I got a call today 5/20/13 also said he was from MSFT. I knew the 214 number is from Dallas.
Said my system was reporting problems to MSFT. I ask hm to tell me what computer and software it was reporting he was guessing all the way.
This is a scam! They call themselves Microsoft Technical Support department, although my Caller ID showed only "Out of ares". They supposedly learned that my computer was infected and offered to fix the problem if I perform a few operations under their guidance.
Being a software engineer myself I new very well what they were up to, but I pretended to be worried about the infection and had a small conversation with them.
I asked who I am talking to, where they are located and what is their phone number, as I don't see it on my caller ID. A person with a heavy accent said his name was Rick Wilson (!), they are located in New Jersey and gave me this number. (in fact, it is Dallas area code).
I called them back and indeed got connected to the same "Rick Wilson"! (I could not believe the con artists would give their real number). I asked him whether they are affiliated withf Microsoft Corporation; "Rick" assured me they are. I asked him a few more questions, which proved to me they know nothing my Windows system (which I did not register - it was issued by my company) or about me, except my name and phone number (probably from the public record). I still pretended to be interested in their help and asked for their instructions. He wanted, basically, to allow me to take over my computer. I told him I had problems understanding his accent and asked for the manager. "Rick" said he was the manager and there was nobody higher than he.
After that I reached a Microsoft representative (it took about 30 minutes) and informed. He confirmed that it was a fraud, they never call their customers etc. I gave him the scammer s' phone number, which he took without any enthusiasm. He recommended me to register with "Don't call" directory. Frankly, I did not expect any effective actions from Microsoft (:
I reported the fraud to stopfraud.gov (although I did not expect them to be any more efficient than Microsoft) and than, just for fun, call "Rick" again. I told him that I talked to Microsoft and report to fraud fighting unit. "Rick" said "Eh... Eh... Thank you.." and hung up.
Caller ID said "Unknown Caller", but I answered anyway - same story as Jacob, except he said his name was Shawn Watson. I acted concerned and said I would have to have my computer person call him back and he gave me the 214-329-9692 #. What I didn't tell "Shawn" was that I already know this is a scam and that my computer person is in the fraud and security department.
Yes. Everything that JacobS said... this time though, the thick East Indian accent having person identified himself as "David Jackson". I tried joking with him... saying, ok, what is your real name- but he insisted. I then said, "no offense but you have a really thick accent..." I could handle the David part... but "Jackson". Please!