claimed to work in IT and guess what, she hung up. I wll be advising all my family, friends and colleagues about this scam. Make sure your virus scan programme is always on.
Just had a call from the indian Jordon Cameron (isnt that scottish..) I am out here in Vancouver Canada. So I guess they have a new territory. this was our first call. I work with PCs so I know it didnt sound right. But this is a new computer that I did n;t buy and my husband may have signed up for something so I played along…most of the instructions were non-threating until he wanted me to download remote desktop software – that is when I told him no one accesses my computer no matter what. And that was the end,lost 5 mins of my life I cannot get back.
Just got a call from “Manchester UK”. They have been trying to reach me for days (LOL. Indian sounding guy told me how to verify the CLSID and help me fix the Windows issue. I told him I don’t have any issues. He also told me to verify they were legit on their Windows e-solutions website. I asked for a contact in Canada or the USA, he couldn’t give me one. Very rude and kept interrupting me. I hung up.
Just got a call from “Manchester UK”. They have been trying to reach me for days (LOL. Indian sounding guy told me how to verify the CLSID and help me fix the Windows issue. I told him I don’t have any issues. He also told me to verify they were legit on their Windows e-solutions website. I asked for a contact in Canada or the USA, he couldn’t give me one. Very rude and kept interrupting me. I hung up.
HELP!!!!
I fell for it and gave them access!!! but wouldnt pay them to fix my laptop and hung up. What hae they been able to see????
Hello, I have just got a call from these people again, I already knew it is a scam, when they told me that my computer has numerous errors, I simply replied that I didn’t actually have a computer at all.Female with an Indian accent told me that everyone nowdays has a compuiter and asked if I could use another computer , of a family member for instance. Why would you use somebody else’s PC if they are claiming your own PC has problems, she didn’t know what else to suggest and hung up.
We also have had calls from this number along with several other numbers many of which were number withheld.
Having suffered this for a long time I found a call blocker and purchased it for about £35 then paid another £35 for my number to be taken off various lists. This had to be paid each year.
The problem with this call blocker is that I had to enter the numbers by hand using my telephone which means I had already received the call. Often I had to dial 1471 to get the number then enter it myself.
After a year or so the scam calls increased even though I kept entering the numbers and kept a record of them on my computer.
Talking to a friend and saying I felt this call blocker was useless I was introduced to a new device I had never heard of called True Call.
I have to say this system did the job and did it well I have not received a single scam call since I installed it.
My phone can be set up on the internet then synced with my home phone by the press of a button.
I can see a record of all calls received or made along with all numbers on the block list.
I can block complete country or area codes or single numbers by a key press.
I can even record calls by the press of a single button and play back on my computer.
This is an amazing blocker and I highly recommend it to any person suffering with scam calls.
Check it out here.
https://www.truecall.co.uk/home.aspx
A major point with True Call is that they will set it all up for you on the web site then sync it with your home phone they are so helpful it is amazing.
I had this call today, immediately told the man that he was talking bull s**t. Claimed to be from Windows, but when asked him to confirm that he was from Microsoft he said no. I have had enough of this type of call at work, so told him was a con man. He then claimed that his call was to help me, again I called him a con man and he hung up. Why do we put up with this rubbish? It’s about time that as a country we said no to these people and hunt them down. What things are these cons funding, terrorism? In turn India and it’s neighbours should stop these cons, if not then we should pull out of all the call centres being run out there. They know who does it, they know that they could stop this but there is too much money involved. Come on UK stand up for yourselves and fight back. Tell them to get stuffed, call them con men, but most of all let them know that we are on to them!
I was called today too – Connecticut, usa
I was suspicious, but as I just purchased a PC I let it go on a little…I looked up the command he had me type in the run line, and when it said the folder was self regulating – I asked what version of Windows I was running – he got it wrong – I hung up.
geeze how gullible am I!
Same story in Erie, PA USA. First call from Microsoft service Center, they told me my PC had been downloading viruses for 2 weeks but they could help me fix it. All I had to do was log on to my computer. Hello! Then insisted I go log on. I told him I wasnt home and Hello! Actually asked where I was. I then explained we were an Apple household so we wouldn’t be needing his services. Got a call 2 hours later, same number but they hung up. Then again today, different guy, slightly varied story, from the Technical Support Department at Windows. I stopped him and told him never to call here again and Hello! Screamed f#%# you and hung up. Not very nice.
