I received a call from 937-250-0270 number today. Caller ID said it was an Ohio number. The person on the phone had a thick accent that was too hard for me to clearly understand him but he kept saying Microsoft. I asked for someone who spoke English but he went on with his Microsoft talk. I told him if my system is compromised I would be happy to forward his call to my law enforcement. He then sounded bewildered and started to be forceful trying to make it sound like I was screwing up. I then told him if he didn't want me to forward this call then he is more than welcome to call my law enforcement and tell them my computer has been compromised.....he hung up on me, darn. I knew it was a scam from 2 seconds into the call.
Seems these predators are stepping up their game! They kept calling and convinced my friend to install TeamViewer on her computer to access some "error log." When I caught them in the act they were frantically deleting the "log" and closing various windows. Be careful! You let someone access your computer even if they say they are GOD NEVER, EVER, EVER!!!!!!!
Same here...just got a call from a guy, who I could hardly understand, saying he was calling to help me fix some errors he was getting from my Microsoft computer. I told him I only own Macs for this very reason, so shut the hell up, and I hung up on him after he couldn't think of anything else to say.
I received a call from 937-250-0270 number today. Caller ID said it was an Ohio number. The person on the phone had a thick accent that was too hard for me to clearly understand him but he kept saying Microsoft. I asked for someone who spoke English but he went on with his Microsoft talk. I told him if my system is compromised I would be happy to forward his call to my law enforcement. He then sounded bewildered and started to be forceful trying to make it sound like I was screwing up. I then told him if he didn't want me to forward this call then he is more than welcome to call my law enforcement and tell them my computer has been compromised.....he hung up on me, darn. I knew it was a scam from 2 seconds into the call.
Just a few days ago, I too received a call from this number… and it wasn’t the first time.
The first time was a couple of months ago. The caller identified himself as being from MS Windows Care Unit. Thinking it was a scam, because I seem to attract scammers… but giving room for the possibility that it might be real ----(I’m smart enough to know it’s not probably, but not saavy enough to know if it’s possible for this kind of monitoring, or call) besides, lots of U.S. Call or Support Centers are based in India, so the accent doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a scam. I figured as long as I was driving, I had the power to pull the plug. So, I listened and clicked here and there as directed. He led me to the Event Log and showed me how many “errors” my machine was throwing out; and like you guys before me, that my machine was not receiving updates! THEN came the ‘we can fix it for you’ part. I said, “Okay, tell me what to do.” But he wanted control of my pc. Sorry… no can do. I proceeded to tell him that I would take the machine to our company ETS dept. He was a little reluctant, but said “Yes, be sure to do that.” …and the call was over. Hm… so was it a scam? Since I’m not tech-saavy… not even close, I did just that… spoke with ETS… and ended up taking my pc to them. Results? = LOTS of icky things! Cleaned and Re-Imaged! Good to go…
So, yes, it was a scam… even though I really did need a Spring Cleaning.
Oh wait! Now they’re calling again. THIS TIME, however, I KNEW they’re scamming (because of the advice I got from ETS) but wanted to know what their end game was… and maybe to mess with them. So again, I listened… and drove. This time, I was straight up in saying “How do I know you’re not a scam?” (hehe) He spent the next 2 minutes reassuring me that I could trust him, that he worked for MS, etc… THEN, he offered ‘proof’. He took me thru DOS prompts to bring up some registry files and pointed to a key there. HE called out the key, and said, “That’s your computer ID.” Hm… impressive. He immediately jumped back onto his ‘do this click that’ spiel, taking me through a maze of folders, only to wind up in the Event Log again. Again, pointing out the numbers of “Errors”, etc… And again, we arrived at the ‘we can fix it for you’ part (finally). He wanted me to download the TeamViewer program, but I told him that the company I work for doesn’t allow unauthorized downloads. He tried to convince me that it was ‘authorized’ because it was through MS. (Seriously? Then why use another company’s software for pc sharing? LOL) Anyway… I said No. Then I asked him, “By the way… how did you get MY phone #?” He stumbled a bit and said, “it’s associated with the registration.” Hm… got me there… don’t know if it is or not… but it was another ‘impressive answer’. Yup, these guys are well trained!
He then said he could transfer me to a technical support engineer who could clean up my computer… for only $369. I laughed and said, “Sir, this is not a home computer. It’s under warranty through our company… so, thank you for letting me know about the issues, but I’ll have to take it to our own IT people.” He grew somewhat agitated, asking me to hold on. He came back with “Okay… we can do it for $199.” Okay, I’ll admit, I’m enjoying this now… he really thinks I believe he’s trying to help me. So, in my ‘pleading voice’ I said, “I’m sorry, but I have no authority to authorize ANY spending… I’ll have to take it up with my Manager and IT.” “Uh, wait! We could clean up your files for only $99, but…” OMG! Really? From $369 to $99? His desperation was showing!! But again, I said, “I’m sorry… you don’t understand, I have NO AUTHORITY for such a thing.” He asked if he could transfer me to someone… a tech? his supervisor? (can’t remember). “Sure.” The next gentleman got on the phone and tried too, to convince me… but he wasn’t as patient as the first guy. In fact, he became a bit tacky with me… “Don’t you want your computer fixed right? With this many errors, you’re computer could crash at any time! You don’t want to lose your documents… DO YOU?” Okay, I’ve had enough. I said a polite ‘No’, then again, reassured him I would take it up with the IT dept here. Would you believe he tried one last time!? “It’s only $99…” DUDE! Get a real job! I said, “Our computers are under a corporate umbrella. If you want to talk to someone about it I can give you OUR support #.” He said okay and took the number… and we ended the call. Would you believe the guy called me the very next day to see if I’d followed up with getting my machine ‘cleaned up’!? I just told him, ‘Yes’… and that was that.
Further discussion with our ETS department revealed that they must have some sort of Malware in my machine… hence knowing my machine ID, etc… and said that they got my phone number because my computer is connected through my phone, not directly into the wall. ETS is cleaning my machine… again… and a deeper clean this time… not just a regular ‘wash and wear’, but a full throttle overhaul. If they can identify the scammer’s files, they may be able to find out what site I hit, or what program I loaded that is infiltrating my system. If so… I’ll get back with you!
In the meantime, if they call again, I think I’ll just tell them that I don’t own a computer. LOL
p.s. The first guy said his name was “Jim”. The second was “Stephen”. Yea, right. I work in a company of over 1,100 people (just at our locale)… close to half are from India, and names like Jim and Stephen aren’t on the roster.
At one time our company had a Support Center in India. We actually paid for ‘speech lessons’ so that the accents wouldn’t be so heavy (for better communication), and so the people would be less readily judged. The people in India work really hard, but they don’t understand just how much American’s hate telemarketers and scammers. To many of them, they are simply grateful to have a job! So, while I don’t like what they’re doing, they are only doing what work they can find. Sad part is, many of these scam companies originate or are based right here in the U.S.! THESE are the ones that need to be sought out and prosecuted. Not the callers themselves.
Anyway... I know it was long, but I hope this was helpful.