Malware scam?

daveysludge · July 2014

Just had some idiot on the phone telling me my PC was riddled with viruses and only they could resolve the situation, they originally pretended to be from Microsofts technical department, but when challenged acknowledged they were not Microsoft.

I said that if my PC was infected I would just re-install Windows and start from scratch and they told me I couldn't re-install!

The woman told me her name was Anna, which I seriously doubted, when I asked for her surname she started pretending she couldn't understand me!

Anyone else been approached by these morons?

technical helpline 0800 031 4014

Spex · July 2014

Oh yeah these idiots used to call up all the time until I changed my landline number.
Youtube is full of ideas how you can make fun of them, tell them you are sat in front of Windows and they are working fine as you can see through them. Go-along with everything they say and type it into a Speccy/C64 see how long it takes them to work out you aren't using a PC.
Tell them they sound really cute and you would like to take them out on a date, works with both male and female staff, but go easy.
Talk about the weather where they are, what they did that day, you get the idea. Or just hang up.

Cold callers, love 'em.

Your Spec-chum · July 2014

Yes I used to get calls from them every 3 months. They have being doing this scam for quite a long time now. If you follow their instructions, they tell you how to see the event viewer on a windows PC, and use this to say there's a million and 1 problems with your computer. Even a new install of windows will record stuff in the event viewer which is nothing to worry about. Next they tell you to visit a website which lets them access your computer, and they delete important windows OS files, which then bugger's up your install of windows, and they then ask a silly amout of money to fix it, which they don't/can't.

When they use to call me I use to play along with them and waste there time. Then I would get very rude to them. There has been alot of people stung by these scammers, so thought get one back on them. They would tell me they were from windows and said my PC was full of viruses etc. Shame I use Linux Mint/Ubuntu:lol:

pmsr · July 2014

Use to receive those calls around once a month and my users at the office report the same. In all but one case they had Indian accent, even if they give names such as Mark, Jerry or Anna. Quite annoying. I simply tell them to f.... off, and hang up.

/Pedro

MatGubbins · July 2014

Had the same idiots a few years ago....

Your Windows XP has informed us that it is infected with a virus and that you must download some software.
Asked them many questions
How does my computer tell your computer about the virus...
How did you pick up the problem....
What type of PC do I have...
How did my computer connect to your computer

They kept answering 'over the internet, via your broadband'
After about 10mins of playing games with the idiots, I then gave them the final question.

'how does the PC that I don't have, and that is not connected to the internet, tell your computer about a virus?'

That phoneline went dead their end very quickly.

chev · July 2014

Sadly, in addition to legitimate businesses, India also has call centers dedicated to fraud and extortion. You could try telling them they will reincarnate as a slug. Or if you're with BT they'll sell you a phone that will block all sorts of calls including caller ID withheld and foreign calls. You can configure exactly what you want to block.

http://www.bt.com/includingyou/calling-easier-unwanted-calls.html

GreenCard · July 2014

I get these calls once every few months at work. They tell me they're from Microsoft, and there's a problem with my Windows install. I tell them we don't use Windows here (we do). They then "umm" and "ahh" and generally flap for a bit, at which point I usually hang up. :)

guesser · July 2014

aowen wrote: »

foreign calls. You can configure exactly what you want to block.

Unfortunately not helpful if there are incoming international calls that you need to answer though.

BT are supposedly starting to forwarding international caller ID by the end of this year but it would have been better if they'd done that from the beginning.

The other thing that rankles is that you have to pay them ?1.75 a month for the privilege of not disabling the feature on your line.

zx1 · July 2014

Maybe i should call them, i had malware issues recently!:smile:

Marko · July 2014

I've never had one of these calls. Much to my dismay, as I have a virtual machine ready and waiting here, so I can mess them about for as long as possible, then click a button, instantly undo everything they did, and tell them I knew what they were doing all along and that I've just wasted their time!

Basher · July 2014

Your Spec-chum wrote: »

When they use to call me I use to play along with them and waste there time.

