Friend almost got scammed

[moonbogg]

I just got a call from a friend while I'm here at work. "Hey bro, I have a quick question. There's some guy on the phone who says my computer has errors and he will fix it..."

That's where I stopped him and told him its a scam. He asked how I knew and I said I'd explain later and assured him it was a scam. Jesus Christ, I love him to death but some people come with broken BS meters installed.

 

[CraKaJaX]

your coffee thread was better.

 

[Jeff7]

This'll be great as more household objects find themselves connected to the Internet.

"Your iWatchCam Nest thermostat in the bathroom is malfunctioning. Could you please give me the login credentials so that I can analyze it further? And please stand about 1ft farther to your left when you get out of the shower."

 

[manimal]

have him change his passwords because hes clearly an idiot.

 

[olds]

I almost fucked Taylor Swift. I had a hard on but she wasn't around.

 

[Newell Steamer]

"Hey bro, I have a quick question. There's some guy on the phone who says my computer has errors and he will fix it..."

,.. why don't I get these calls,... ???

I wish there was a hotline of sorts, where people like your friends would defer the scammer to someone like me, who is waiting patiently to handle it.

Oh, yeah, sure! I'd love to have them fixed! Let me dial you in,... And then I would proceed to hit random buttons on the phone. When Sanjeev on the other end attempts to talk, I'd yell; You've interrupted me!! I need to start from the beginning,... and then proceed to enter random numbers on the key pad.

 

[bbhaag]

My mom almost fell for the same scam. Like your friend she called me while on the phone with the guy and asked me if it was true.
She's older(mid 60's)so computers are more like an appliance to her. I'm just glad she called me and didn't trust the douchebag.

 

[Paladin3]

This scam is getting to be pretty common. Scammers call claiming to be from Microsoft or "Windows", or even law enforcement sometimes saying people could be criminally liable for sending out viruses and need to post a bond to avoid prosecution.

I had one client who brought me their computer all upset because they'd paid the "guy from Microsoft" $1300 to fix their computer remotely and it was worse than ever. I took their computer for a virus removal, but sent them straight to their bank. Luckily, they got their money back.

I try hard to educate my clients that nobody legit will ever call them, but some just don't listen. I had one guy I did a virus removal for and the very next day he got a call from someone saying his computer was sending out viruses. He let the guy in and then came to me demanding a refund because I hadn't cleaned his computer. It took me a while to convince him he had been scammed.

People can be dense.

 

[02ranger]

My mom almost fell for the same scam. Like your friend she called me while on the phone with the guy and asked me if it was true.
She's older(mid 60's)so computers are more like an appliance to her. I'm just glad she called me and didn't trust the douchebag.

They called my mom too, and she's in her mid-60s as well. She's extremely computer illiterate, like most people in that age bracket. She didn't fall for it though, she told the guy that her son took care of all her computer needs, and if in fact there was something wrong she felt sure I'd fix it. She then told him not to bother calling back. He was so persistent she eventually told him she was pretty sure he was a scammer, and that she didn't see why "Microsoft" would take the time to call her, or how they would figure out anything was wrong with her computer. I was so proud of her.

 

[AMCRambler]

I almost fucked Taylor Swift. I had a hard on but she wasn't around.

Back! Back in the basement foul hell spawn!

 

[Ichinisan]

This scam is getting to be pretty common. Scammers call claiming to be from Microsoft or "Windows", or even law enforcement sometimes saying people could be criminally liable for sending out viruses and need to post a bond to avoid prosecution.

I had one client who brought me their computer all upset because they'd paid the "guy from Microsoft" $1300 to fix their computer remotely and it was worse than ever. I took their computer for a virus removal, but sent them straight to their bank. Luckily, they got their money back.

I try hard to educate my clients that nobody legit will ever call them, but some just don't listen. I had one guy I did a virus removal for and the very next day he got a call from someone saying his computer was sending out viruses. He let the guy in and then came to me demanding a refund because I hadn't cleaned his computer. It took me a while to convince him he had been scammed.

People can be dense.

Well, you'd be wrong. I occasionally have to call people to advise that something on their network is compromised and is participating in a DDoS attack.

 

[moonbogg]

Well, you'd be wrong. I occasionally have to call people to advise that something on their network is compromised and is participating in a DDoS attack.

Aha! There's our little contrarian. I knew you'd show up soon. Anytime a group of people agree that something is highly unlikely, there will without a doubt be that one contrarian with their very special, very rare, very inapplicable scenario to declare single handed victory over the consensus. You, my friend, will not be calling 60 year old mothers to let them know they are a part of a DDoS attack, and if you do, they ought to hang up on you.

 

[Ichinisan]

Aha! There's our little contrarian. I knew you'd show up soon. Anytime a group of people agree that something is highly unlikely, there will without a doubt be that one contrarian with their very special, very rare, very inapplicable scenario to declare single handed victory over the consensus. You, my friend, will not be calling 60 year old mothers to let them know they are a part of a DDoS attack, and if you do, they ought to hang up on you.

All. The. Fucking. Time. (Well...every other day)

You seriously have no fucking idea.

