Phone call from ‘Microsoft’ about virus is a scam
If you receive a phone call claiming to be from ‘Microsoft’ or someone claiming to work on their behalf, telling you that you have a virus on your computer which they will help you fix over the phone, It Is A Scam. Hang up the phone, do not let them have remote control access to your computer and do not give them any money.
This scam has been quietly doing the rounds in the UK and Ireland since at least 2009 but it appears to be on the rise. The scam goes like this;
- Householders receive an unsolicited phone call from someone claiming to be from ‘Microsoft’ and they are told that there is a serious virus problem with their computer and the caller offers to help to fix the problem.
- The householder will get the hard sell from the caller regarding all sorts of bad things that will happen to their computer if they do not sort out the problem immediately.
- To try to gain the unwitting householders trust, the caller will direct them to the Event Viewer in Windows which shows details about various hardware and Windows software issues. This Event Viewer is always full of messages, even on a healthy computer, but the caller will convince them that these are the warning signs of the impending disaster.
- When the caller has their trust, they ask the householder to go to a website and download a remote control program that will help them fix the problem. After downloading this, the caller will take control of the computer, the householder will see their mouse pointer move around while various programs and folders are opened. The caller will claim that they know exactly what the problem is and how to fix it.
- Then they will ask for credit card details for a piece of software that will supposedly remove the ‘virus’.
Customers should hopefully already have alarm bells ringing at the mention of credit card details and end the conversation. The software that they sell to fix the computer will do nothing except tell you every now and then that everything is fine, all viruses have been removed. But in reality, it could be downloading all sorts of malware to your computer.
However, part of the scam’s damage may already have been done when the customer downloaded the remote control software. This software could well have the capability to sit in the background for months or years, stealing personal information from the computer like bank login details and other personal details that could be used for identity theft purposes. These callers could also be using this software to infect your computer with real viruses and malware.
Quote from Microsoft:
“Microsoft takes the privacy and security of our customers and partners personal information very seriously. We are advising customers to treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism and not to provide any personal information to anyone over the phone or online. Anyone who receives an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft should hang up. We can assure you Microsoft does not make these kinds of calls.”
“For more information on this scam and how to protect yourself against this, please click here”
Our Tip:
If you receive one of these unsolicited phone calls, hang up and do not download anything they ask you to. And definitely don’t hand over your credit card details, just because someone mentions the well known name ‘Microsoft’.
If you have allowed them to take control of your computer, or download their ‘fix’ software, it is likely they have infected your computer with a virus or other malware. To avoid the potential for identity theft issues and computer problems due to the viruses and malware they may have downloaded, we would strongly recommend that you take your computer to a reputable computer repair shop to have it thoroughly checked out.
At our own computer repair shop in Coleraine, we have experts that have years of experience and know exactly what to look for, so if you are in the local area, please feel free to contact us for advice or bring your computer in to be checked over.
Bob
Mother in law had about ten of these calls. I happened to be in one day,
first call: a woman with an Indian accent told me she was from MICROSIFT! and that the the computer was reporting errors I told her I was using windows 3.1! she told me that yes this was the system reporting errors! BYE!
second call an hour later! : from ‘Megabytes’ this time, same thing about errors told them I was running a Linux distro! Oh she says! NSS!
Third Call!!!!! : Hi your computer is…. etc ok ok then what do you want me to do? I replied
I kept them on the line with a load of yeahs and nos and whatnot, then she said your just playing with me arnt you! I replied yeah that way you arn’t scamming somebody who doesn’t know better!
Audrey
This morning, Feb. 18, 2012, I received a call from an Indian speaking person, stating that he was from a company connected to Microsoft. He told me that my computer has been sending out error msgs, and my computer was corrupted. I told him that I didn’t have time to sit at my computer right then. He insisted that he had to help me right away. It ended up my asking if he understood English. I then asked him for a phone number that I could call him back at. When he refused, I told him that I didn’t believe who he was. He then said if I didn’t want help, he would say goodbye. Goodbye. I then googled microsoft and found this site.
