Phone scam

[DaOld Man]

Just had an attempted phone scam.
I posted this to my Facebook page, but thought I would share it here too:

Just received a call. Caller ID showed "Unavailable".
 A very nice man with a heavy accent said he was from Microsoft and that my computer had been compromised with a virus and he was going to clean it for me.
 Now I am very aware of this scam, since I have had two friends already attacked by this.
 What they do is ask you to allow them remote access to your computer.
 They then get into all your files and get any ID info you have on your computer.
 They also plant phishing and data mining software while they are "fixing your computer".
 He started by telling me how a virus has been detected on my computer.
 I asked him what version of Windows do I have? (Thinking back I should have said what version of Mac.)
 He said " Sir it no matter, this virus affects all versions of Windows."
 I started to say well I have Windows 3.1 (early 90's version of Windows), but I thought I would play with him a bit.
 I asked him how he knew my computer was infected.
 He said "because sir, your computer sent an infected file to our server."
 I say: "Infected file, are you sure about that?"
 "Yes sir, no mistake, but I will clean it for you."
 I say," Well, tell me sir, what is my IP Address?"
 He hung up the phone. Darn it, I didn't get to use the Windows 3.1 spill on him.
 I figured if his server received a file from me he should be able to look up the IP address, especially since he was "from Microsoft."
 Please remember that Microsoft will never ever call you on the phone, and they only offer help if you ask them for it.
 The guy had a heavy foreign accent and I heard other people talking in the background.
 If you receive a phone call like this, do not buy into it.
 But feel free to mess with them. LOL.

[mgb]

Nice job. When I think I'm being scammed, I usually just hang up but I like the idea of messing with them until they hang up.
I did mess with a credit card company caller once. Even though I knew it was a legitimate call from my credit card company, but the guy had an attitude and was acting squirly.

[ed12]

well
i play with them also
but what i do
is ask what file do they think it is
they ask for remote
i go wait a sec let me see some thing here
wait a few sec's then i say,it's ok..
they reply what do u mean.?
i say i just sent back a ping to u
it contains a file called winfux..
your putter should not be shut down now..
as i hook them in even more,they ask why ? indeed why?
i say becuase it is never comming back on.
is this the infection u are talking about ?
click..click...phone goes dead..

ed

[DaOld Man]

I like that ed, will have to remember it next time.

[Howard_Casto]

I remember getting a call on the office line at College.  The American Aluminum Siding Company had inspected our house personally and decided to give us a free Hawaiian vacation based upon the beauty of our house if we'd only order their siding so that the house could be used in a commercial and the value of the trip would cover the cost of the siding and then some if we so decided to exchange the trip for credit instead. 

So I asked them if they were sure with the dimensions of our rather large estate the trip would cover the cost, because I was really interested in their siding.  You could hear the poor guy smiling on the phone.  So we go over colors and styles and pricing plans and what not.  So I tell him to go ahead and sign me up... I start giving him all the details and when we get to the address....  "Yes It's the University of Charleston"...."You mean you live near by?"  "Nope"   ..... "Click"

Man that was fun.... I must have wasted at least 40 minutes of his day... totally worth it. 

The moral of this story is don't ever lie to me... I'll make you pay for it. 

[wp34]

Well played old man.  Well played.   

[Le Chuck]

These guys are ---punks---.  Buddy of mine messes with these scammers as a hobby, there are forums dedicated to it - they even record the calls and crap to laugh about later I guess.  The rule of thumb is that the longer you can keep them on the line "scamming the scammer" the less incentive they have to stay in the business.  My buddy worked a mail fraud check cashing scammer for weeks before the scammer wised up. 

Make them walk you step by step then apologize for accidently turning off your computer (while you of course do nothing with your computer), sound frustrated and desperate for their help.  If you can keep one occupied for an hour you just cut into his bottom line and kept a sucker from getting duped. 

Good job Ken for spotting the bastage and next time be less computer savy while you reel him in.

[BadMouth]

I keep getting messages left on my phone that AT&T will give me a $200 credit if I log into an oddball site.
I don't recall the site, but it was something like attrebate.com

[ark_ader]

I wish I got calls from people like that.  Sadly I think my number is blacklisted by previous scammers.

I love wasting their time.

[EightBySix]

Tell them the screen doesn't look like their description whilst they are taking you through stuff. When they ask what you can see, tell them "your mother"
or, when the inevitable request for an ip address comes, give them the ipmofvthe FBI, etc, etc

Got a link to those forums? They sound fun

[Le Chuck]

http://www.419eater.com

This is the scam baiting site that will get you started if interested.

[pbj]

Seems like a waste of time and a way to aggravate criminals.  Who the hell even answers an unknown number anymore??

[DaOld Man]

Seems like a waste of time and a way to aggravate criminals.  Who the hell even answers an unknown number anymore??