Just got a call from an unlisted # claiming I needed to get into my computer and make changes to it so that people could not get info off it. It was an Asian man with broken English. Why would I do anything to my computer when someone with an unlisted phone # calls me unsolicited and tells me to make changes to my computer. Was he spying on me? Did he want me to buy some program….. Don’t know but, did not talk to him long enough for him to gain anything.
I had a caller today. He had an Asian accent and was either an Asian Christian or possibly a converted Christian. I came to this conclusion because he introduced himself as Max Cooper. Or maybe he had been watching Comedy Gold and came across a guy with a fez on. Anyway, he told me that I had problems with my Windows and I replied, ‘there can’t be because my wife had just paid the window cleaner.’ I don’t think it is too difficult to work out that he was a conman, hence, I put the phone down just ‘like that’.
This scam is still happening. I just got a call today from someone claiming to be from windows asking me to run “eventvr” on my computer. Thankfully I Figured out it was a scam before allowing them access to my computer
I received 4 “no caller id” phone calls on my cell phone before I finally answered it. It was a man with a heavy Indian accent informing me that my computer was infected with malware that was leaving personal information. I asked his employee id number. He stuttered and kept up with his sales pitch. Then I asked him to email me information so that I could check it out to verify the issues with Microsoft. He said ok, hung up, and I haven’t received another phone call. I’m not surprised at all to find that it was a scam! I only hesitated because I initially spent a ton of time with the Indian customer service to figure out my windows 8 system.
Yes, still going on – received a call yesterday. As we are with the TPS I asked where he got my number from. He said when you buy a computer your details are passed on. I found this very hard to believe as he didn’t address me by my name when I answered the phone! He said my computer had been sending warning messages to them. I told him I had had enough of his sh1t and put the phone down!
I take pleasure in, result in I discovered just what I used to be having a look for.
You have ended my 4 day long hunt! God Bless you man.
Have a great day. Bye
I received a call from these arseholes today. I had just returned from the funeral of a family member and was having to go back out when I answered the phone. An African sounding lady told me she was from Microsoft technical support and that my laptop was having problems and I needed to switch my computer on so she could talk me through it. I explained my computer was running fine as it had been formatted only a month ago. She kept insisting I switch it on even though I explained I was busy having just attended a funeral. She then told me she was cancelling my windows account so my internet would be rendered useless unless I did as she said!!! I told her I had friends who were software engineers who routinely check out my laptop for problems and say its fine and she said its not software related so I need to switch my laptop on. Being in an emotional state I started getting annoyed at her persistence and attitude and asked to speak to her manager ‘I am the manager’ her replied, the more I asked she then started saying NO. She called me a ‘hacker’ and that my account would be cancelled by 5pm, again unless I went through the procedure with her. I had no idea at the time this was a scam but she gave me my name and address which I refused to acknowledge. I tried to hang up but when I lifted the receiver she was still there! I pulled the phone out and tried again and she wouldn’t hang up and just kept telling me to calm down and turn my computer on. I was screaming down the phone at her telling her to get off my line or id ring the police and she kept refusing saying she was cutting off my internet access by 5pm. This awful ordeal lasted nearly 15 minutes, with her refusing to answer my questions but demanding i do as she said and refusing to hang up. Ordinarily id never have bothered speaking and just hung up but I had no idea what this was about till I checked on the internet afterwards. I’ve no idea who this bitch was but after the day id had I swear she wouldn’t have hands left to pick a phone up with if I found her. I’ve never in my life experienced anything like that and it’s yet another reason I hate having a land line when BT seem unable to filter out these wastes of human life
I received a call from these arseholes today. I had just returned from the funeral of a family member and was having to go back out when I answered the phone. An African sounding lady told me she was from Microsoft technical support and that my laptop was having problems and I needed to switch my computer on so she could talk me through it. I explained my computer was running fine as it had been formatted only a month ago. She kept insisting I switch it on even though I explained I was busy having just attended a funeral. She then told me she was cancelling my windows account so my internet would be rendered useless unless I did as she said!!! I told her I had friends who were software engineers who routinely check out my laptop for problems and say its fine and she said its not software related so I need to switch my laptop on. Being in an emotional state I started getting annoyed at her persistence and attitude and asked to speak to her manager ‘I am the manager’ her replied, the more I asked she then started saying NO. She called me a ‘hacker’ and that my account would be cancelled by 5pm, again unless I went through the procedure with her. I had no idea at the time this was a scam but she gave me my name and address which I refused to acknowledge. I tried to hang up but when I lifted the receiver she was still there! I pulled the phone out and tried again and she wouldn’t hang up and just kept telling me to calm down and turn my computer on. I was screaming down the phone at her telling her to get off my line or id ring the police and she kept refusing saying she was cutting off my internet access by 5pm. This awful ordeal lasted nearly 15 minutes, with her refusing to answer my questions but demanding i do as she said and refusing to hang up. Ordinarily id never have bothered speaking and just hung up but I had no idea what this was about till I checked on the internet afterwards. I’ve no idea who this bitch was but after the day id had I swear she wouldn’t have hands left to pick a phone up with if I found her. I’ve never in my life experienced anything like that and it’s yet another reason I hate having a land line when BT seem unable to filter out these wastes of human life
Someone called Bina/Beaner (female) just rang to tell me that Microsoft Windows owes me £89. This same woman rang me in August with the same scam. I let her waffle on, after all it was her telephone charges not mine, but when we got to the bit where I was supposed to give her my bank details I told her I knew it was a scam and that I wasn’t going to tell her anything, and put the phone down. Obviously the lessons at the charm school were wasted on her because she rang back and shouted down the phone, what she said exactly I wasn’t sure because her accent had thickened considerably, but the “f” word was repeated several times. I’m an OAP, I found this upsetting, distasteful and disgraceful. How dare these people try and steal from me? I don’t go around trying to relieve other people of their money or property. What scares me is that she knew my name, address, and date of birth, none of which I can change.
