Ever had a call from "Windows technical support" about hackers? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 08:05:05 am
content: /.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 08:12:47 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 10, 2014, 08:05:05 amYou don't tell them that. You tell them you don't have a start button. Then that ALT-R doesn't do anything.I've had someone telling me that they can also work with linux, but I didn't let them try. Next time I'll fire up a live CD and see what happens (I wouldn't do it in a VM on the off-chance that they might be able to do something that allows them to get out onto the local network).

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 08:47:26 am
content: Many times the scamming B**stards.First time ~2yrs ago.They don't need to know that I have 3 Win based machines, so I now tell them nicely "sorry I don't own a PC" and hang up.

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 09:50:18 am
content: My ISP (TPG) outsources their call center ops to India. So the scammers know this number has a computer and a user.I therefore get a call that connects to a 'human' about once a fortnight (on average). Then there are twice as many hangups (two today), presumably because these frauds use autodiallers.I've done everything possible, strung them along for half an hour, started quoting their script back to them, tell them I use Linux (true), complaining to the Indian Consulate, nothing works for more than a month.One evening a few weeks ago at dinner time I was grumpy, heard the magic words (windows technical department) and I instantly started screaming every shade of blue into the phone. Came up for air and the 'operator' on the other end calmly started anew with the script. It took another tirade on my part to actually get a hangup from them.Personally, I am now in the fourth year of this game. If anyone has any ideas as to how to actually make it stop, I'm all ears.

author: rolycat
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 10:10:23 am
content: My best time was nearly 45 minutes. When the guy rang I was about to have lunch, so I asked if he would mind hanging on while I drank my soup. After about ten minutes of appreciative slurping noises and incoherent gustatory enthusiasm, we proceeded to the main event.It took a long, long time to find the 'Start' button, because it didn't say 'Start' on it... After numerous failures, he showed me how to look at the system event log, and I made suitably horrified noises about all the error messages. Eventually he managed to talk me through starting up a browser - after I ran about a dozen other applications by mistake. Then, unaccountably, every time we got close to the point where I was supposed to give him control, something would go wrong and we would have to start again, usually by rebooting.I was the dimmest, dopiest, most incompetent Windows user ever to drag his knuckles over a keyboard - possibly because I was using a Linux box, although I didn't let on.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 10:26:35 am
content: "Hello,I am from Windows,you have a problem with your computer""Sorry,I don't understand,I am in Mexico"."You are not in Mexico,you are a big liar!""That makes two of us lady!""Click"I think she really had to check the country prefix,though!

author: electrophiliate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 10:30:37 am
content: Makes me glad I have an unlisted number. Don't have the energy or patience for all that right now, but do offer moral support and kudos for anyone willing to string them along for fun. If only we really could send thousands of volts back through the phone line as in the movie "Electric Dreams" (on the other hand, not really, since what goes around comes around!).

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 12:55:24 pm
content: I would love to try saying something like, "I would be happy to talk to you about my computer, but I use this line for incoming technical support calls, so if you want to stay on the line I need to charge you $250 per hour with a 1 hour minimum. Mastercard or VISA only. What is your card number, please?"for ( ; ; ) { "I'm sorry sir, but your card was declined. Would you like to try with another card?" }

author: Artlav
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 01:40:38 pm
content: Am i the only one who don't have a clue what this is all about?Some sort of new phone scam?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 01:53:25 pm
content: That's right.http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/can-you-fix-my-windows-95-computer-how-to-troll-a-tech-support-scammer/

author: ablacon64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 01:58:30 pm
content: Never got such a call but I've got a call from a friend who was beginning the MCSE training a few years ago. He was worried about a hacker trying to get into his network. The invasor was so good on hacking that every single attempt my friend did to stop the attack resulted on his machine being frozen.I asked if he had the aggressor's IP. He said "I'm gonna tell you but be very careful because that guy is a demon!"I said: "OK, what's his IP address?"He returned: "Man, it's 127.0.0.1! Never seen such a strange IP!"Why do you need a hacker call if you can hack yourself? hehehehe....

author: Legit-Design
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 02:07:37 pm
content: Scamming the Scammers - How to Handle Fake Tech Support CallsCareyHolzmanlistened to this once, it gets rather boring at times, but some fun parts too.

author: JoeO
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 02:26:18 pm
content: I received a cell phone call in the middle of teaching a Computer Science class.Put him on speaker phone and strung him along for 10 minutes. Then I told him that everyone in class was listening to him. He told me I had something to learn about computers. I told him to get a real job instead of being a crook.The students had a good laugh.