Sunfelur
Just got a call from an Indian accent caller who claimed that he’s from microsoft warning me that my computer has downloaded a lot of viruses without my knowledge and that his technical team will assist me in cleaning out the virus over the phone.
I didn’t even wanna give him a chance to talk. I told him to stop the bullshit because I am very sure that he’s part of some scam.
Be very careful, folks. Microsoft will NEVER call on their users in this manner. After I hung up on him, he tried calling several more times. What assholes these scammers are!
RT
My computer got infected by a virus in the form of an anti-virus software that downloaded automatically.
It was called “2012 Smart Protection” or something
Then on the next day I receive a call from “microsoft”
The guy’s name: Brian from # 299 657 9291
They talk nicely, but my IT professional came to my house as I was about to enable internet and he made me hang uo. GOOD
Steve
Received several phone calls this weekend from these goons from Fremont CA and Seattle WA. they continually hound me about getting into my computer. When I asked to speak to an English speaking person they just handed to phone to another Indian. When I tell them can not have access to my computer they hang up. Can’t anyone do anything about this? They are calling my work phone several times a day and getting in the way of me completing my work.
MH
Received a call from a person with a middle east accent claiming he was from Microsoft and saying that my computer was sending out error messages and that he could fix it. It was a private name, private number on caller ID. I advised him I do not handle things like this on line from people I can’t identify. He claimed he could prove it. I told him I had antivirus software and that I didn’t have my computer sending out error messages and I hung up on him. Obviously a scam.
Kathy
I have received 3 calls from this scam this week! They hang up after I tell them I have an Apple. Why do they keep calling back?
mike
So stupide stupide I am! I opened my computer for the scammer! Installed a computer performance program (a later version of a program I have had before, maybe IOToolbox). Showed how many thousand of registry problems I have). Asked for 350 dollars for a repair program with lifelong validity but I refused. No credit card number given. Realised afterwords the stupidity. Disconnected immediately the cable formatted the c: and reinstalled windows Xp. Do you think I am saved from future problems?
Ken
received a phone call from a male with an East Indian accent claiming to be technical support from Microsoft. The guy says that they called us because they identified us via the genuine Windows product and claims that for the past couple of weeks, the computer is downloading virus’ and there is a problem. Sounds fishy from the beginning, told him the user isn’t home and the guy says he will call back the same time a week from today. Just hang up and don’t waste the time with’em
rich
Got a call 5 mins ago 14:39 8/02/2012. Scammer said I am calling in regards your PC and your internet provider BT blah blah. I responded hi I am not with BT. etc etc then your windows PC is infected? really what version of windows am I using reply: laptop windows 7? what make and model? reply: dell. ding “wrong” its a mac? he hung up.
Kam
My Mum just got the call and she’s panicking. The Indian Scammer knew her laptop serial number?! How come? Please Help!
Greta
I haven’t seen anyone mention in their posts as to whether you were asked for by name. These people know my name and address!
Adam
Got one today from an indian call center (I’m with BT). told me my OS was corrupted (usual BS). tried to get me to run remote access, I got angry and told him he was a scammer and to get off of my line, he told me to “get lost” and hung up. all I can say is that its really fun if you’re internet savvy but if you have e.g. parents who aren’t it can cause the user a lot of trouble.
marika
even I got a call from a UK female today morning
Jeremy
Cool I just had ‘the call’ and I am not even in the UK – played a bit with the guy on the end of the phone. It was obvious from the beginning that it was a scam – called him a liar. tried to see how far he would go to try and convince me. but he was not really persistent . Asked him what he really wanted – he eventually hung up. Hopefully the cost of his phone bill increased a little. maybe next time I will see how long I can draw out the conversation to cost them even more.
Greta
I get a call from these people at least once a month. It started off at 2-3 times a week, then weekly. So I’m hoping it will fizzle out eventually. They are very persistent and argumentative.
David
I’ve started getting lots of these calls. The current batch are saying they are from 24/7 computer support. They give a Western sounding name but there is usually an accent. I try to give them the run-around. I kept telling one guy that I was doing what he asked without even turning my PC on. Then I simply accused him of trying to steal from me. He got very upset when I simply laughed at him; he then swore and told me he could shut down my PC forever. He got even more upset when I laughed harder at him and hung up.