Well, in my defense, I usually don't, but I have been getting a ton of these calls lately so I was ready to give them a piece of my mind. (yeah I know that would work LOL).
But Im glad I did answer this one, it is fun messing with them, and even though it is wasting my time, you have to remember that it is wasting their time too. And since I wouldn't have answered if I didn't have a few minutes to kill, their time at that moment was a lot more expensive to them than mine was to me.
And if you can tie them up a bit, you may be keeping them from contacting someone who may fall for their load of bass crap.
Plus it was a lot of fun.

[Vigo]

Got a phone scammer last summer. Normally don't pick up random calls, but I was late to a bachelor party and figured I was getting my "get your ass over here" call. They guy said I won the "American Mega-millions" and was told I needed to get over to a Walgreens to give them my deposit number so I could claim the cash. I assumed it was one of my friends from the party pranking me, so I politely played along and said I would head on over there. When I met up with my friends, the scammers  called back checking in on why we didn't run the transaction yet. It turned into about the best party game I have ever played. One of us took the phone and gave an excuse as to why we couldn't make it yet, and the scammers kept calling back to check in every 20 minutes, over and over again, buying our story. They never realized they were talking to a different person each time, and out story got more and more far fetched.

By the time they caught on, (about 3 hours later) the story had progressed to to the point where I was towing my 14 children behind me, bicycling through the Ural Mountains to get to get to the nearest Tim Hortons to process the transaction, and I had to barter away a goat from my uncle's herd to get a spare bicycle tire from the Mall of America. I know there is more to that, but I think it was more that we were drunk in the later calls that tipped them off, rather than the inconsistencies in our story.

[yotsuya]

Seems like a waste of time and a way to aggravate criminals.  Who the hell even answers an unknown number anymore??

HAHAHHAHA. True. If it's important, they call my cell phone. I keep my landline because it's cheaper to do so with my cable bundle (phone, Internet, cable). Otherwise, I'd dump it.

[KevinFlynn]

Hilarious!  And, to think people actually fall for this kind of sht. 
I got the call a few weeks ago (Indian accent saying I have a computer virus and he is here to save my day.)  I had just purchased Total Defense AV so at first, I thought it was them.  I was thinking to myself, wow, great customer service!  So I asked him, what kind of virus?  Could it be all that porn finally caught up to me?! 
He simply repeated himself, sir, you have a wery bad wirus on your computer and I can help you remove it.  Instantly, I was on to him...you're not from Total Defense, are you??
"Sir, if you could help me log into your computer, I can help you..."  That's about where that conversation ended.  I really really wanted to F with him but I was in a total hurry.  I've been waiting patiently for them to call back....

Then, there's the random stereo speaker sales nazis that will hit you up in the parking lots.  You're walking back to your car and the guys in the white, window-less van will pull up - Yo yo man, I got a deal for you homie - check out dese killa speakers...$1000 but just today, just 'cuz you my homie, $200.  I guess they all sound like gangsta's to me.  They always say there was a surplus at their warehouse and the complany sent them out to move some stock.  I still don't know wtf is up with that one and if they're remotely for real but I don't plan on finding out...

And, lastly, I was reminded of the movie 'Boiler Room' with Giovanni Ribisi, where, he's inducted into a criminal ring that calls wealthy people like doctors and tries to get them to invest in this "killer, fail-proof" stock market deal.  Of course, they simply take the money and explain to the poor victim the deal went bad. 
The guy that called me was identical to them, their mannerisms, the fast talking making it sound like he was a total expert and trusted source.  I let him go on for about 5 min (I was driving and was only half paying attention to him.)  Normally, I would just hang up, but after seeing the movie, I was completely intrigued.  I kinda challenged him and said, you're not very smart if you're calling me for money, do you know my annual income??  I'm like frickin poverty level.  He assured me he could make me very wealthy.
I asked if he had ever seen that movie.  He hadn't but his tone instantly changed.  I proceeded to tell him about the plot and how it was paralleling this conversation to a T.  He got very defensive and downright rude (something most legitimate sales people will never do.)  That was a sure sign that he was a shyster.  After trying to convince me of his legitimate nature, he hung up on me but not before getting Very Very angry  .  I felt I got the better of him.   

Bottom line, always be skeptical if they're the ones contacting you. 

Thanks, DaOld Man, for starting this fun and informative thread.

[yotsuya]

Then, there's the random stereo speaker sales nazis that will hit you up in the parking lots.  You're walking back to your car and the guys in the white, window-less van will pull up - Yo yo man, I got a deal for you homie - check out dese killa speakers...$1000 but just today, just 'cuz you my homie, $200.  I guess they all sound like gangsta's to me.  They always say there was a surplus at their warehouse and the complany sent them out to move some stock.  I still don't know wtf is up with that one and if they're remotely for real but I don't plan on finding out...