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 02:31:16 pm
content: Why were you answering calls in the middle of teaching a class?

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 02:58:13 pm
content: Quote from: JoeO on September 10, 2014, 02:26:18 pmWorking for a few rupees an hour in an Indian sweat shop call centre is a real job. The people making the calls are not the crooks. I doubt half of them really understand what they are doing. I just hope they get paid by the hour and not by the call or even worse successful call.Personally I just say "not interested" and hang up such calls. Usually within 10 seconds.

author: sacherjj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 03:10:45 pm
content: I talked them through the whole process. Usually while driving. One time I was running* Ubuntu Linux. Then the next time I was running OS/X. Then I was finally running windows, but they never seemed to be able to connect to my virtual** computer through logmein.(*running in my mind)(** the virtual computer in my mind didn't have internet access, I guess.)I must have been put on the joker list and they stopped calling me. I wanted to try some other things, like play a modem connect sound as I'm going to logmein or act like you are physically destroying the computer, because you are ashamed it has problems.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 05:41:09 pm
content: I have had those, but local operators, not from India but local South African scammers. Very easy with the Indians, they cannot speak the local language and get confused if you reply in 3 languages intermixed.The helldesk had one on a while ago, andf had him for about an hour ( slow day) running around a VM on a PC. I did suggest doing a DOS ( he has the bandwidth to collapse the other side on his ISP side) on them next time to crash the call centre. I doubt they can handle a gigabit of data hitting the server their side and trying to connect.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 05:54:39 pm
content: Quote from: Rufus on September 10, 2014, 02:58:13 pmI have wasted the time of these guys over the phone. They most certainly knew what they were doing. It was easy enough to get them off the script and they'd start making stuff up, but it vaguely made sense. So I have no respect at all, they can get a different job rather than scam innocent people.

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 06:41:34 pm
content: I did get one who asked me to open up the internet. OK says I, then complain I couldn't get online. I managed to keep him on for ages (almost until my dinner was cooked) when I "suddenly realised" the reason I couldn't get online was cos I was on the phone and I couldn't do both. Quickly said I would hang up and go onto his webpage then hung up.

author: Yago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 06:59:53 pm
content: I just politely say "sorry, no computers here" and hang up.Gave up on all the crap games, life is too short for us all.Although I can tell you that if you state you are blind and unable to use a computer, they normally apologise and say goodbye... but the lie felt distasteful, so I hang up as I said.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 09:20:29 pm
content: Most of the telephone support scams seem to be targeted at English speaking countries only so I have never been a 'victim'. 419 advanced fee fraud though, had lots of those and I was an active member of the 419 Eater community (www.419eater.com). The secret is to use their lack of language skills against then so, for example, I gave them this as the name and address of my bank:Budapest Rend?rség Bank KftTeve utca 4-6, 1139 Budapest, HungaryTelephone 0036 1 443-5000 Fax 0036 1 443-5260For those who do not speak Hungarian that's the address and phone/fax of the central police headquarters and Rend?rség is the Hungarian word for policeman, some of them were quite upset after faxing their details to themSo, the next time you get a call like this be prepared in advance. Ask them to call you on your other line (which happens to be the number of the local police station) or get them to fax some details to the FBI or even the White House if you're feeling adventurous. Have fun at their expense.Edit: The ? is an 'o' with two accents over it, it doesn't resolve on the web page.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 10:24:48 pm
content: I managed to keep them on the phone for 45 minutes.The first 30 minutes I was playing along, then when they got annoyed at me giving them the wrong number, I told them to there was no way I'd let some thieving cunt into my computer. I managed to keep them on the phone for another 15 minutes giving them constant verbal abuse. The amusing thing is, even after I'd called them low life scum several times, they didn't hang up the phone. They asked me to hang up but I told them to fuck off. Eventually, I don't know whether they hung up or just stopped talking but the line went quiet and I hung up.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2014, 10:49:58 pm
content: Quote from: rolycat on September 10, 2014, 10:10:23 amLOL! Labor rate is dirt cheap in India so they'll hold on forever if they think they can land a sucker! A US telamarketer would have hung up after about three seconds!