It’s a cold-calling method that’s being used. What’s good for themm is a quick answer – if it’s no then they go on to the next call. Wasting their time is the last thing they want.
BE
We received two calls yesterday afternoon from a 206 area code and the person pretended to be from Microsoft. My wife is computer savvy and hung up the phone. I’d be interested in picking up the phone next time they call and letting them go through their spiel and let them talk and maybe ask a lot of useless questions and frustrate them a little. Questions could include why did MS choose the colors they use in their logo, what technology allows them to receive these messages from my pc… etc…
Dude
Next time anyone gets this call.. Please play the role and post the website and domain info that they tell you to go to..
Dude
I got the call from Angus ph# 206-456-0661
These guys are part of / or enabling this scam. The scammers in india use CLECs to hide they’re real contact info.
To learn more about International Telcom
Address:
International Telcom ltd.
417 Second Avenue West
Seattle, Washington USA 98119
Phone
Local: 1.206.312.1598
Toll Free:1.866.312.1598
Fax: 1.206.479.0009.
Email us at contact@ITLtd.net
*K7 Users please email K7cs@itltd.net for assistance.
now just do a whois on itltd.net and get more info..
Asfish
I don’t think that BT’s call centres are secure. I’m very strict about giving my landline number out to any company online or otherwise, even my bank doesn’t have it. I’ve found that if you are not careful then your number finds its way to spammers.
I’ve just moved to BT Infinity and needed to call one of their Indian call centres as they had my contact numbers totally wrong (as in numbers I’d never used) within 12 hours of me registering my home number on my online BT account I get spam calls.
I’ve not had one in 2 years before this point.
jacky
I’d heard of these scams so was wary when the caller said he was from Microsoft. An Indian sounding chap who asked for me by name, saying he was from Microsoft and he knew I was sitting in front of my computer. I said you’re goiing to tell me I’ve got a virus. He said no it’s not a virus, but it’s some other bad software that has been downloaded to your computer. He asked me to press one or two buttons – the Microsoft icon next to Cntrl and the letter R. I said I’m not pressing anything until I’ve checked this out. He put me on to his manager who also spoke in such a thick accent I couldn’t understand most of it. He gave me an email address which he painstakingly spelled out: micro.solutionsonline@gmail.com I googled and it came up with nothing. Then he gave me a web address: http://www.solftsolmicroresolve.com – which also didn’t come up in a google search. I said this is a scam again and he assured me it wasn’t. He said he’d wait while I checked out the addresses he’d given me, but in case doing so might play into his hands I said I’ll do it in my own time. I also said my security system tells me if a website is legitimate or not. He said ok check it out in your own time and said he’d call me tomorrow. I’ve yet to decide what I’ll say to them tomorrow if indeed they do ring again…The number on my caller display is 02127773456. I won’t ring it in case…
Marc
Just received this call today from someone with an Indian accent. His English was good, but it sounded like they were using Sype because while the response time was good, the harmonic distortion was bad. Same MO as indicated here. I asked them to not call back and hang up. The number the called from was 480-389-1203 which I plan on reporting to the FCC.
Douglas
I contacted BT and they said that it’s a widespread problen and the solution was to buy Truecall for £99. Was hoping for a cheaper solution then that.
Are these people randomly calling UK households or have they been passed our information from somone at the Mircrosoft Indian centre?
Sandy
Since I work in the IT field I knew immediately this was a scam. I not so politely told the guy where to go and hung-up. He called back multiple times until I finally answered the phone the next day. He then repeatedly told me he would ‘f*** me’ to which I laughed each time. I am now getting the occassional call from people who are looking to verify the authenticity of these calls – they must be providing my telephone number when someone challenges the validity of the call. Though I am having fun with this, my recommendation when receiving a call like this is to immediately hang-up the phone. If you have any doubts, call a reputable computer repair shop.
mahmoodazmi
This is just after happening to a friend’s parents. They did not supply any details but did allow them control of their laptop.
I have since taken the laptop, run malwarebytes and got zero detections. I also installed new anti-virus and ran a full scan and it came up clean.