I like to pretend to get hysterical "OH MY GOD A VIRUS! WHAT SHALL I DO? DO I NEED A DOCTOR!?" They soon get fed up and hang up.

I've had one guy start a call by asking who provided my energy. So I spent several minutes trying to convince him that I generated my own because he'd got through to a nuclear power plant. He got fed up and hung up too.

If I'm at work I just put the receiver on the workbench and play test a saxophone for a few minutes they've always hung up when I pick it up again. (I'm a woodwind repairer.)

I quite like messing them about. But my girlfriends gran got a call from the computer virus guys and it really upset her.

Zup · July 2014

aowen wrote: »

You could try telling them they will reincarnate as a slug.

That won't work. Most of them would see being a slug as an improvement to their current phone center job.

thx1138 · July 2014

daveysludge wrote: »

Anyone else been approached by these morons?

technical helpline 0800 031 4014

yes, I told them they were crooks and scammers and to stop it

was phoned later, by same people, pretending to be solicitors and threatening me, it was most entertaining

also get called by National Advice Bureau the other day :-/

I really only answer my landline if I'm bored anyway

sj_howlett · July 2014

Are you guys getting these calls through a land line or mobile phone?

I used to get all sorts on the land line, which I no longer use. In fact the phone is not even plugged in to the network any more.

I now use a mobile for all my calls, but interestingly, I have never received such calls on this.

I wondered if the cost of them calling a mobile was simply too prohibitive?

leespoons · July 2014

sj_howlett wrote: »

I wondered if the cost of them calling a mobile was simply too prohibitive?

I doubt it, I've never had this particular scam (like Marko I'm almost disappointed I haven't yet) but I get loads of unsolicited calls on my (unregistered) ?10 cheapo phone.

It's nearly always a computer telling me I'm owed thousands of pounds in mis-sold PPI (which I don't have) on my credit card (which I don't have). I probably get 3 or 4 of them a day but I block unknown numbers and certain 0843 numbers these days, so the phone doesn't even ring.

guesser · July 2014

Funny, I just had an incoming call on the mobile (which I ignored) again. It happens quite regularly. This was a new sim a few months ago and literally only 3 people have the number.
The first random call came in about a week after I got the sim so I'm sure they must just have a program that cold dials valid numbers until they get a hit.

The number was 08436 546864 which a quick google confirms is operated by ne'erdowells making unsolicited calls.

I too am amazed that they can carry on like this without bankrupting themselves. There must be a lot of idiots out there in the world for it to be profitable :roll:

Bermondsey Bob · July 2014

I get these calls all the time. either "Mike from Microsoft" or an recorded PPI thing and it's getting old now! Sometimes we get the odd "free kitchen offer" calls, but those are a lot rarer than they used to be.

Sometimes, I'll play along with "Mike" but most of the time, I just tell them to go away (I never swear at them) and hang up, or just hang up full stop.

I had one phone up once saying that they "weren't selling anything" so I asked what they wanted then and they said "nothing really" and I instantly said "nice one" ten hung up! He left himself open to that :lol:

Or there was good ol' "Mike" again saying they were receiving all kinds of error messages from my computer right at this second and "please can I be sitting in front of (my) computer" so I said to him that will be a bit hard as it's currently in half a dozen pieces as I was fixing some loose leads inside and had taken it apart to give it a light dusting etc. He hung up.

I'd love to block withheld numbers, but my transplant nurses and Dr's phone on either withheld numbers or unavailable ones, so I need to still allow them incase it's important!

leespoons · July 2014

The local police use with-held numbers too, as I found out the other day - my 5-year-old daughter got hold of my phone and started playing with it, I jokingly said "I hope you're not dialling 999 or anything!" and that was exactly what she was doing!

The police gave me a courtesy call back just to check everything was OK - took them three attempts though because their first two calls were blocked! They were fine about it but I felt really bloody stupid - I couldn't be too harsh on my daughter though, it was my fault for leaving my phone lying around :roll:

ccowley · July 2014

guesser wrote: »

Unfortunately not helpful if there are incoming international calls that you need to answer though.

