Be alert - 'Windows' callers - computers

Fred.Ed

My husband received a call from a company who said they were ringing from Windows and that material had been downloaded that was illegal. They asked him to switch on his computer so that they could remove it. When asked who they were and where they were calling from (Asian accent) they said they were ringing from Banbury in England. He asked for their telephone number so that he could phone back when he had switched on - don't panic he wasn't going to! The caller display had stated an international caller was on the line.
The caller immediately terminated the call.

Yesterday, my mum - who lives in a different part of the country received a similar call from the same company - fortunately she's computer illiterate and only uses the laptop when assisted so knew she hadn't downloaded anything. They said malicious material had been downloaded preventing automatic updates to deal with potential hackers, viruses etc! Again, when she asked about the company etc, they terminated the call.

It's quite obvious that this is phishing with the intention of downloading something to monitor the key strokes of the user so that they can copy critical details, such as bank account numbers and passwords, etc. Windows is part of the operating software of Microsoft Office and not a separate company. I'm sure this is not the first time this scam has reared it's ugly head, just the first time I've heard of it. This company is playing on peoples fears and insecurities - BEWARE, IT COULD BE COSTLY!

CM66

I had the same thing the other day, they were telling me my antivirus software wasn't working properly! I had actually installed a new one the day before so it was complete rubbish. When I told him this he said its not compatable with your computer - he must be psycic cause I didn't even tell him what make it was! He got quite irate with me and I ended up just cutting him off.....

Dad had a similar call the following day (different house / phone number) so looks like they are just calling random numbers trying to catch people willing to give them their info!

SueMaggie

This is happening all over the country. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) issued the following press release about it in mid-November, telling people what to do if they receive one of these calls -

Click for SOCA press release

I know a number of people who have been caught, some of them who you wouldn't think would be fooled, but the callers are very convincing.

flipperNI_2

Got one of these calls a few months ago, lucky for me i had read somewhere about them or i could well have been taken in. I went along with them pretending to turn on my computer etc to keep them on the phone as long as possible, wasting both their time and money before laughing down the phone at them, immature i know but it did give me a sense of satisfaction.:rotfl:

hazelc56

Two different people rang me recently about the same thing.I hung up on the first one but the second person about a week later rang...I let them ramble on about the situation and then got them to explain it all again to me...When they had finished I asked them if they thought i was ......... stupid etc and gave them a peice of my mind..They hung up on me.
Thought i would abusethem as they had intended to abuse me...They havent rang again so far.

muckypupz123

I got that call 3 times a day for a week, I told them I would be contacting the Police and they told me. They'll never catch us, so dont waste your time. From that call on I just answered it and played my little one's most annoying toy done the line to them. Seems to have done the trick as so far they havent rung back and its been for 5 days!!

Beki88

I had a similar call a while back: Hello we are calling from microsoft about your pc. Erm yes why? we need you to give us a few details we believe you have a virus and your anti virus isnt working... I said I dont have a PC and put the phone down!
I warned my mum as she would be likely to believe them. Its quite scary really!

Indo77

I received this call about 4 months ago and being curious I asked them what type of computer did I have if they knew so much about it, they just kept on ranting about there being a problem with my computer. I then hung up, it was an Egyptian number. Searched the internet and I found this thread

http://forums.v3.co.uk/showthread.php?t=199754&page=4

hazelc56

SueMaggie wrote: »

This is happening all over the country. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) issued the following press release about it in mid-November, telling people what to do if they receive one of these calls -

Click for SOCA press release

I know a number of people who have been caught, some of them who you wouldn't think would be fooled, but the callers are very convincing.

They were very abrupt as well to the point that the asian woman sounded almost desperate to get me to turn on my computer.I told her ok i will turn it on(no intentions like) and hung up.She rang back and carried on in her desperate attempt to get me to open a file etc.
Do these people think we are all computer illiterate or scam stupid.

ballyblack

http://www.webologist.co.uk/internet-news/pc-support-security-scams-zfsendtotarget-clsid-trick

tightasaduck's

Tell them you've got a Mac- scam busted!