BleepingComputer.com: Microsoft Support - Scam Callers

Hello All,
We have several customers who have been receiving cold calls from india, offereing 'windows support' or 'microsoft support' services.
Usually the caller says they have been alerted that your machine is infected, and they need to take you through trouble shooting steps.
The pitch leads fairly quickly to you being offered a 'cure all' security package for $100 - 200.
The Guardian newspaper reported on this in March, and it has re-surfaced this week.

Please read the article below - it advises what can be done to cancel any trancastion you may enter into with these rogues !!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/mar/01/microsoft-virus-scam-continues

Thanks & Regards Tim

This post has been edited by Blade Zephon: 12 June 2011 - 01:16 AM
Reason for edit: Topic moved to more appropriate forum; removed link to commercial site.

I am sorry but if anyone falls for this scam they deserve to lose their money so they can learn a simple lesson.

This post has been edited by hamluis: 05 July 2011 - 02:48 PM
Reason for edit: Removed unnecessary quote.

jdbaker82, on 16 June 2011 - 10:19 AM, said:

Bit harsh, many people have little idea about their windows computer and the chances of it actually having a virus or running slow are more than zero - a call like this can easily catch the innocent out, especially the elderly.

Honest and naive people fall easily for this as they have learned to trust others. A few months ago a teenager girl who lives near me paid some money for getting malware (so called antivirus) installed because someone called her and posed as security expert. She later told me proudly that she invested some of her pocket money in buying an antivirus. It hurts to see such beautiful minded kids experience such crap very early in their lives.

just in case you have this call, i advise you to hang up the call and try calling microsoft toll-free customer service to verify.

Yeah it's rather rediculous! At work we have had a few reports of these calls. One of my work mates got one and played around with the bloke on the phone. Would be rather amusing they're rather stupid and confused easily!

I actually have received one of these calls my self, and they proceeded to recite some no-doubt rehearsed scripted how my "windows is broken" and that I "need a new registry." I played around with these guys for maybe 10 minutes acting like the surprised consumer. "Oh noez! Virus! wut I do?" After a while I asked how I would "Install a new registry" on my macbook pro and they hung up.


lolwut?

This post has been edited by xXAlphaXx: 10 July 2011 - 12:34 PM

This scam is still going on......

I had a lady come into my work saying that someone from Microsoft called her to inform her that her PC is transmitting errors.

Well she fell for it. They had her install a program from AMMYY.COM (a log me in type remote access) and then a couple of other things.

I hooked it to my techs and they found nothing. I then did a search about this scam and that is where I found out about the AMMYY.com scam and looked into the files people talked about. Sure enough she had it on her PC. I was able to remove the AMMYY.COM program and (no thanks to my jobs TECHS) was able to get her pc back.

Thanks again BC for your knowledge. I need to tell my techs to be trained by BC to fix these issues cause they sure as H E Double Hockey Stick FAILED!!!!!

I wonder what they would say about my old computer with Windows 98 and no modem or network card.

I got this call today.Recognized the pitch from what I read here.
Upon my telling him I had read about this scam he wanted to know where.
I just told him on the internet and hung up.
Regular telemarketers are annoying but at least they are usually trying to sell
a product. They just get a "Not interested, thanks for the call" and a hang up.
These guys are just criminal. They are using Aural Malware to steal peoples money.
Also the last few days I have been getting calls from someone "from the government" trying to give me a $5000.00 tax free grant. I just need to assure him I am not a felon and have not had a bankruptcy in 5 years. Too bad he doesn't speak very good English.
Unfortunately trying to mess with these guys is just a waste of time. Although the longer they talk to me the less time they have to talk to someone that might fall for it.
If you could tell what country they were from it might be fun to tell them in their native language that their Mother would be ashamed of them for being a thief.

I would LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE for them to call me. I would so waste their time. There is a youtube audio clip of this man who kept these jerks on the phone for about 30 minutes. I laughed and laughed my back side off.

One of the times the lady is telling him to close all of his windows to get back to the desktop and the guy messing with them he says," Ohhh turn my PC off." She says," yes".

Then 1 minute later she asks what is the PC doing and wastes her time for about 5 minutes trying to shut his PC down and back on.

If you want the youtube link let me know.


All of these scam callers have a Thick Indian Accent.


EDITED FOR SPELLING ERROR

This post has been edited by herg62123: 06 October 2011 - 10:28 PM

For those who are playing catch up with this scam, here are a few informative links:

• Avoid tech support phone scams
  
• Microsoft Warns of IT Support Phone Scams
  
• Microsoft Warns of Internet Phone Scam
  
• Dealing with Fake Tech Support & Phone Scams
  
• Watch out for ‘Microsoft Tech Support’ scams
  
• Microsoft Support Scam (again)