Is it safe for them to use it again or should I be looking for something else such as an installed app?
There was an installed app that I removed named something like Microsoft Security Centre but the install date was back in Oct 2010
Alan j (Ireland)
Sick of these Indian sh!t bags. They ring, they knew name and address. Got one chap to mail me so I can get his ip address.
Today I got more calls Same scripted crap over again makes no difference what you say morons keep the script going. I laced in to this chap today gave him both profanity barrels I’m sick of these phon calls.
I work all day with pc & mac theses guys don’t know the difference between day and night. Waste if time and space. Worse thing is com reg in Ireland can’t do a thing about it not can the service provider. Would like to say it only happened when I moved lines from Vodafone to O2 anyone else similar? Maybe Vodafone sell off details?
I’ve no patience and more for them. I used to play along tell them stories to waste time but no alas no. I called him ever name under the soon and then even a milf for a laugh… He eventually got pissed off and hung up.
Denise
We had our second call from these scammers today, after the first call we were almost taken in untill they asked for remote access, when we smelt a rat and rang Norton (who we use) they warned me that they were trying to sell me products that i did not need. They rang back today and said no Norton did not protect me and my computer was in immediate danger, plus any future computer would also be in danger. I said that ok its insured anyway!!!! at this point he was still doing his best to convince me so i just put the phone down.
me
i just got my call this morning like two days ago and a mont h ago, anyway today i told them sorry i but i dont use windows just linux and the guy hand up hehe two days ago when i ask can i speak with your menager lady idian hand up, anyway its a lot of fun;)
christine hurst
i had a call this morning, my third one in about 2 months. All from a male using what sounds like an Indian accent.The previous 2 had used the name microsoft but this one only said windows computer applications ! my son bluffed the last one telling him we didnt have microsoft but anothr one and the caller argued with him saying we did !! this time i let him speak then said “i have already had 2 calls and he imediately hung up. i checked the number which was 0010361031 and low and behold it didnt exsist. took achance redialling actualy as it could have cost me a fortune !1
chives
2 calls today – first an Indian woman who claimed th be from windows security essentials … I think… couldn’t understand half of her spiel… Told me to turn pc on and she’d tell me what to type. Told her I couldn’t as laptop power supply was broken.. so she said she’d call back in 10 mins… I asked what the company was called … Said it was Dechassist . Told her it would be a week before I could use laptop then put down phone. 1 hour later., similar call from Indian chap saying he was from Microsoft and that my pc was sending continuous error messages to him… Same basic story, but now the company was caled “Globalised Solutions” I said I’d call back when laptop was working in next week or 2. Asked for his number … 12145060044…but 1471 came up with 04259981533.
I didn’t give access or details. And will not speak to them again!
Val
Can’t believe I was initially taken in today. Normally would have hung up but by sheer coincidence call came shortly after I was having a problem with my printer and so began to believe the Indian guy called Alex ! really was from Microsoft. He told me they were receiving lots of error messages from my computer. He gave me loads of spiel and that all these errors meant that we hadn’t been receiving updates from Microsoft and that’s why my computer had crashed plus loads more so called technical information. Couldn’t understand him most of the time and not being technically minded when he showed me how to bring up all these error messages I was horrified, however when he wanted to pass me over to his colleague who would clean up my computer and make it like new again I began to smell a rat and said that I wasn’t prepared to do that without them speaking to my husband who is an IT technician at which point he rang off and said he would ring on Saturday which of course he won’t unfortunately as he would get a brilliant reception!!!
James
Interested to read that this scam is still around. Interested, too, that the number 04259981533 has already been reported to you. I received a call from that number at 1533 this afternoon (7 Jan 2012), also one from 085219890146 at 1143 this morning. The scammers are keeping pretty busy. Why can’t they be caught?
foz
Got a call again this morning after a two month break,sounded Indian but I doubt it—after I kept the chat going for a while the guy realised that I was taking the mick, then in an English accent I got “f—K off” and he hung up. Surely this 04259981533 number could be traced.