BT are supposedly starting to forwarding international caller ID by the end of this year but it would have been better if they'd done that from the beginning.

Unfortunately it's of minimum use as, to the best of my knowledge, most exchange equipment, even on domestic calls, still blindly passes on the supplied CLID without doing any sort of sanity checking on it (and indeed, there's often not much sanity checking that could be done other than in the exchange that the original caller is connected to).

Back in the days when ISDN2e was popular, I had a little PBX that would let me set any outgoing caller ID I wanted :) International calls will be even worse from this point of view... your dodgy Indian call center will probably have a big-ish PBX of their own and will just pass in a fake number, or pay someone off at the exchange to do that for them if necessary.

Also, on the subject of how many gullible idiots there must be out there who fall for these scams and make them worthwhile ventures; it's probably best not to think along those lines, or you'll end up a bitter old sociopath like wot I am! :D

MykeP · July 2014

I had my first one ever this week while working from home. I didn't really have the time so just hung up after a minute or so, however, I also thought it would be a good idea to setup a VM and play along for fun.

Unfortunately I mentioned it to Mrs P who was outraged by this 'scam' and, when they called back later that day, she answered and gave them an almost four-lettered piece of her mind!

They haven't rang since. :(

Battle Bunny · July 2014

I'm a bit put out now. I get over 600 nuisance calls a year and I've never had a fake PC repair call. The current flavour is "green energy", in particular "a new gas boiler" which I can apparently get for free if I'm on "any kind of benefit" - although they'd have difficulty getting it to work, as there's no mains gas supply where I live (<<< see picture <<<). Idiots.

I've long ago stopped answering them, but if I don't pick up I often get fragments of recorded messages left on my answering machine, so if I'm near the phone I'll just press pickup twice to drop the call and stop anything being recorded. Hmmm, maybe I am getting fake PC repair calls, but how would I know, as I don't answer them? There's no 0800 numbers in my recent call history, anway - just 0845, 016, 017, 018 (seven in the last three days). Maybe I'll have to start answering some. "Are you the fake PC repair company?"

I wrote to BT about it a few months ago, which was when I realised just how many of these calls I was getting, after keeping a record for a month. I pointed out that these companies were clearly in breach of this clause in their terms of contract:

3.3 The Service must not be used:
...
(c) to send, communicate, knowingly receive, upload, download or use any
material or make any calls that are offensive, abusive, indecent,
defamatory, obscene, menacing, cause annoyance, inconvenience, needless
anxiety or are intended to deceive;
...

so why weren't BT suspending or cancelling their contract? They did call me to discuss it - but it was on a number I didn't recognise, so I didn't pick up the phone! - so they sent me an email afterwards. They removed my number from the directory but didn't have any more helpful suggestions.

daveysludge · July 2014

Battle Bunny wrote: »

They removed my number from the directory but didn't have any more helpful suggestions.

Most of these companies get the phone number from a database, Ive been X-directory for years and it hasn't stopped them!

Companies pass on your personal details unless you 'opt out'.

Theres also an app called 'True Caller' for mobiles which uploads all of your phones contacts to a database so you're supplying other peoples details (including pictures and birthdays!) without them knowing.

guesser · July 2014

ccowley wrote: »

your dodgy Indian call center will probably have a big-ish PBX of their own and will just pass in a fake number, or pay someone off at the exchange to do that for them if necessary.

Yes but who cares what they send? What's the chances of them spoofing the number of someone you know?
The important thing is that international caller id for the legitimate person who's calls you want to receive can get through, then you can ignore everything else. :)

Even just knowing the country code would help, unless you have legitimate calls coming in from India or wherever all the robocalls come from.

pmsr · July 2014

When they call I get international numbers from different countries, but never from India. Have had US, Ireland and Malaysia, among others. Sometimes the numbers are very short, something such as 0 819 3 . These I ignore and block.

I also entertained the idea of having a VM for them. Maybe with some files on the desktop hinting at Pakistani plans to nuke India. :D

/Pedro

Your Spec-chum · July 2014

I think they use VoIP to make these calls at low cost, and spoofing technology to change caller ID with this scam, so it makes them harder trace.

