Warning - Phone Call saying we have a computer virus

Abbafan1972

fiddiwebb wrote: »

No real mystery.....they know that most people will own a PC/laptop much as the TV licensing know that most people own a television.

As the poster above has said this scam is nothing new, it's been ongoing for the last 2-3 years at least.

I agree, when they phone someone, there's a good chance that they will hit upon someone that owns a computer.

Lady_K

googler wrote: »

So let the ansaphone/voice mail/answering machine call-screen them for you..... anyone genuine will leave a msg, these guys will move on to speak to real people.....

Thats good advice if you have one, I don't have an answerphone though

Lady_K

CCFC_80 wrote: »

I used to get loads of these calls and often wondered. My theory is that when I bought it over the phone From Dell going through an Indian call centre they sold on my details including phone number to these A**holes.

Like a previous poster has said, as soon as I pick up my phone and then there is a Slight delay and hearing an indian accent I will just hang up.

Do you know what I have thought that myself, up until last week I had only had 2 of these calls in 18 months and last week I bought a laptop from Dell and I spoke to the call center and gave him details but not bank details. I gave him my second phoneline which I never use only because I thought if they had a really good offer for me I might be interested but I didnt want to be bothered by them on my main phone.
Since then what really made me suspicious is that when I have had these calls the other phone rings directly afterwards, it is a real concern, really dell should be worried, its too much of a coincidence to me. I kept thinking why would they know my main phone though as I didnt give it to the dell man but I know now why, its because I didnt know that I already had an account with them which would have held my main phoneline number so now they would have both

debitcardmayhem

Lady_K wrote: »

Do you know what I have thought that myself, up until last week I had only had 2 of these calls in 18 months and last week I bought a laptop from Dell and I spoke to the call center and gave him details but not bank details. I gave him my second phoneline which I never use only because I thought if they had a really good offer for me I might be interested but I didnt want to be bothered by them on my main phone.
Since then what really made me suspicious is that when I have had these calls the other phone rings directly afterwards, it is a real concern, really dell should be worried, its too much of a coincidence to me. I kept thinking why would they know my main phone though as I didnt give it to the dell man but I know now why, its because I didnt know that I already had an account with them which would have held my main phoneline number so now they would have both

Have you had any calls about "You can claim for insurance mis-selling(PPI)" or "Have you got your Sky box insured" , or "Good morning/afternoon/evening this is not a sales call but we are telling you about insulation/solar panels/double glazing" despite being on the TPS register, these muppets use computer dialers, and most of them are outside of the UK/EU and therefore say "Whoops we'll change our database". I have tried to report them to Ofcom (not interested) and other Agencies not even giving me the time of day. Now when I get a number witheld or a number showing as random I just say Essex Police fraud department , how may I help you. There is a down side to that of course , when my Sister rang me and was greeted with that she said "Oh sorry I think I rang the wrong number" so I had to call her back and say I take it you got your birthday card then;)

Lady_K

Yes I get a few of the sky ones usually a group of them over a month or so then nothing for months, only ever had a couple of the missselling ones, a handfull of accident claim ones and I with tps too

debitcardmayhem

Lady_K wrote: »

Yes I get a few of the sky ones usually a group of them over a month or so then nothing for months, only ever had a couple of the missselling ones, a handfull of accident claim ones and I with tps too

Sadly one uses the contact numbers (tel) too often, I also have had several phishing/trojan droppers etc emails, to one of my many "unique" email addresses, and most of the companies assigned to those addresses don't give a monkey's, tried several via their various abuse/phishing/etc links only ever had 1 reply, from a "small" company, and their CEO said it is unlikely they have sold on my details, nor that their site has been compromised, i.e. it is just a freak of the web based society. He then retracted his statement when I told him what the email address was and it was unlikely to be a hit with a random mail shot(the address was his company short name coded into hexadecimal, and a date of when I used it first), and six months down the line he wrote back saying yes their mailing had been compromised, apologised profusely offered a discount of 25% for my next purchase, and thanked me for helping them to discover the problem. He also said that "they have written to all of their mailing list to assure that them that they may have had emails purporting to be from them". My response why would anyone think that you sell viagra/send parcels via ups/or indeed why would you ask me to verify their/my details on "anybank's" website ?. Fair enough you may say, but the "compromised" email address didn't receive said email.

jasonwatkins

I had one a few months back. I managed to string the guy along for about half an hour

When he directed me to the website that would have allowed him to connect remotely to my PC, I asked him "Is it compatible with Netscape Navigator ?".

Of course he insisted it was . When I continued to have 'problems', he asked me what version of Windows I was using. I said "Windows 3.1. Is that a problem ?".

Again, he insisted it wasn't, but he put me on hold for a few seconds. I can imagine it ..

"Windows 3.1 ?. What is is that ?. Do we support that ?"

"I don't know ! Just tell him we do !"

He came back and I asked him what my IP address was. He paused and then gave me a generic number, so I asked him how he could possibly obtain my IP address and then he hung up

johnmc

I have been feeling really left out as I hadn't had a call!

Got one last week, though. YEAH! Finally going to get my computer fixed!

Apparently the reason my PC is running slow is because I have "computer problem" (sorry, can't type with an Indian accent).


"I will show you" OOOOOH Good!


"You will see a window symbol in the bottom left hand corner of your screen" No. I've got a penguin.


"A penguin? How old your computer" Brand new. I only loaded the operating system last week.


"Oh. Click the penguin" Why? What will that do?


"I will show you what problem you have" OK. Done that.


"You get the menu?" No.


"No?" No it comes up with a message that says 'Enter the long number from the middle of your credit card'


"That is password. Put it in" No it wants yours


"Mine?" ....................... etc


5 minutes or so later the line went dead. Must have infected the phone as well, do ya reckon? :rotfl:

dibuzz

I've had a few of these, always from "John", "Edward", "Mary" or some other English sounding name, do they not realise their accent gives the game away?
I usually reply with "Oh that's nice, bye"

Gratis

We solved this whole problem by purchasing one of these after we saw it on Dragons' Den a couple of years ago.

It's a brilliant little device and it seems to fend off all nuisance calls before the bell even rings.

Once a week we log into it and there is a full list of all the calls it has bounced. It's surprisingly long; some of these people are amazingly persistent.

I would thoroughly recommend one if you are being pestered. Their customer service is very friendly and helpful, too.

(Hope I don't need to add that I have no connection with the company.)