Daniel
I got a call TO DAY and i have so meany virus’s i must pay 800 RAND TO get my virus’s removed for 2 years and programs with it……!!!!!!!!!
Georgia
Got a call yesterday from an Indian sounding guy who asked for me by name, I told him sorry she;s at work can I take a message (my standard response to cold callers). He then asked if I was related to Mrs so and so and I said yes I was her neice. He then proceeded to tell me that I have a laptop which I should turn on and listen to his instruction, I told him I don’t have a laptop and he said he knows I do. I told him he didn’t even know who I was or my name so how could he possibly know what I owned, he then hung up. My husband took a call from the same number today and he straight away interrogated the caller. My husband asked him where his company is registered and he said “in a country”, when asked what country his reponse was “a country in a country”. After more baflement from my husband he eventually hung up.
The scammer said he was calling from Systems support care and the phone numberon our caller display is 04259981533
Mousie
Thanks for confirming this as a scam.
I received an international call yesterday am from a chinese / american sounding woman claiming to work for Windows. When I queried the company she worked for, she made no sense and alarm bells rang when she asked me to switch on my computer. Unable to tell me which computer had the problem, she wanted me to power up all of them. Told her I had no time at present as I was about to go out. She offered to call back later but not surprisingly, didn’t.
We don’t usually answer unidentified calls and are ex directory so where did they get the phone number? I see from other postings that this scam is quite active in UK at present. Well done for the warning info.
Laraine
I’m fed up with these calls. I’ve had several over the past few weeks. I play them along for a while, then finally tell them they can’t possibly know my Windows computer has a virus because I don’t use Windows .Then I politely let them know I think they are a bunch of criminals and they hastily hang up. Next time I’m not going to be so polite.
Alan
Got 2 calls today. Noise in the background made it clear this was a “boiler room” operation.
Dee
I had a similar call today but with a twist – I was threatened with legal action if I didn’t do as ‘Microsoft’ asked. The caller was very pushy, trying to talk me down and insisting I turned on my computer.
All these calls show on my phone as International – I have friends and family abroad and feel it is necessary to pick up the phone. Surely the phone companies can trace the origin or help provide a solution
Dale
father in law in South Africa just told us that he had this call, they gave him a cape Town phone number.
They totally fooled him but fortunately he did not have his credit card at hand…
Alison
I have just been called by these people as well and they laid on the guilt trip about our computer holding up the network due to all the viruses etc and ” think of all the other people on the network………….” and this was the last time they were going to try to help me. I asked what they were selling and was told they get paid for helping others fix computers. He gave me the same unit serial number as I have just read in another comment in here. I managed to hang up on him only to be rung back by Michael, the “manager”, who laid on the hard sell again. I managed to fob him off for an hour and have found this info, waiting for another call and hope he hasn’t got delicate hearing. Thanks!!
Joseph
Got the scam call from 206-701-0285 – some indian guy
david
last week i received a phone call from an Indian person saying that i had a virus on my computer so i was doing all the steps . then my son rushed upstairs and looked it up and it said that it was a scam so my son ran down stair s and told me not to do it so i pressed cancel and shouted to them this is a scam and slammed the phone down but today i had another phone call from a Indian called Lisa claiming they were from Microsoft so we put the phone down.
ade
just had call from man with indian accent.from uk number 01212773019
tony
I got this call today…the indian chappie told me what manufacturer of notebook i was using…..i asked him what a virus on my notebook had to do with him….and then when i told him a virus on my notebook was none of his business he hung up on me….
Michael
I received three of these calls this morning – having told the first one that I don’t take unsolicited calls, he then rang me back. When the second conversation ended in him getting nowhere I thought that was it. A few minutes later a third call came through from someone else – after speaking with him for a couple of minutes he passed me to his “supervisor”. When this one started to direct me to type things into “Run” I explained patiently that he had to understand I had no way of knowing if they were genuine. Then the line went dead and – so far – no more calls.
I then took the opportunity to investigate online and found this website and many others, confirming to me that I’d almost been conned.