I've read of some instances where these guys sell the speakers, you take the box home to open it, and... inside are a few bricks to make the box heavy.  They don't even give you cheap knock-off speakers.

[lilshawn]

Do what I would do... just go along with it and give them one of these IP addresses:

https://www.hellboundhackers.org/articles/read-article.php?article_id=721

insist "it's what your computer says it's IP is." and to "keep trying to connect", you'll "restart the router to be sure" because you know, stupid viruses right? then be like "oh now it's showing me a different one" and give him another off the list.

after he connects enough times to some of those addys, some rather unfriendly folks will be knocking on his door.

[ed12]

ya i did not want to post that 1
thank-u for doing it

  

ppl just rem keep a straight voice and do not them here u giggle

ed

[lilshawn]

the dumber you sound, the longer they will stay on the phone with you.

"okay, i'm gonna restart the internet box, just a second..."

and

"okay my computer number is one six eight....(long pause).....PERIOD... one nine three... PERIOD...."

or maybe

"alright i have the box up and you want me to type what now? "I PEE CONFIG"!? you making fun of me?! I do not have a prostate problem at all!"

[ed12]

ya
i even play them harder..
i turn the putters off...
go ok i typed what u wanted now what ?
they go through there garbage..
at the end when they ask for my cc
i ask them 1 exact question.
how did u know if i am infected ?
it is either a click or they are dumb enough to tell me there looking at it
my reply..looking at what exactley ?,point be calm

ed

[Caparo8bit]

They got me for 2k  My wife answer the phone I was at work . This guy told my wife that he was from my family in Mexico she only knows my uncle "Sergio" so she ask who's calling  the guy siad guest and of course she said Sergio? And he said yes how you been hows the family bla bla la bla And that's how all this fu:$:$:) scamm started .  He told my wife that he was coming to US and he was involved in a car accident that he need it some cash to pay the other affected car so they won't press charges . And not to tell ne one cuz IT was a surprise for me.........so my wife ran to western union and she send the 2k . When I find out wester union told me that they can't do anything so I went to SJPD and they just askme two questions .... You know who do this to you?....NO you have a picture of him?.....NO  so all you can do is  go to this web and place a report 
Sorry for my bad English I hope ya guys understand me

[yotsuya]

They got me for 2k  My wife answer the phone I was at work . This guy told my wife that he was from my family in Mexico she only knows my uncle "Sergio" so she ask who's calling  the guy siad guest and of course she said Sergio? And he said yes how you been hows the family bla bla la bla And that's how all this fu:$:$:) scamm started .  He told my wife that he was coming to US and he was involved in a car accident that he need it some cash to pay the other affected car so they won't press charges . And not to tell ne one cuz I was a surprise for me.........so my wife ran to western union and she send the 2k . When I find out wester union told me that they can't do anything so I went to SJPD and they just askme two questions .... You know who do this to you?....NO you have a picture of him?.....NO  so all you can do is  go to this web and place a report 
Sorry for my bad English I hope ya guys understand me

Pinche scammers!

[eds1275]

I just press buttons on the microwave when they ask me to type something. My patience is too short to even do that any more.

[ark_ader]

They got me for 2k  My wife answer the phone I was at work . This guy told my wife that he was from my family in Mexico she only knows my uncle "Sergio" so she ask who's calling  the guy siad guest and of course she said Sergio? And he said yes how you been hows the family bla bla la bla And that's how all this fu:$:$:) scamm started .  He told my wife that he was coming to US and he was involved in a car accident that he need it some cash to pay the other affected car so they won't press charges . And not to tell ne one cuz IT was a surprise for me.........so my wife ran to western union and she send the 2k . When I find out wester union told me that they can't do anything so I went to SJPD and they just askme two questions .... You know who do this to you?....NO you have a picture of him?.....NO  so all you can do is  go to this web and place a report 
Sorry for my bad English I hope ya guys understand me

Wow sorry to hear that.  Your wife is a very trusting soul. It is always the innocent that gets punished for trying to help.  I hope next time your wife will wait until you get home or at least call you, if there is a next time.  If it happened to me, I would have gone nuts, and made her pay it back, but I guess you are more patient and understanding than I am.  To me 2K is a lot of money to give to anyone, without verification.  That sucks man.

[Caparo8bit]

The weird partir is that Western Union said that the money can only be collected in Mexicali thats where mi """"" uncle"""""" was  and they collected in Guadalajara, Jalisco...

[pbj]

Lord knows I'm probably repeating this story, but I had a coworker get popped because someone called and did that whole, "the sheriff is on his way to arrest you and take you downtown unless you give us $1,000 right now" routine and she fell for it. 

