Ever gotten a call from AMMYY.com?

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
An Indian guy just called me, saying he was from Microsoft and that I had a ton of problems on my computer. Told me to run eventvwr, then look at all of the error messages.

Then told me to go to Ammyy.com and install the software.

:whiste:

Wow.

I hope no one's parents have ever fallen for this one.
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
155
106
I got a call like that last month while waiting for a FedEx delivery. Kept the guy on the line for quite a while asking questions about the items in the event viewer logs as he kept insisting those were proof of hacking and I would be crazy to not allow them to fix things ($120) before I lost all my data and my machine would be permanently damaged. I was making good progress getting him frustrated - as far as he could tell, I was on the brink of agreeing to pay.

When the FedEx guy showed up, I just said if anything went wrong, I'd reimage and restore my data, and that hackers don't scare me. Then he hung up.

I don't think I "won" but I probably saved 5 other people from getting called.
 

Possessed Freak

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 1999
6,045
1
0
The only time I actually cursed at a telemarketer was this scam. My cell phone rang, there was a bit of delay (tell tale sign), a foreign accent picks up and says that he is from Microsoft. I said bullshit and hung up.
 

DaTT

Garage Moderator
Moderator
Feb 13, 2003
13,295
118
106
I got a call like that last month while waiting for a FedEx delivery. Kept the guy on the line for quite a while asking questions about the items in the event viewer logs as he kept insisting those were proof of hacking and I would be crazy to not allow them to fix things ($120) before I lost all my data and my machine would be permanently damaged. I was making good progress getting him frustrated - as far as he could tell, I was on the brink of agreeing to pay.

When the FedEx guy showed up, I just said if anything went wrong, I'd reimage and restore my data, and that hackers don't scare me. Then he hung up.

I don't think I "won" but I probably saved 5 other people from getting called.

I also love stringing these asshats along. If I have nothing better to do, I will keep them until they hang up on me. Small things amuse me.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,079
136
I usually keep those guys on the phone as long as possible and mess with them.

It can be cathartic.
 

blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
14,453
10
81
This happened to my wife but luckily she conferenced me in to the call and I told her to hang up.

Next time, I'll try to just string them along.
 

jpbutler

Member
Mar 29, 2013
31
0
0
If it is a female on the other end of the line, I like to ask what color her panties are. That usually ends the conversation, and if not atleast it will be entertaining.
 

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
2,002
2
76
I don't know if it's the same scammers, but I've been getting one starting with "Hello, I'm calling about your Windows computer". Always an Indian voice.

For three days now, they have been calling around 8 in the morning... getting my whistle ready if they call tomorrow.
 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
I get one about every two weeks in my computer shop who fell for it.

I get one or two calls a week from customers who suspected it was a trick and call me before they fall for it.
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
36
91
Wow this stranger was obviously just trying to help and you crap on him in a public forum?
 

eng2d2

Golden Member
Nov 7, 2013
1,007
38
91
I played along with it for one hour and with a heavy accent he told me to go fuck yourself.
 

PowerEngineer

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2001
3,569
737
136
I don't know if it's the same scammers, but I've been getting one starting with "Hello, I'm calling about your Windows computer". Always an Indian voice.

For three days now, they have been calling around 8 in the morning... getting my whistle ready if they call tomorrow.

I literally just got a call like this right now! :eek:

It's getting to the point that my land line attracts more bogus robo, solicitation, and scam calls that legitimate ones. Nearly time to disconnect.
 

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
"I only listen to American computer hackers, put an American on the line."
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,656
12,716
126
www.anyf.ca
I got a similar call, I was happy since I had been hoping for a while so I can screw around with him. Unfortunately I was not really prepared so told him to call back later. He did, but I was still not well prepared as I was trying to get windows 3.11 to work in a VM with no luck, even 98 and 2000 so ended up doing XP but that's boring so was trying to figure what else I can do to make it fun.

I tried to stall him by pretending to have trouble turning the computer on, but he just hung up on me and never called back. :(

I even bought a recording device so I can record the whole conversation, and I have a quick command I can type to take a screencap of my desktop. I ended up going with a XP VM on a separate vlan, that vlan has a a QOS rule to give it dialup speed.

I'm sure more of these will come.
 

Skyclad1uhm1

Lifer
Aug 10, 2001
11,383
87
91
If it is a female on the other end of the line, I like to ask what color her panties are. That usually ends the conversation, and if not atleast it will be entertaining.

Should at least request a Skype videochat then! ;)

If you want to keep them busy make sure to ask him which of the PCs he's referring to as you manage 500 PCs of course, and you need to know which of those may be comprimised and how you can see which ones are and which ones aren't without having to log on to each one.

I usually just say 'Not interested' or 'No thanks' and hang up. Wasting their time may be fun, but not when I am busy at that time.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,656
12,716
126
www.anyf.ca

mrjminer

Platinum Member
Dec 2, 2005
2,739
16
76
It might be time to find DOS and 3.1 disks then sign up for some shit.

I hope he can walk me through enabling extended RAM on a 486, it's a bitch IIRC
 

MustISO

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,927
12
81
Never gotten one of these calls but people I know have. They always call or email and ask me if it was legit or not. People be dumb.
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
155
106
It might be time to find DOS and 3.1 disks then sign up for some shit.

I hope he can walk me through enabling extended RAM on a 486, it's a bitch IIRC

Extended RAM, expanded RAM, EMM... <shivers at the memory> (No pun intended.)