author: lowimpedance
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2014, 12:01:42 am
content: Surely every one in English speaking countries, more so it seems, has already been pestered many times by now!. I have had several years of this scam and have had my fun too but these days I mostly just hang up or let the call go to the voice mail, (seems to happen around the same time of day, and if its a serious call they will leave a message). The individuals doing the calls must have some idea that their doing dodgy stuff. Since they have to eat its either this or work in a textile sweatshop!.

author: FrankBuss
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 11, 2014, 12:51:36 am
content: Quote from: German_EE on September 10, 2014, 09:20:29 pmI got a call once from a woman in English. Indian accent was worse than my German accent. The call was short: "No, there is no virus on my computer", click. They never called me again so far.There are thousands of videos on Youtube. Another one, a scammer trying to do follow his script, but he has no clue about Linux:But you learn that there are lots of elephants in India

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2014, 06:51:32 pm
content: Sad to say I have actually had calls from Microsoft SA and They had to convince me they were legit, by giving the phone number ( and I checked it in the phone book and online as well to confirm) to call them back.Farking annoying having a whole lot of volume licensed computers with the annoying "your copy may not be legitimate" message across the top of the window. We have a bloody volume license! And more than 30 unused ones as well! And have paid them as well for the privilege! Have had a long series of emails with them about this, but as the IT company has to sort it out I just sit back and have popcorn.The first time they called I thought they were scammers. Nearly told them to take a long walk off a short pier and precisely what to insert where and in what fashion.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2014, 10:00:21 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on September 11, 2014, 06:51:32 pmOne scamming technique is for the buggers to call you and tell you to ring the (legitimate) security number on the website or paper documentation.You put the phone down and ring the number, and give the security people your details.The only problem is the scammer didn't hang up, so you dialling the legitimate number was irrelevant: you were still talking to the scammers.Seewhere Tim Berners-Lee's mother (who is assuredly not a fool) describes how she was caught out.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 04:59:02 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on September 11, 2014, 06:51:32 pmBut Microsoft are scammers. Since the 80th they deliver products far below the state of the art and scam everyone telling their shit is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 05:06:52 am
content: The problem we have is that no one wants to pay for "state of the art" so it is what it is.

author: corrado33
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 02:29:57 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on September 12, 2014, 04:59:02 amAgreed. I'll take my Mac OS X (or linux) and install it on as many of my own damn computers that I want thank you very much. You "rent" software from microsoft, you don't buy it. Well, I don't do either... but that's beside the point.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 02:44:04 pm
content: Awesome - revenge attack :http://yro-beta.slashdot.org/story/14/09/12/1228257/turning-the-tables-on-phone-tech-support-scammers

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 03:23:27 pm
content: I guess I have been very lucky. Lots of scam phone calls here but no Microsoft scam calls. The ones I like the most are the ones calling for my Father-in-Law who used to live with us but died 10 years ago. I love making them feel like dirt. The latest is--This is not a sales call but someone you know recommended you to receive a free home alarm system-------".

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 03:33:18 pm
content: Quote from: GreyWoolfe on September 12, 2014, 03:23:27 pm"Is that Mr. X""No, he's dead"is an effective way to derail most sales calls.Even something as simple as "Which Mr. X?" is usually enough to put on the back foot.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 03:51:32 pm
content: Quote from: corrado33 on September 12, 2014, 02:29:57 pmHmm, I bought a PC for $139.80 taxes included, Description:(Open Box) DC8000 Desktop Computer Off Lease Refurbished; Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Processor 3.0GHz; Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit; 4GB DDR3-1333 RAM; 160GB Hard Drive; DVD-ROM Drive; Display Not IncludedAdded 2 500 GB drives that a friend gave me because he was upgrading his system and didn't need those anymore and already had a AOC display and I'm a happy camper since I don't game on PCs anymore this is plenty for my needs. Graphics is an onboard Intel whatever, but it can do ok for basic DirectX and OpenGL enough to deal with Eagle and the dev tools I use.Yeah, old Core 2 Duo and custom power connector on the motherboard (good old HP and their custom parts), No USB 3.0.Sure you can buy a brand new car and complain how expensive it is compared to a one year old used carI never got the whole Windows hate. Granted that if they had come through with their wanky idea of only allowing Windows 8 programs to be installed from the windows store after submission like the apple store or the android/amazon,whatever store I would probably drop it.If I slept around unprotected and caught an STD it would be my own damn fault.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 03:54:33 pm
content: Quote from: cimmo on September 10, 2014, 09:50:18 amDon't answer unknown numbers. I once tinkered together an auto answering machine from a leftover ISDN telephone card I had developed and an old CD player. When someone called it would say 'this number is disconnected'. Worked like a charm.