Winston · July 2014

guesser wrote: »

Unfortunately not helpful if there are incoming international calls that you need to answer though.

The other problem is that many companies with a PBX and who legitimately need to call will show up as unknown number (including my work) so I can't block these calls.

Alcoholics Anonymous · July 2014

This scam has been going on for years. Over here they do not directly claim to be from Microsoft but try their best to pretend to be. Usually the script opens "Hello, I am Mike from Windows. We have detected that your computer is infected with viruses over the internet....." On further questioning they will readily admit they are not Microsoft but then go on to say they are contracted by Microsoft to rid Windows machines of viruses.

They call me every couple of months and each time we get into an argument. And they still try to return to the script and get me to do things. When the argument gets heated, I've had the guy hang up and call me back an hour later to try again. I think they enjoy it.

This posting looks like the script being fed to me:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/i-am-calling-you-from-windows-a-tech-support-scammer-dials-ars-technica/

I've read some other nasty anecdotes about the same scam, mainly concerning what happens when you give them remote access to your PC and you do not pass along credit card details. Here's one:

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2013/04/phone-scammers-call-the-wrong-guy-get-mad-and-trash-pc/

Edit: 22 minutes into the video on that page is where they decide to trash files. The mark has clearly been entering fake cc info so they were done waiting The tech calls him an ***hole and he tells the guy on the phone that he was called an ***hole by the tech and the response is "The technician is never wrong. If he says you are something you must be it." lol.

guesser · July 2014

It's like e-mail. Anything that can be abused like this will be, and it's hard to know what to do about it.

When mail servers try to lie about who they are etc other servers refuse to deal with them and at this point the response to false positives by overzealous servers is that no-one cares because of the spam problem. I could imagine a similar situation in the future with telephones where if you don't supply a valid caller ID then BT or whoever either add one based on your line into their system or refuse to route the call at all, at which point all the systems that send no id, or make withheld calls would just have to stop it if they wanted their calls to get through.

At the moment the problem is at the receiving end if they filter calls "stop doing that so you get our calls" - it's like telling people that the problem is their spam filter which stops being a solution when the mailservers refuse outright to accept the mail.

AceGrace · July 2014

I got one of these once and they said that I have a virus. I said can you see the infection right now on my PC and they said yes they could.

I then told them that I wasn't on the internet and didn't have a PC
(I am and I have)

They hung up.

rich_chandler · July 2014

Alcoholics Anonymous wrote: »

This scam has been going on for years. Over here they do not directly claim to be from Microsoft but try their best to pretend to be. Usually the script opens "Hello, I am Mike from Windows. We have detected that your computer is infected with viruses over the internet....." On further questioning they will readily admit they are not Microsoft but then go on to say they are contracted by Microsoft to rid Windows machines of viruses.

They call me every couple of months and each time we get into an argument. And they still try to return to the script and get me to do things. When the argument gets heated, I've had the guy hang up and call me back an hour later to try again. I think they enjoy it.

This posting looks like the script being fed to me:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/i-am-calling-you-from-windows-a-tech-support-scammer-dials-ars-technica/

I've read some other nasty anecdotes about the same scam, mainly concerning what happens when you give them remote access to your PC and you do not pass along credit card details. Here's one:

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2013/04/phone-scammers-call-the-wrong-guy-get-mad-and-trash-pc/

Edit: 22 minutes into the video on that page is where they decide to trash files. The mark has clearly been entering fake cc info so they were done waiting The tech calls him an ***hole and he tells the guy on the phone that he was called an ***hole by the tech and the response is "The technician is never wrong. If he says you are something you must be it." lol.

I've had these guys verbally abuse me and then hang up on me. I now make it my personal mission every time to push the guys into getting mad and swearing at me. The ultimate goal is always to get them to hang up on me.

thx1138 · July 2014

daveysludge wrote: »

Most of these companies get the phone number from a database, Ive been X-directory for years and it hasn't stopped them!

.

yeah you and everyone else, have you seen a telephone directory lately, they are tiny

Malware scam?

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