The point I’d like to make is this. I’m not a techie, but I’m also not naive to these scams. However, the fact that they rang me back – twice – had me starting to doubt my own common sense. It seems to me that their approach was aggressively persistent, which is quite worrying.
nat Moore
I got one of these a while back claiming to be Microsoft and another one today claiming to be BT.
Amusingly as a PC Tech by trade I had to laugh myself silly the first time they showed me the Apps folder as ‘being full of a terribad virus.’
Interesting to note they are trying to use IP providers names now.
Flea
I received a call from “John” yesterday. Same story: calling from Microsoft because of the number of errors they’d observed on my Windows PC. I asked for his phone number so I could call him back and he gave me 888.851.0953. This number works and has John’s voice on the call tree. I asked for his company name and address and he gave me WeFix at http://www.wefix.biz. That address is bogus as it turns out. The call went south pretty quickly after that because I revealed that I’m an employee of Microsoft and started asking him detailed questions about the nature of his company’s arrangement with mine.
Joyce
I have had several calls from a man with Indian accent who said he was from the Windows security whatever and that my computer needed to be repaired which he could do of course. He said my “Windows computer” had virus’s and other problems. As I did not call anyone about my computer I told him not to call me again and hung up. They must think we are all stupid over here. He still keeps calling. This is the number displayed 999-910-0103. I live in Canada.
Joyce
I have had several calls from a man with Indian accent who said he was from the Windows security whatever and that my computer needed to be repaired which he could do of course. He said my “Windows computer” had virus’s and other problems. As I did not call anyone about my computer I told him not to call me again and hung up. They must think we are all stupid over here. He still keeps calling. This is the number displayed 999-910-0103.
Noels
Got a call from these infected tonsils today and i live in a tiny little town in zimbabwe. How do they get phone numbers and names. Told them i had no airtime in my modem to download their piddly program
Paul Mullins
Great blog and thanks for sharing it. I will differnelty look out for these scams.
Gill Smith
Are they all called John? Based in the UK and also had a call today – second one in 3 weeks. Obviously a scam – asked him if they were a Microsoft company to which he answered no and that was the end of the conversation as far as I was concerned. It would be great if this people could be traced and stopped – they do seem to fall outside the UK Telephone Preference service.
Kieren
I get this call every day. I love it. I always try and think of new ways to mess with them. The other day I just repeated everything back the way a kid does when they are trying to annoy you. He hung up. Im going to try to keep them on the line for an hour.
Andrew
I just received a phone call from ‘John’ at an Indian call centre advising me that he was from Microsoft and they had detected my computer was infected with viruses. John had sent me a number of message and I hadn’t replied – my fault. I said I checked my email and my spam folder regularly and I hadn’t seen any. Then he said that the messages in another way direct to my computer… blah de blah…
I knew it was a scam from the start.
He said to prove that I could trust him he would tell me the serial number of my computer: 00C04FD7D062. Of course that isn’t the serial number of anything. He wanted me to click a few things from my desktop so he could prove I could trust him. I didn’t.
At this point what had started out as something I was interest to see how the scam went became boring. But I wondered if he would give me any information in return. I said I was busy and I could call him back. He scuffed around for a couple of minutes and then gave me his phone number. I haven’t called it, but it may be of interest to someone else: 44 20 35 82 96 19
Just to be clear – THIS IS A SCAM BY CRIMINALS
Cash For Laptops
I think those who have received a call and download what they want you to download, run a scan immediately, and just like the post said, take the computer to a repair shop immediately.
Computer Repair Tips
Most likely they have just hidden your desktop icons, rather than deleted them.
To get them back, right click somewhere on the desktop, click on “View” in the menu that comes up, then click on “Show Desktop Icons”.
Bill
Oh Gullible Me……..I got stung thinking this Microsoft Tech Support phone call scam was ligit. Bottom line.. in the end I refused to use my credit card to pay their $209 price tag for life time support. I allowed them remote access (DUHH) previously
so they were able to wipe my icons off my desktop after I hung up. Question: What is recommend at this point. What other damage have they done.Their threat to shut down my computer because it will infect the servers out there in Internet Land is obviously BS as I can still access my programs via internal means. How do I get these icons back to their rightful place. Also, I’m concered if they have deposited malware etc,
Apurav
A guy from India has written the inside story of these people and how they are operating such a big scam. Have a look on the blog indiancallcenterscam.blogspot.com
Mike
I think that with all this going on for so long now that any company that has any IT business in India or anywhere else in that part of the world should pull their business back to North America where it started and actually belongs.