Have just had one of these calls. I let him go through the script and then told him I wasn’t born yesterday and hung up. No further calls so far. We have caller ID and the number was 0851701568 and I think the company name was Wizard Computer Solutions. Is there no way the authorities can stop them if they know the number being used.
Received 2 calls in last 3 days. One man, one woman, both South Asian.
Said they were from Windows Support, and that they had identified a “serious problem on my computer,
I asked how they had accessed my computer without my permission. I got a bunch of gobbledegook in reply.
Asked me to open my computer.
I said that I assumed that they would want me to give access to my computer, and that I had no intention of doing that.
They hung up.
I called the police on 101 to report the scam. Police took details and said they would pass it on to Fraud Unit of Metropolitan Police. Gave me crime number.
As an aside, my brother in law, who is 84, has received several of these calls. When he points out that he does not have a computer they lose interest. One called him a liar!
Would recommend anybody receiving these calls to contact police on 101 (in UK). They are very helpful.
An Indian girl rang me up on my mobile phone on Friday 2nd May 2014 claiming to be 3rd Party helper from Microsoft, and she has authority from Microsoft to repair my computer windows 8, she can even give the computer registration number, she said the reason she wants to repair my computer is because my computer has sent error report to Microsoft saying there is something critically wrong with the computer. I replied to her that I do not have access to my own computer, so, I use my neighbours computer, and that is an XP laptop.
Then the Indian Gal said to me she will pass me on to her manger, who turned out to another Indian guy (probably once worked as coder for Microsoft helping produce W8, W7 or Vista) he said to me that it is an order to me from Microsoft (and Homeland Security, and NSA) that I must give him access to my computer so he can Repair my computer on behalf of Microsoft. But he seems to bit more knowledgeable and did not mention what OS system he intended to repair on my Laptop, W8? W7 etc, but kept repeating the same line as the Indian Gal that my computer has sent error report to Microsoft, so my computer needs to be checked by 3rd Party Microsoft operator. There will be no charge for the service but if there is problem that he cannot resolve, in that case the computer will need to checked by their team for virus and there will be cost involved.
I told him to call back, at 1pm and as I was on my Bus journey to Alperton NW London, about 1:30pm the Indian Gal called back and said they were ready to repair my computer if I was sitting in front of the computer? I told them that I was on bus so they will have to call be back on Saturday 3 May anytime. So then she put me through the her Manager Indian Guy who insisted that I must let him repair my Microsoft Computer and threaten me that Microsoft will never ever help me again if I refuse to let him repair my laptop.
After this con scenario I will strongly recommend to Microsoft that DO NOT ever employ folks from India as Coders or software producer because they share Microsoft Software venerability inside secrets with bunch of millions or billions of young Indian thief who are Indian Computer Technical College students , and they in turn open up corner shops to con decent respectable folks in EU, USA, UK etc so just employ them as toilet cleaners and carpet sweepers, and don’t let them anywhere near MS software.