author: corrado33
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 06:28:53 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on September 12, 2014, 03:51:32 pmHave you ever bought a windows OS without a computer? Prepare to shell out multiple hundreds of dollars. (Back when I still BOUGHT windows OSes, probably a decade ago at this point. Newegg currently lists windows 7 pro for $140) And that's for EVERY product key. Unless, of course, you have a way of getting a volume license. It's bull crap, if I BUY software, I want to be able to install it on multiple computers. Sure, Apple doesn't like you doing that with their OS, but they don't STOP you, and they sell their OSes cheap enough to not worry about it. (Last OS I bought from Apple was ~$30 IIRC)I don't hate on Windows, I use it every day, I also use Mac and Linux every day, I just hate on some of their shoddy operating practices. (I'm not saying that Apple doesn't have some as well.)

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 06:32:18 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 12, 2014, 03:54:33 pmCaller ID is an extra charge in Oz ($6.00/month) and I'm cheap.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 07:01:02 pm
content: Quote from: corrado33 on September 12, 2014, 06:28:53 pmYes, you can get an OEM license when you build a PC. I think that just purchasing a hard drive gives to the right for an OEM install, it's been a while so I'm not sure anymore.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 07:30:56 pm
content: We've had them calling too lately.My brother (who is an IT nerd as well) picked up the phone, and told he was on a Mac (technically he is 90% of the time) and didn't have any thing to do with Microsoft. The guy started *BLABLABLA* "but you need our help with your problems" and he hung up.I was a bit surprised they called again within a matter of seconds. This time I picked up the phone and asked the (In Dutch) if he spoke Dutch. Unfortunately he wasn't fooled and thought we would speak english. Once again I hung up.I wasn't even able to place the phone in the docking station before it rang again. The guy must have been outrageous.Unplugging the phone for 5 minutes kept them away and my anti-ringtone ears happy.We've been joking about various ways to piss them off or waste their time, but meanwhile we would be wasting our own spare time too, which personally I am quite fond of keeping that for other things.Probably next time I will tell them I've only got an iPad, see what they have to say on iOS based computers.Unfortunately they do call from time to time again, but at that point I'm not home to answer the phone. In a happy little accident sort of way, my parents don't speak English (especially not from some weird Asian bloke that speaks so hastily).

author: JoeO
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 07:36:54 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 12, 2014, 03:54:33 pmA lot of people in NYC did not answer their phones because they did not recognize the phone number. The calls were coming from their relatives. The date was Sept 11th, 2001.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 07:44:03 pm
content: Quote from: JoeO on September 12, 2014, 07:36:54 pmGreedy bastards!But I do know what it is like to call a relative to see if they are still OK after something terrible happened in their neighbourhood. I never knew a phone could ring that long...

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 08:20:01 pm
content: Quote from: hans on September 12, 2014, 07:30:56 pmFor now at least.But in a few years your parents may be so wobbly on their feet that crossing the room is a health hazard: they fall, they break a hip, they die.

author: Dongulus
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 09:45:50 pm
content: I got a call just yesterday from a man with a thick Indian accent. He explained to me that "our government" was offering people loans of $9,000 that didn't need to be paid back and that I could receive the money using my bank card or have it deposited directly to my account. Obviously, since I really wanted to make sure I got that money, I gave him both my card number and my account number. He said it should be in my account soon.If you want to get your free $9,000, just give him a call. His number was 000-000-0000 (kind of an odd number, but probably a special number because he is a government official).

author: Strada916
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 10:05:07 pm
content: Dialling 000 in Australia will get you the emergency services. Just like 911 in USA.