Bluoz
Yup….Just got a call at 5:30pm in Darwin……I told “John” I knew nothing about his company and asked that he send me an email about it. He said he would…..I then hung up without giving my email addy…..As the number came up as “Private Number”…..Feckers!!!
FRANK
i let the indian person talk this time instead of reaming him a new a hole this time…he went thru his talk about this and that and going into the event viewer and said all those yellow things are viruses and the red error messages are also viruses…he passed me on to the tech but i told him i will call back and to give me a number to call and he gave me 1-647-930-5680 ! which is a UPS mail tracking number! scammers!!!!!!!!!
Kristina Nash
Got a call this morning from Javid Morgan, “Microsoft Engineer”‘ saying my computer had been hacked by a “Malaysian virus” but if I turned on my PC, they could fix the problem for me. I had heard of this scam, and as it was raining and I was bored, decided to play along with it. I told him that as I was disabled, it would take me a while to get to the PC, so please bear with me…. I fed the cats, washed up and did some press-ups, whilst occasionally picking up the phone to say “sorry dear, just looking for my spectacles”. I managed to keep him on the phone for a massive 1hr 30 mins & have not had so much fun in ages! He though he had hooked a perfect sucker, but Ya Boo you Javid! You are the sucker! Ha Ha!
Kristina Nash
Got a call this morning from Javid Morgan, “Microsoft Engineer”‘ saying my computer had been hacked by a “Malaysian virus” but if I turned on my PC, they could fix the problem for me. I had heard of this scam, and as it was raining and I was bored, decided to play along with it. I told him that as I was disabled, it would take me a while to get to the PC, so please bear with me…. I fed the cats, washed up and did some press-ups, whilst occasionally picking up the phone to say “sorry dear, just looking for my spectacles…”.
After twenty minutes I went back to the phone, but the line was dead, I hung up, only for him to immediately call me back.. (this happened five more times!)
Over the course of our conversations, he established that I mainly use my PC for online banking, and shopping, I live alone, and if I had to pay £400 to get the problem fixed, it would not be a problem for me. None of the above is true, but I so enjoyed hearing his excitement of having hooked a perfect sucker!
Computer Repair Tips
It’s possible, but more than likely it’s just a coincidence.
Janey
I received one of these calls in Singapore this evening, insisting that I was called Mrs ‘husbands first name’. I kept saying no it wasn’t me, then she said she was calling from Microsoft regarding my Windows operating service. My husband received a similar call about 3 weeks ago and his mother about a week before had a call in the UK and unwittingly gave control of her laptop to them. Could our details have been found on her laptop?
Danna Crawford
I just received a call and while “Ricky” was rambling away I googled “Fix my computer Microsoft virus” and was led to your website. So THANK you for saving the day! I started laughing so hard at Ricky telling him NICE TRY! Appreciate your post and have shared it with my Facebook friends to help spread the word!
Toxic Avenger
Received a call from these sub human life forms last night.
Since this is the THIRD time that scum, with an Indian sounding voice, has called here, I played along for a while to see what I could learn. The problem with doing that is the initial moron was so stupid he could not even follow the simple script he had been provided (by the way, in the background, you could hear this same script being recited by others.) A second con artist, amusingly calling himself “David,” took over the call but by this time I had become bored and launched into an invective laced tirade.
Bob
Received this call in Montreal , Sept 2011 didn’t say Microsoft but a strange name. My computer has problems they can fix. I am a computer instructor. I got mad and said I could trace the call and call police, they laughed and said go ahead. The number is not traceable on my phone and out of country. This scam is really old and was surprised it is still active. Will warn all future students our group gets.
