I got the call this morning, with the same phishing pitch that has been reported here by others. I actually enjoyed listening to him jump through hoops as I led him along and let him use his scripts, so the only loss for me was 5 minutes of my morning. He called on the land line (which we rarely use) and asked for me by name, at which point I claimed that I was the brother of that person; could I take a message?
Scam: He said he was calling on behalf of "my internet service provider."
Me: Really? Can you tell me the name of my internet service provider?
Scam: Well sir, we represent many internet service provider, like AT&T, Sprint...
Me: Oh, so you're not actually this ISP, okay.
Scam: We contract with many internet service providers, and we have been getting reports of some problems with your computer.
Me: Oh? What problems are those? How are they being reported? I'd like to give an accurate message to my brother.
Scam: Sir, if you are at your computer, I can lead you through...
Me: I'm not at the computer right now, but please, tell me the nature of the problems.
Scam: It's easiest if you just turn on your computer and...
Me: I'd rather not do that, would you like to leave a message?
Scam: When would be a good time to call back?
Me: He'll be back this afternoon, that should work fine. I see you're calling from Oregon. I'm in Washington, D.C. The internet service provider is Verizon, based here in D.C. Why did they contract with you all the way on the other side of the country?
Scam: If you go to your computer, I can show you where...
Me: Okay, sure. But first, I'd really like to know the specific nature of the problems you say are being reported.
Scam: Well sir, it's with Microsoft software, and the Windows operating system.
Me: No kidding. Because my brother has an Apple, and it runs Macintosh OS X.
Scam: Oh.
Me: So did you want to leave a message? I'll tell him you called and that you'll call back this afternoon.
Scam: No, no that's okay.
<click>
Telemarketer with light Indian accent who started his pitch about government Grant Programs, Said his name was "Louie". I cut him off and said "Louie! I can hear a bunch of people on the phone in the background, You are working in a sweatshop - you are better than this, get yourself a better job." He got real quiet - so I went on to tell him I would block the number and post it online, and asked him to dump my number. It was pretty funny. Next time I am going to urge the scammer to bring a gun into work and to "act for all Americans - stop the madness!" Can't wait. I then reported the number here and blocked it through Call control app for andriod.
Got a call from 971-555-0129. Like above, MSN tech...got pretty agitated when I told him I thought it was a scam. Started telling me who I was, my phone # and everyone else's name with the same last name I have. All info he can get out of a telephone directory. All customers he said. Also tried to convince me that he was a real MSN employee by telling me he was 23 years of age (really?).
Got it this morning ignored it, Doing the rounds in NL. My mother in law got the call as well she is 83, doesn't own a computer. There must be enough Gullible victims out there to keep this scam going all these years