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Michael from Windows Technical Support just called me.

sixone

sixone

Lifer
He says it's an emergency, and I need to fix my computer right away. 🙄

I insisted on a number to call him back, and the number he gave me is (518) 282-4417.

Should I call him?
 
Load Ubuntu into a vm, call him back, and play dumb as you try to follow his instructions. See how long you can keep him on the line.
 
phucheneh said:
Phone phishing? Really?

Can I expect a call from the prince of Nigeria sometime soon?
Click to expand...

I get these a couple of times a week.

I hung up on this guy once, but he called me back. I even told him I have a Mac, and he told me that was okay.
 
We had a phishing attempt go out at work where employees were told that we were upgrading to "Windows Email 2013" and that if they didn't click the link, log in and upgrade, they'd be facing "severe system lockouts"
 
Yeah I knew of someone who kept a special VM just for that...base install of Windows with no antivirus, and a bunch of viruses renamed to "bank info" and "personal information" on the desktop. Excellent results 😀
 
Kaido said:
Yeah I knew of someone who kept a special VM just for that...base install of Windows with no antivirus, and a bunch of viruses renamed to "bank info" and "personal information" on the desktop. Excellent results 😀
Click to expand...

Awesome! 😀

Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to do that. 🙁
 
sixone said:
He says it's an emergency, and I need to fix my computer right away. 🙄

I insisted on a number to call him back, and the number he gave me is (518) 282-4417.

Should I call him?
Click to expand...

I've gotten those calls. I say "But I'm on a Mac" and they get all flustered 😀
 
He's going to tell you to pull up event viewer and then point out how many errors are on there, and tell you that you need to pay them to fix it.
 
yeah get an old machine out and play dumb. when he asks you to click the start button, say "is that the one with the speaker on it?" and so on.
 
My father isn't a tech savvy guy, he knows a few basics, but that's it. However, he's a pretty clever/street smart/business smart guy. He got one of these calls a few months back, kept the guy on the phone for over an hour playing dumb (which, honestly, isn't too hard for him when it comes to computers) at which point the guy on the phone said, "Sir, is there a better way I could help you so that we can fix your system?" and, allegedly, my father said, "There certainly is, you could go fuck yourself" and then hung up the phone.

Is this story exaggerated? Did my father spend over an hour on the phone and then finish strong? Maybe not, but I'd like to think he did. My hero.
 
lxskllr said:
Load Ubuntu into a vm, call him back, and play dumb as you try to follow his instructions. See how long you can keep him on the line.
Click to expand...

I want to do this one day but with a windows 95 VM. :awe: Or maybe even 3.11. haha. I should also setup a recording device on my phone so I can record the whole thing and put it on youtube. Seems like lot of effort for a "just in case" thing though.

Would also be fun to setup a XP VM (guessing that's what this targets) and actually do everything they say while doing a packet sniff to get all their IPs. At the end you call him out for it.
 
The problem is these guys are paid to do this. I think it was Ars who did a story on it and even after they called him out the guy just kept right on with the script.

The guy with the viruses on his desktop is awesome though because that will really waste their time and money. More so than playing dumb will.
 
Paratus said:
The problem is these guys are paid to do this. I think it was Ars who did a story on it and even after they called him out the guy just kept right on with the script.
Click to expand...

$40 or whatever they charge to "fix" your PC isn't much here but it's a king's ransom in India. Cost of living is significantly lower. For example, a Big Mac costs $1.58 in India vs $4.33 in the US. Makes sense to higher skilled folks that can pull the wool over peoples' eyes.

It really is a classic grift just updated for internet age. VOIP makes it easy to place long distance calls that are difficult to track. Just gotta spoof the caller ID and it seems to baffle telecom regulators here.

India too has a rather lax justice system. Why would they prosecute these scammers when they're only going after foreigners? The more borders between them and the victim, the harder it is for international prosecution.

One of the issues with this type of scam though is it plays on how ignorant people are when it comes to technology. You have this machine running your entire life but you have no clue how it works. Not really sure how people can go through life like that. I guess in some ways certain people deserve to be taken for a ride for being so gullible.

I've trained my family simply to not answer the phone if they don't recognize the caller ID. Let the machine get it. Telemarketers rarely leave voice mail. The amount of telemarketing calls I get on my land line though is just astronomical. Even though I'm on Do Not Call, it hasn't stopped them. I think I actually get more now. Also had a few on my cell phone, including spam texts. Obviously the regulators are impotent. Telecom companies really need to step up and filter these idiots out.
 
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