Came running to me about it.  My response was, the sheriff does not work for credit card companies, go to your bank immediately.

Turned out she had set them up for recurring payments off her debit card.  She was out the $600 they yanked from her over the phone because she "authorized it" but was able to block further payments.

As the dust settled, turned out it was some random call that the switchboard operator forwarded to HR.  The HR people, rather than simply say "we do not forward collections calls", like every other sane company on the planet, let the scammer play 20 questions until they hit upon a name similar enough that they got forwarded to the woman's boss.  The boss, rather than simply say "I don't work for you, do not bother me with this", got involved and pressured the woman to "take care of this right away."

I told everyone involved that kind of idiocy was setting themselves up for civil financial liability and encouraged them to watch the movie Compliance.

At what point do people just not hang up? 

 

Did have to laugh recently, though.  I used Clearwire Internet.  They throttled me.  I terminated early and refused to pay the fee.  It went to collections.  They were always told, "stop calling me -click!-" for a few months.  When the actual letter came, I paid the $40. 

Fast forward two years, they got popped in a class action lawsuit for breaking collections laws. 

The judge doubled the penalty.  I got a check for over $400.

 

[RayB]

Why do you stress "Heavy accent" multiple times? Only foreigners or non-english speakers are scammers? "OH NO DEM FOREIGNERS ARE OUT TA GIT ME!" Half the people I work with have some kind of accent, right here in Toronto. Should I only trust the non-accented?

[Vigo]

He is making a critical observation, not stating it as a prejudice. Heavy accents are a very good indicator that the person knows English buts has had little to no exposure to an English speaking country. Yeah, scammers are usually foreigners and not actually in North America when scamming. They are in a country that cares little about those kind of laws and they are not touched by the law of the country they are scamming in.

[ChadTower]

The scammers in MA are Americans almost every time.  People calling up and posing as a local public safety charity, usually.  "Help the fund that supports the families of fallen firefighters!"  Then you call the fire dept and they have never heard of the charity.

[pbj]

I used to get that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- in Missouri.  They went balls deep into those "do not call" lists pretty early, and actually gave you forms to keep by the phone in case you got a telemarketer and wanted to report them.  But, of course, "charities" were excluded.  According to popular belief, they were semi-legit in that they'd give like 10% of what they raised to the actual thing they were supporting.

The calls went like this:

"Do you want to support the police department?"

"No.  -click!-"

 

[ChadTower]

I do give to a lot of the local public safety charities.  Our town is really small, though, and I know the people who call from those.  My kids went through DARE, we funded AEDs in cruisers, etc.  It's pretty easy to tell when someone is calling from some "fund" that isn't legit here.

And I *never* give to one that won't pick up the check in person.

[pbj]

Yeah, I give a lot to charity, too.  It's called "paying taxes."

[DaOld Man]

Yeah, I give a lot to charity, too.  It's called "paying taxes."

Nah, taxes aint charity, it's more like extortion. You can choose to give to charity, no choice in the taxes.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah damn the government to hell for wanting us to pay for roads, and police officers and schools and libraries and what-not.  They should fund all of that from that magic money tree growing behind the white house. 

Taxes with representation aren't extortion, they are a necessity for a civilized society to operate.  The most American thing you can possibly do is pay your taxes.   

[matt4949]

Taxes with representation aren't extortion, they are a necessity for a civilized society to operate.  The most American thing you can possibly do is pay your taxes.   

And  Play Your Video Games. Don't forget the video games.

[DaOld Man]

So taxes are what you must pay to get services.
Charity is what you donate to help others, out of kindness or goodness of your heart. (you, and not some bureaucrat are deciding who is getting your money)
The two are not the same.
And if my taxes only went to what you listed and not to line the pockets of super rich politicians and their supporters, I would not call it extortion.

[leapinlew]

Then, there's the random stereo speaker sales nazis that will hit you up in the parking lots.  You're walking back to your car and the guys in the white, window-less van will pull up - Yo yo man, I got a deal for you homie - check out dese killa speakers...$1000 but just today, just 'cuz you my homie, $200.  I guess they all sound like gangsta's to me.  They always say there was a surplus at their warehouse and the complany sent them out to move some stock.  I still don't know wtf is up with that one and if they're remotely for real but I don't plan on finding out...

I've read of some instances where these guys sell the speakers, you take the box home to open it, and... inside are a few bricks to make the box heavy.  They don't even give you cheap knock-off speakers.

Happened here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,51287.0.html

[pbj]

Amazing how insufferable some of those members were even then.

[ChadTower]

Taxes with representation aren't extortion, they are a necessity for a civilized society to operate.  The most American thing you can possibly do is pay your taxes. 

I suspect that as the years wear on the number of us who actually feel represented is declining rapidly.  It's more like 'taxation with false representation'.  That might actually be worse.