Phone calls

[Invicta]

Over the last few months I have had quite a number of calls saying that my PC is sending messages that it is compromised. These purport to come from either some computer consultancy, or "Windows" or Microsoft. These usually are people who have heavy Asian accents which are sometimes almost unintelligable. I answered one with "Microsoft would employ somebody who could speak English" My wife answered one such call yesterday and said, "My husband deals with my PC and he is not here."

Does anyone else get such calls or does anyone know what their game is. No doubt it is a scam.

Edited March 27, 2012 by Invicta

[John81]

I've received calls from thick accented Indians, but not about computers.

[1Timothy115]

Here is where you need to go to learn more...

If you receive a phone call claiming to be from ‘Microsoft’ or someone claiming to work on their behalf, telling you that you have a virus on your computer which they will help you fix over the phone, It Is A Scam. Hang up the phone, do not let them have remote control access to your computer and do not give them any money.

This scam has been quietly doing the rounds in the UK and Ireland since at least 2009 but it appears to be on the rise. The scam goes like this;

[JerryNumbers]

Over the last few months I have had quite a number of calls saying that my PC is sending messages that it is compromised. These purport to come from either some computer consultancy, or "Windows" or Microsoft. These usually are people who have heavy Asian accents which are sometimes almost unintelligable. I answered one with "Microsoft would employ somebody who could speak English" My wife answered one such call yesterday and said, "My husband deals with my PC and he is not here."

Does anyone else get such calls or does anyone know what their game is. No doubt it is a scam.

No, sounds like scammers trying to get in your pocketbook.

[John81]

Sounds like a lot of the spam emails I get sometimes. Every so often I get email in my junk folder that says it's from microsoft or something, with a dire warning in the subject line. Of course I also sometimes get junk email from places claiming to be the FBI, IRS, this or that bank and all sorts of other scams.

The sad thing is, there must actually be a good amount of people who fall for these things or they would not persist in putting them forth.