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 12, 2014, 11:02:29 pm
content: I hate these idiots, we have a number of computers dedicated to particular purposes example:1. business /tax /customer records, etc2. personal stuff/ documents/ design, etc3. internet /email / forums /browsing, etc1 & 2 are not connected to any network and never go online ever, 3 has nothing on it except anti-virus and if I want to keep a file I re-scan it for bugs and transport via thumb drive so they can hack this one until the cows come home, I don't care a stuff about number 3 and security is set high on this machine when possible such as no cookies, no java script, firewall enabled, permanent file scanning, etc.I haven't had these calls for ages after calling them parasitic monkeys, but we recently got an LG smart TV for watching Youtube videos and I have configured the router to stop LG site access from spying on us and now the calls from our parasitic maggots are back, sometimes within 10 minutes of the LG going online, and also multiple callers, what concerns me is they know my name, address and number so how the hell did they get that information. I think that someone at my ISP is giving it out as their support centre has the same accent.Buggered if I know how to stop the calls, bloody annoying, any ideas?Regards Muttley

author: electrophiliate
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 12:39:30 am
content: Not sure if someone has already suggested this or how effective it would be in practice to get rid of repeat callers compared to simply hanging up, but for some reason the first thing that came to mind was a tone generator set to an irritating frequency and waveform.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 12:44:51 am
content: Quote from: electrophiliate on September 13, 2014, 12:39:30 amReferee's whistle?

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 12:48:42 am
content: Quote from: electrophiliate on September 13, 2014, 12:39:30 amIt would be quite a trick to get a robo-dialler irritated. Perhaps mimicing the "disconnected number" tones might help.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 01:01:44 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on September 13, 2014, 12:48:42 amSomething like: Hello....one moment please....beep beep beep beep beep

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 02:28:07 am
content: Quote from: corrado33 on September 12, 2014, 06:28:53 pmWhat I hate are the "dumbed down" versions of Windows installed by some PC manufacturers.We had a "e-Machines" desktop,which would crash regularly.The only way to get it back was to take it back to "year zero",losing most data & all programs other than the original crap.None of the fixes available online worked,because it used its own proprietary software to do some things.Eventually,I "bit the bullet",wiped the original OS & clean installed Windows 7 I bought from Dick Smith.Yes,it was expensive,but we haven't had a major crash since.A few little "funnies" but nothing that System Restore can't fix.

author: sacherjj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 03:04:49 am
content: Quote from: corrado33 on September 12, 2014, 02:29:57 pmRead your license agreements. Almost all software you purchase today is licensed and not purchased.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 08:12:14 am
content: I sometimes tell these Microsoft Help Desk scammers "I am using the very LATEST version for Microsoft DOS. It is a genuine Microsoft product. Now what do I do?" These morons, having never heard of DOS, end up totally confused as they try to navigate me to an Internet website and they hang up.Another trick is to tell them "How can I have a virus? I don't own one of those computer things." They scammer will hang up immediately.Another option is to run Windows 98 on an old computer and let them take control. Being imbeciles, they cannot handle the different menus and usually give up.The best option is to tell them "Hang on, I'll get Uncle Fester. He was expecting your call because he has a virus on his computer. I'll go and get him." Then leave the phone off the hook with the radio running in the background. Return in 20 minutes. If they are still there, say "He is coming now - he is on his way back from the shop a few doors away." Rinse and repeat.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 08:50:03 am
content: Microsoft called yesterday, lucky he said it was about our MSDN subscription before I hung up.I managed to keep one of the scammers on the phone for 45min a few months ago, before I got board. Call started off with the low level operator and the moved to a more skilled one, once my very slow computer booted and remembered I had to turn on the modem to get the internet to work. They were very insistent to confirm that I was over 18 and it was my own PC and not a company one.

author: justanothercanuck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2014, 03:22:07 pm
content: Quote from: Dongulus on September 12, 2014, 09:45:50 pmCaller ID spoofing. I see it a lot with those foghorn cruise scams. I've even had them call me using my own phone number. You would think phone providers would prevent fake CID info, but alas they don't.