Bizarre phone call about my PC

[TrixieBelden]

Microsoft scam is a common one. I always tell them I work for Homeland Security and "Let's begin with your Microsoft ID #'. Works like a charm.

[dallison]

That scam has been going on here for well over a year (that I know of). A co-worker of mine told me about a call he received, then I passed the story along to both my brother and sister. A day later, they each received calls from those same scammers.

The co-worker knew it was a scam when he received the phone call, so he put them on speaker and pretended to be going along with what they were telling him. They were telling him to log on to his computer and type in certain codes... he was playing with his xbox or whatever the whole time but just kept acting like his computer was taking a long time to start up, then had issues logging on, etc, etc... The guy eventually told him his computer must be really messed and should take it somewhere to get fixed- which is extra hilarious, since they're pretending to be computer programmers/repairmen.

[Moongirl]

I had that same call a couple of months ago, the guy got pissed at me because I kept asking where he was calling from, how did he know I had a virus and his answer was something along the lines of because their company was in charge of monitoring my computer and they were able to tell my computer was in danger. I wanted him to tell me in detail the process by how this was achieved, and he couldn't tell me that, so I hung up on him.

[DeadDwarf]

I got the same call about a month ago. His Indian accent made it sound like he kept saying, "I am calling about your pussy. Your pussy, you understand?" I hung up and he actually called me back. I was laughing and realized later he was saying PC. He said I had been hacked and I needed to log into my computer so he could show me the virus. I knew it was a scam and went along with saying I was logging into my computer, then I was screaming how my computer was shutting down. He said, "How is that possible?" and I said, "You tell me, you're the one that said my computer got hacked!!!" Then I just frantically screamed and hung up. He didn't call back that time.

[D'jinn]

Our area has been getting calls like this at least once a month for about 2 years now. We usually just tell them we dont have a computer and get off the line, but do get the odd one who will argue (no, you have windows! its in our records!) but we generally get them off the phone pretty quickly.

People can be naive about it though - early on when it wasnt as common, one of my fathers friends (older gent in his 60's) got it, followed their instructions and they had access to his computer for about 24 hours before he realised his bank account had been cleared out and unplugged it and called the police. Took months to get all of it sorted out (and is still being called an idiot by everyone...) and while they managed to recover some of it, he definitely lost a chunk of money.

[Jezi]

Ah, yes. The old 'Your PC is broken! But don't panic! I can fix it if you let me log into it' scam. What they do is install software that steals your passwords, ceditcard number, etc. and you will indeed find your bank account cleared or some very expensive purchases on your credit card bill.

Let me explain something about computer experts a.k.a. nerds. They hate you. Nothing personal, they hate every single 'regular' PC-user out there. They will not call you to help you fix your PC. They do not want to help you. They will (reluctantly) when you call *them*. But they will never call you (unless maybe you emailed them first begging for help).

Of course, by 'they', I mean 'we'.

[bObbie]

Thanks for sharing this information.

Well, that's another version of this fake Microsoft scam call. Be aware that there's no way an outsider will know what is wrong with your computer, not even Microsoft. It's merely a ploy to get you to allow the scammer access to your computer and maybe steal person information stored in your database, or, for you to disclose credit card information. It's a good thing you hung up.

By the way, I remember a similar call I got a few weeks ago. In that call, the man claimed to be affiliated with Microsoft, although I knew he was bluffing. I kept him on the phone for as long as I can to get as much information about him and the company he represented but I guess he noticed that and he hung up.

I reported his phone number to Callercenter. The phone number was 206-456-0661. Is that what you have, too?