I'm waiting for the day when someone says "my son/grandson warned me about scammers like you!"

 

[Ichinisan]

[snip]

...and I assume all other ISPs must block / notify customers the same way. It's that kind of routine call the scammers are emulating.

 

[Paladin3]

Well, you'd be wrong. I occasionally have to call people to advise that something on their network is compromised and is participating in a DDoS attack.

Do you ask to remote into the client's computer and/or for a credit card number or some other form of payment? I think that's who we are talking about in this thread. But thanks.

 

[Ichinisan]

Do you ask to remote into the client's computer and/or for a credit card number or some other form of payment? I think that's who we are talking about in this thread. But thanks.

Maybe you didn't know, but that part of the scam always comes *after* they've already guided the user to view error logs. Usually after they've coerced the user to install remote access software and grant access to the "technician;" who has "confirmed" various infestations and loads the web site with the rogue malware removal tool.

Similarly, I'm often asked to recommend a legitimate (free) malware removal tool like MSE.

 

[Spydermag68]

When I get these types of calls I wait for them go through their introduction and then I say:

"Thank you for calling the suicide hotline. How can we assist you in killing yourself today."

It also works on people ask you to take a poll during election times.

 

[CZroe]

Aha! There's our little contrarian. I knew you'd show up soon. Anytime a group of people agree that something is highly unlikely, there will without a doubt be that one contrarian with their very special, very rare, very inapplicable scenario to declare single handed victory over the consensus. You, my friend, will not be calling 60 year old mothers to let them know they are a part of a DDoS attack, and if you do, they ought to hang up on you.

I hope you feel like an idiot for being so wrong. He works for an ISP and that is EXACTLY what they, and others, do, genius. When he proves you wrong and demonstrates that there is no consensus, it's pretty lame to just dismiss it to pretend that there is still consensus.

 

[DrDoug]

Two of my elderly customers had calls like this in the past couple of months. I have been building them custom systems for 22 and 14 years now and they know and trust me. I already warn all of my customers about scams like this and they both called me after they got off of the phone with the scammers, worried that the scammers were telling the truth. I not only assured them that they were fine, I checked both of their systems out for no charge and found nothing wrong with them.

I told them that the next time they get a call to tell the scammers that they are running Fedora 20, not Windows. When I explained it to them they both got a laugh out of it.

 

[moonbogg]

I hope you feel like an idiot for being so wrong. He works for an ISP and that is EXACTLY what they, and others, do, genius. When he proves you wrong and demonstrates that there is no consensus, it's pretty lame to just dismiss it to pretend that there is still consensus.

Yes, there is still a consensus. Contrarian #2 has revealed himself.

 

[postmortemIA]

I almost fucked Taylor Swift. I had a hard on but she wasn't around.

she was busy in my fantasy

 

[Paladin3]

Maybe you didn't know, but that part of the scam always comes *after* they've already guided the user to view error logs. Usually after they've coerced the user to install remote access software and grant access to the "technician;" who has "confirmed" various infestations and loads the web site with the rogue malware removal tool.

Similarly, I'm often asked to recommend a legitimate (free) malware removal tool like MSE.

I'm going to stick with "No" being the best answer when someone calls unsolicited asking to remote into your computer or offering computer repair services. The risk is to great to advise the average user to do anything else. It's much better to take the computer to a legit technician they trust.

I understand an ISP might have to call and warn a customer if they are participating, knowingly or not, in a DDoS attack. I really doubt you ask them to let you remote in to fix it or ask for any kind of payment like a scammer would, which is what we were discussing.

So, .1% of the time that call might be legit, if they are not asking to remote in or for payment. Your point is well taken. Thank you.

 

[CZroe]

Yes, there is still a consensus. Contrarian #2 has revealed himself.

No, person #2 who can verify that he works for an ISP and makes these calls regularly has revealed himself. I was unaware that forum members' personal life experiences and knowledge of various subject matters were not wanted in the forum just to maintain an uninformed BS "consensus." Kinda odd that you think topics should only have guesses and participation from those who WOULDN'T know. Kinda runs counter to what one would expect OPs to want, generally.

 

[Captante]

I almost fucked Taylor Swift. I had a hard on but she wasn't around.

Didn't we cover this awhile back? :hmm:

 

[moonbogg]

I'm going to stick with "No" being the best answer when someone calls unsolicited asking to remote into your computer or offering computer repair services. The risk is to great to advise the average user to do anything else. It's much better to take the computer to a legit technician they trust.

I understand an ISP might have to call and warn a customer if they are participating, knowingly or not, in a DDoS attack. I really doubt you ask them to let you remote in to fix it or ask for any kind of payment like a scammer would, which is what we were discussing.

So, .1% of the time that call might be legit, if they are not asking to remote in or for payment. Your point is well taken. Thank you.

I fully agree. The vast majority of people receiving any such phone calls should hang up on them, because there is a 99% chance its a scam. It doesn't matter how often an ISP employee makes phone calls to fix stuff. That's their damn job. Of course they make calls all day, but those calls are a drop in the bucket compared to the bazillion scammers out there trying to screw over 60 year old mothers. So yes, the response should be to hang up and ignore such nonsense.