My mother took a call from this number today, they are now trying a different scam. In this call the person claimed to be from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and they were aware that my mother had been scammed previously, due to the recent successes by Microsoft in closing down several Botnets, and there was a compensation fund that could refund my mother her previously lost money. At which point he told my mother to “switch her computer on” – At this point my mother told him “she didn’t do this any more and needed to speak to her son” (me) Needless to say, I knew this was a scam, however this one seems even more wicked, given they are trying to prey on people they have already previously successfully scammed, so please be aware
And so the saga continues! This is my second stint with these “companies” claiming I have a serious problem with my computer. Funny because my very competent IT expert had only checked it over a month ago. But still they phone me daily, sometimes twice a day as in today, and have done for around 3 weeks. The authorities need to do something about this, maybe banning non-UK companies from getting UK O8/01 numbers. I just keep thinking what goes around comes around and something will come along to kick them in the behind on my behalf!
This morning I received a call (withheld number) from a female with an Asian (Indian) accent. She said she was from Windows Technical Support and told me that my computer has a recent fault which requires correcting. I said that she was lying, as my computer was definitely OK. She then hung up. About 20 minutes later, I received another call from someone, who sounded English and called himself Peter. When I asked where he was calling from he just said “f*** off” and hung up.
Indian women called me today talking nonsense about my computer :(((
Her ph.#….203-026-2037…
Be aware …they are bunch of scammers and hackers !!!
Had the same thing today, Indian lady called & asked me to switch on my computer, I said it was a scam & she was really abusive so I put the phone down. Immediately I had a call from an indian guy who said that he would get his skinny black ass behind me & screw me for every penny, then proceeded to say that I should beware of cars in the street & I was going to get run over, shortly before he told me I was nothing! I was so shocked, imagine if I were a vulnerable person. This cant be allowed to continue. Has anyone else experienced abuse like this?
Received a call for the 4th time from an organisation called Computer Maintenance Department. (I did not take the previous 3 calls as I don’t know anyone who would contact me from overseas). The phones display showed it was an International call and I was intrigued by this so I answered. The woman at the other end of the phone, who had an Asian accent, said they were based in Oxford England. I said why does my display shows that the call is international? to which the reply was that my telephone line is corrupted and giving out the wrong information. (Can you believe this?). Anyhow, I went along with her call and she asked me what key was next to the CTRL key? I told her alt. At which point she said that her supervisor would speak to me. The guy, also with an Asian accent, asked me to type in the address bar http://www.teamviewer.com. When the site opened I then knew the call was a scam. Why? Because it is a software that a a remote site organisation/person can access your computer and obtain all you personal information.
So please, please be aware of this scam. Thank you
I had a call yesterday from an Asian woman claiming to be from windows IT and telling me that hackers had gained access to my computer. Told her where to go and she hung up. Then today an Asian man called Alex called with the same so told him I would not open my computer so leave me alone, I put the phone down on him and he called me back so I hung up again but he still called again so asked for his supervisor and another man came in trying to claim he was from windows and if I put the code in on my computer it would verify who he was so I told him that if he called again I would call the police and this was harassment and if he called again I would be taking them to court the I hung up. I’m hoping this will stop them. I did do 1471 but the no was just 000 so don’t have a no to give the police.
You might like this comment at least it is amusing. My wife and I are both over 70. I am deaf and somewhat computer literate my wife has no idea about computers. Had a phone call today from an international number claiming to be Microsoft Windows Service Centre that my computer had a problem that was now critical and nothing to do with viruses. My wife couldn’t convince the caller that there was anyone who didn’t know about computers and that I was deaf so didn’t hear well on the phone. After15 minutes she eventually put the phone down. Enough said.
Got a call this morning Tel. No. 00136055501 said to be from Technical Maintenance Dept, of Windows. I hung up.
got a call just now,13;30 from a windows guy.i live in hollad so they are trying in another country.my wife took the call and told him to come to our house.after 5 minutes he told her to get fucked.she replied with the same comment and hung up.love these calls,but if you don’t know this scamm,it can cost you all your privat things on your computer.he asked to log in.lol.be warned people.
Just received a call this afternoon from an Asian sounding guy who said he was from Windows Service Station and that there was a serious error with my computer. He wanted me to log into my computer so he could help me resolve the problem, when I said that I wasn’t going to do this as I had no idea who he was and whether this was a scam he gave me a number that was supposed to be unique to my windows access. When I continued to say he could be scamming me he increased the pressure by saying that he was only trying to help me and that if I did not do what he was asking I would lose my access to emails and no-one would be able to fix it for me once that happened. In the end he gave up when I continued to argue that he was trying to scam me and just before putting the phone down he told me I would be unable to access my emails or Windows system within half an hour as he was shutting it down! Please do not fall for this, as this message proves I have not been ‘shut down’!
