Just had a really interesting phone call from an Asian sounding guy telling me that his company has just received notification from my PC that it's infected with a virus and that he is phoning me to help me sort it out, what a nice guy... The shortened version of the conversation went like this, all with polite replies from me:- Him - I'm calling you to tell you that your PC has flagged up a security issue that we can help you out with. Me - Sorry, who are you, where are you calling from? Him - We are an IT company that specialise in internet faults. Are you the main user of your computer and can you make sure that nobody else is using your computer. Me - err, yes and yes. It's interesting that my PC has contacted you, did it also give you my phone number? Him - No, we already had your number. We also hold lots of other information too, such as your driving license number and so on. Me - So to verify that you know who I am what is my driving license number? Him - I'm sorry, but due to the Data Protection Act I cannot tell you this. Me - ok that's fine because I too work within the Data Protection Act and cannot tell you any information about me either. Him - No problem, we don't need to know any information about you, I just need you to go to your PC and I will tell you what I need you to do. Me - I won't be going to my PC right now, but remind me, what company do you work for again? Him - We work with Microsoft. Me - Ahh, you're calling me from Microsoft? Him - Not Microsoft itself, but an IT company that work on behalf of Microsoft. Me - Well that's ok then, I don't think I will be needing your help after all as I own a Mac... At this point I hung up, all the while in full view of the family who were in stitches and couldn't believe I'd even bothered. I must have been in a good mood
should hang the lot of them … the police say that crime is going down ,but they don't count fraud by cybercrime in their statistics and that is where most of it is done these days. its a national disgrace in my eyes.
Yes this is very well known! I am quite surprised people fall for it but then there is a sucker born every day Well done for staying calm and leading him on for amusement
Funny that my workmate has just had a call this afternoon offering him 6 copies of MCN for £1, and 3 copies of Ride for £3 and 3 copies of Car for £3, all he has to do is hand over his credit card details to set up a DD!! He told them he was busy and if he could have their e mail address and tel number he would get back to them, to which he was told they are too busy to answer e mails and phone calls and needs to accept the offer now to get the best price. The part of the call I took interest in was when I heard him say F**k off you p*ick and a further string of colourful language as he put the phone down.
I fookin love these phone calls, obviously when I've got the time to play along i.e at work! Listen intently, give lots of agreeable answers and right at the final hurdle tell them you've left your wallet at home!!
Had the PC one twice in a week. After the first one you get to thinking of things you could have said. The second time around was therefore better as I was prepared. Are you in front of your PC Yes Is it switched on? No Can you please switch it on. Yes, one min it takes a while, its a bit slow, I guess thats down to the virus Yes. ...................................... is it running yet still starting up, i said it was slow........................................ On and on it went, meanwhile he passed me to his consultant who would talk me through it, presumably I also managed to waste some of the boss mans time too, who with the time old english tradition was told to "F**k off you scamming Cnut" P.S. it was on all the time
What you didn't realise is he had reversed the charges from India and all the time you were having a laugh at him he was stealing your £££ and laughing back at you
Just had them on the phone. After 20 minutes I got bored of them not sussing I was running a linux box so gave them some good old fashioned anglo saxon
I'm always scared of my parents falling for something like this as I'm pretty certain I'd burst a blood vessel from frustration at not being able to gut the pond life that dared it. It was one of the reasons I was loathe to put them online in the first place, but you can't stop them growing up, can you. But I breathed a sigh of relief one day when I i got a call from my dad and had to hold the phone away from my ear throughout it. You have to understand, my old man is a short, very punchy, docks grown Yorkshireman who's made of nails and grit. So, he got pretty much the same phone call as above and as soon as the scammer paused for breath after his first sentence, my old man went medieval on his arse in a full blown, max volume cuntython absolutely big time until this geezer hung up on him. So vexed was the old man, he then had to call somebody else to finish his rant and I drew the short straw.
My father-in-law got stung by them a couple of years ago as they rang about 2 minutes after he had clicked "Report Problem to Microsoft". His bank were absolute tossers and refused to refund any money despite the company being known scammers because he had given the details willingly. Good to hear your old man gave 'em what for.
He might even have done the twat a favour mate. With English not being his first language and all... He learned dozen of Anglo Saxon terms and phrases in a couple of minutes.
