They prey on senior citizens who don't know any better. They gain access to the computer remotely and then lock the owner out, then they demand your $20 or more to let the owner regain access. It's criminal what these scammers do to people.
A woman with an Indian accent so thick I could barely understand her, she said Microsoft has been alerted about problems with my computer and she needed to access it remotely immediately. I told her I wasn't interested in being scammed and hung up.
Got a call at 5:10 am this morning. Scrambled out of bed and ran down stairs; missed them by the time I got there. Not impressed, as my sick child just fell asleep. Had to check with my in laws if they got a call from Germany as well, as we have family over there and I was worried something had happened. Plain old rude.