Martin
Received another of those unsolicited phone calls today. A chap with an accent from the sub continent told me he was from Microsoft windows and he would like to fix my windows. I told him that I was glad he called as I had been wanting new windows for a while and asked him if he could fix double glazed windows. He said he could. Told him that I was very pleased and said I would like new ones for my lounge room and asked him when he could come around. He said he didn’t need to come around and would I turn on my computer. I told him that if he couldn’t come around how would we fix the windows. He said he would do it over the phone. I said, do your windows have aluminium frames? He became a bit confused at this point and must have dropped his phone, because the line went dead.
Dave Mick
Live in Canada – just got this call which I had heard about. Indian accent claiming to be Microsoft getting error messages from my computer told me to look in prefetch folder. When I told him there were 122 files in there he said very bad etc…I knew it was a scam right off the bat but wanted to see where this would go.
Jeremy
I just received this call. I told them that unless they could prove to me they are microsoft, I would not speak to them. They got angry and hung up. He said “so bye bye.”
sam
they’re definitely still doing this, i just got a call from an indian man working for what he said was windows operating systems, asking about my computer and when i told him i didnt have one regarding the number he had called, i dont because i’m staying at a friend’s house and they dont have a computer, but what was it regarding, he immediately hung up on me, and then in a curious moment, i *69′ed the number, and i get back that its not in service
Mr Ed
Mike – watch out! I’ve had these scammers for weeks now – not taken in, have ended phone call in polite terms. Two days ago, fed up, I told the fellow to “stuff off”. Next day, another phone call. I didn’t use the ‘f’-word, but I did say “I told your colleague yesterday to stuff off. Now I am telling you the same in even stronger language” and I slammed the phone down. So, guess what! My internet connection is suddenly unreliable. Might be coincidence! And I never gave them the opportunity to get into my computer. I’ve checked my anti-virus set-up and I can’t find anything there, but who the hell knows!
Megzo
I had the same problem recently. I reckon there are leaks in BT call centres in India since it all started shortly after I changed my phone number. The scams come from India too.
Mike
Had the same thing. Indian guy claiming to work for Microsoft Windows Anti-virus. He rang earlier in the week, but the line was choppy and he gave up. He rang today – twice! They are very persistent. I told him it was a scam, that I wanted my name removed from their database, that I would call the police and he still carried on… Eventually I told him to f*** off and slammed the phone down.
Chris
I just had one of these. I knew from the start it was fraudulent but I let the guy talk anyway.
He said he was working for “Windows Operating System”. I told him there was no such company and he must be working for Microsoft, but he stubbonly stuck with his story – he was calling from their office in London (sounds of lots of talking and shouting Indians in background). I sid I thought it was a scam but that didn’t put him off. He said he wanted to help me get rid of the malware that they had detected on my computer because “we love Windows and we love our customers”.
I asked him how they had detected that I had malware on my computer. He said they had done an “electrorouter survey” and asked me if I had heard of that. I said no (not surprising because it’s not a real thing). I was about to ask him how it worked but the phone went dead. His supervisor probably twigged that they weren’t going to get anything out of me and pulled the plug.
I think they are relying on people’s gullibility. They take control of your computer, claim to have removed some malware, then ask for money.
Des Emery
I got two phone calls, a day apart. The first one was a woman with an accent, using my name. I had my suspicions, partly because of the background noise behind her, partly because of the language she was using, highly charged and descriptive. The second call was the same woman, but she called me by a different name, then blissfully went on trying to sell me several hundred dollars worth of goods for “just $99.”
I kept on saying that I was not interested, but left her enough room to conclude her scam was fraudulent. Should I have called police? This happened a few days ago, just when Microsoft was in the news for its new acquisition.
Computer Repair Tips
I would suggest running a few other scans, just to be sure, but it looks good so far. Maybe try a scan with SuperAntiSpyware, TDSSKiller and check the logfile produced from HiJackThis for potential issues.
Kevin
This is just after happening to a friend’s parents. They did not supply any details but did allow them control of their laptop.
I have since taken the laptop, run malwarebytes and got zero detections. I also installed new anti-virus and ran a full scan and it came up clean.
Is it safe for them to use it again or should I be looking for something else such as an installed app?
There was an installed app that I removed named something like Microsoft Security Centre but the install date was back in Oct 2010