Bogus Caller Tried to Hack Computer

thescouselander

Today I had a bogus caller try to get me to download a program (teamviewer) that, if I had followed his instructions, would have allowed him to take control of my computer to do who knows what.

I recognised this as a scam immediately and played along for a good while to waste the scammers time but afterwards I was thinking should I report this incident to the authorities. I have the number of the caller on the caller display so presumably it might be possible to track this person down. The problem is I'm not sure how to report this sort of incident - any ideas?

closed

wouldn't bother, it happens 10000's of times a day, the authorities know all about it, and the clid was probably fake.

earthstorm

I bet he says he was from windows or something like that.

Teamviewer itself is OK as i use it to help my clients, but the call is a scam and you will find it many times if you google. the number will most likely originate outside of the UK, so UK authorities are powerless.

thescouselander

Yeah - they said they were calling from "my ISP" but couldn't tell me who that actually was. They weren't very good scammers to be honest as I could hear the scammer sniggering as they thought I was following their instructions.

earthstorm

been a while since i have had any of them, but i wait a while and then tell them that they are through to the Microsoft spam alert service and for some reason they always hang up

Ratboy

My parents have had that before, and not knowing any better, they allowed access. Unfortunately.

I was already aware of the scam, and had to go to pick up the pieces, but other non techy family members had already had a go, so the comp was a mess.

I ended up installing a new hdisk, more memory, but keeping the original C: as a partition for access to data, not to boot from.

Then the other day these scammers rang up, I happened to be there, I was put onto the phone to deal with them; I'm registered with TPS at this address; nothing. Just abuse, and saying something about a certificate??? Don't call again, again just abuse, until you hang up.

I saw a program on TV that said that scammers target various groups (they never called me), just my parents, they are obviously based outside the UK, don't care for TPS, and have no regard towards people, and fekk peoples computers up at best.

What can be done? It's scary that my parents can get done, kill their computer (they dont bank online), not even a phoneline trace?? But they definately use 'lists' of 'vunerable' people, ie the elderly, but how to get a phone number not listed?

earthstorm

Ratboy wrote: »

But they definately use 'lists' of 'vunerable' people, ie the elderly, but how to get a phone number not listed?

I think i saw and article on Watchdog a while back.

some of them purchase lists and others use sophisticated computer systems that just randomly search and pick numbers for them to call. As a majority of homes now have some form of PC/laptop then their scam works.

it needs major education about these scams, but like all scams, as long as people fall for them the scammers will continue.

Weird_Nev

there are autodiailers that "farm" numbers. they just ring every possible number in sequence. they then keep a log of what happens:
If no ring, ignore the nmber
If no answer, put on a list to call back later
If a fax, add to one list
If a pick up and "Hello" or other voice like sounds, add to anotehr list.

After a while you've got a list of both fax and voice numbers that you can sell to the highest bidder for marketing/scams that is more complete than the "directory" list you can buy from BT. Ever wondered why you get those silent calls that click off once you've answered even though you're on TPS?

ballyblack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4681153