Is this a scam?

melbury

I got a phone call today from an Indian gentleman saying he worked for a company called PC ??? (can't remember the last word!) who take care of resolving problems with Microsoft operating systems and there have been a lot of "infections" reported in my area.

He told me to go to My Computer right click, Manage right click, Event Viewer. Then go to Application and System and if I can see any Yellow (warning) or Red (error) symbols then my computer is badly infected.

Luckily I was dashing to get back to work, so didn't get any further with him talking me through how to fix it.

Having had time to reflect on this I really think it must be a scam because a) how did he get my phone number because Microsoft certainly wouldn't have it and b) if there was a problem surely Microsoft themselves would make people aware of it.

He is phoning me back on Wednesday to go through the whole process of making my computer infection free!

Has anybody else had this happen?

Thanks.

LadyMorticia

It's a well known scam. MIL had a similar phonecall.

Just tell them you have a Mac.

kittykarate

Yes, it's a scam.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres

debitcardmayhem

Perhaps search the forum for the word scam ..... QED

victor2

Of course it's a scam. Read here:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/jun11/06-16MSPhoneScamPR.mspx

If he calls back, you might like to drag him along a bit, just don't part with any more information than he already has. Amuse yourself by making something up.
Or just tell him in no uncertain terms where to go.:)

milesoneill

It's a scam. These warnings and errors are just logs of when programs might hang, or close unexpectedly. Nothing harmful.
There have been plenty of threads detailing this type of scam, some amusing stories for sure!!

Tell them you now run Linux, that'll get rid of them quickly.

Miles.

melbury

Thank you all.

So just going to the bits of My Computer that he told me to go to to look for error messages won't have compromised my security will it? Presumably this happens when you get directed to a website to download something.

The next stage was to type something into the Run box, but I had to leave at that point - thank goodness.

I haven't heard of this before, do Microsoft want notifying about these things?

kwikbreaks

Just you using the event viewer won't have done any harm. I think they go on to get you to install some remote desktop software so they can get on your machine and do just what they like. It may be that the scam stops at just charging for a pointless process but they could easily install key loggers and the like enabling them to empty bank accounts etc.

melbury

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Perhaps search the forum for the word scam ..... QED

Noted for the future;)

debitcardmayhem

melbury wrote: »

Noted for the future;)

There's usually one or two a month reported on here. I used to say I blame the pill because there is no longer one born every minute, but these guys seem to find enough to keep them plugging away , or the "have you got a Sky box warranty scam" or the newer "Free Electricity Solar Panels" .

grizzly1911

Expect multiple calls too, often a couple of minutes apart and being sarcastic too.

I just tell them I haven't got a PC, then they will ask if you have a laptop:rotfl::rotfl:

As long as you haven't given them remote access don't worry. the error messages they got you to reveal happen as a matter of course.