I had the same call as others have already reported – three times in 3 days, and yesterday they rang back when I put the phone down to tell me off!
I received one of these calls this morning (30/04/15) from a UK no. 01642878714. I quickly told them where to go.
Who do I report this to so efforts can be made to trace, identify and arrest these people?
I had a call today. I am from Hook in Hampshire.
The call came from 01642 878714 (which when you try to call back is showing as not available).
I listed to him for around 5 minutes, then advised that I work in IT and no only what he was saying was untrue, we also have a house of Apple Machines and no windows.
I advised that the call was recorded and asked why he was intent on defrauding people. I asked for his name and details – he got very agitated and just said he was from Ask Pc. I advised that there was no way his server would get alerts from my PC thus they are committing fraud – and why would he do this.
His final reply was that I obviously know more than him, and thanked me for wasting his time. Its a shame no one has traced this company and put them out of business.
The latest version is from New York – Telephone number 0012458785524 – 2 Malaysian men – didn’t mention viruses but wanted to protect me from hackers – tried to waste their time for as long as possible
I had one of these phonecalls from Microsoft and completely fell for it and gave them remote access on more than one occasion. I believed it was Acer TechSupport and when I asked them if they were from Acer they said yes Sir in that heavy Indian accent, After we agreed a price and what they’d provide me with=anti-hacking tools for life, anti-virus for life, free phone support for one year, malware support for life I thought I was getting a bargain especially when they’d told me where I had(NOT) been hacked from Nigeria Sir I can see IP address in front of me he said. After one phone call with one of their agents/support/staff/con artists and he started swearing at me I thought this isn’t very professional at all and Googled ‘has anyone had a phone call from Microsoft saying ‘your computer has been seriously compromised?’ And BOOM page after page came up on the scam. Since then I have been trying to turn on my windows defender have not been able to use windows updates plus they’ve changed the settings and location where windows updates are stored, they turned off my pop up blocker, turned off smartscreen filter, changed all internet security settings, I cannot use or update Microsoft Silverlight tool they have done something to my onedrive and there is lots of suspicious looking and sounding files on my laptop. They have deleted my c;drive it says I have an old windows file or data however it was a brand new laptop. Also it seems like they have changed all administrator settings and I am not allowed access to most parts of my laptop now? There’s new administrator names and profiles that I can’t access or which I never set up myself and from what little I know about pc’s it looks as if these accounts and profiles have full admin control and all look as if they’re accessible via anonymous logon and can do allsorts . PLEASE SOMEONE/ANYONE HELP ME FIX SOME/ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS??
My mate has just phoned me regarding microsoft calling say he has errors on is latop and they said they needed to access his computer to sort the problem they connected to his computer. Now he is locked out of his system and they said it will cost £120. He told them he would not be paying them that. The guy said we you now have no computer and hung up. My mate is now locked out of his computer
A similar issue crops up regularly. Today it was someone claiming to be from Windows Support Centre and gave an address of 80 victoria street (a Microsoft address, but the caller said he is not employed by Microsoft). At the start of the call his name was Daniel and by the end it was Alex Smith despite a heavy indian accent. On pushing he said their phone number is 01921680102.Unusually on this occasion, I did get a caller ID which was 01483604782, although on calling that I get an ‘incorrect number’ message.
His request was for me to type some commands on my PC to detect problems with security and internet connection.
The best trick with these is to explicitly ask which PC they are talking about – if they cannot tell you the type or the make, it is a scam for sure.
I just received the same phone call. from” Windows 10 service center”. . Asian male voice. . hung up when I asked him how he received this phone # since I live in the USA and am temporarily staying with friend in the UK.
I just had a call on my landline, woman (sounded Nigerian), said she was from bt and my router was sending out error messages. She wanted me to go on my computer and press “ctrl R”. beware … luckily i didn’t do it. i called bt afterwards they said it was definitely a scam call. No number available when i did 1471. I think it may be possible for them to access your files this way.
2017 and its still happening we are getting calls most weeks from Asian sounding people with western names asking to talk to my technophobe husband. Today he answered the phone they said they are from Windows and we have a virus, in the past it has been that his computer is giving out a message on the internet. As he knows nothing about computers and only has a tablet to read emails from families he hangs up but they are very persistent.
2018 16 April
Phishing scam trying to gain access to your devices (Phone, Tablet and Computer)
Call identifies themselves as working for BT Broadband
Called himself Alex Lewis.
Said virus’ were getting onto the devices
Tried getting me to download ‘Validator’ Software