Microsoft Scam

[Fedup]

I think this is an old scammer. I don't think Microsoft has money to hire people and call everybody like that. However, I'm not sure everybody is aware of this scam, I told my husband to never answer the phone ever for this particular reason.


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[marvholly]

I got a slightly different version on 3/11. They were calling from Best Buy since I had 'bought my computer there.' I had not.

Next time I might try the this call is recorded....response or I might ask which computer & when did I buy it at BB.

Clues it is a scam
loud, much talking in the background
heavy Indian accent of the CSR

 

[EastWest Gal]

I got a call from ATT trying to sell me upgraded service. I told them that I didn't have a phone.

Then what did you answer the call with? Your shoe?


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[Gone4Good]

I never have discussions with unknown people who contact me over the phone or through e-mail. And I never use any information or link they send me.

It's easy enough to track down an independent phone number for the company in question (in this case Microsoft) and call them directly to take care of whatever problem your mysterious caller highlighted.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We used to get these calls all the time and we only have Apple machines. Used to confuse the scammers when I told them that.

I tried this and the next day I got a call from "an Apple" rep ( with a similar accent).

 

[easysurfer]

A call from out of the blue is a clear sign of a scam. But sometimes things don't seem out of the blue like if you just bought something from ebay, but then get an email saying that a purchase didn't go through. That can fake someone out if not paying attention.

 

[travelover]

Then what did you answer the call with? Your shoe?

It is amazing what one can deny. In a later dispute with ATT, a supervisor there told me she did not have a personal telephone number - just the 1-800- WAITnWAIT number.

 

[ERD50]

...

Clues it is a scam
loud, much talking in the background
heavy Indian accent of the CSR

I do not agree with this, the fact that it is a cold call is all the 'clue' you need.

I used to read this about email scams ' look for misspelled words, bad grammar, etc', no - it's unsolicited, either ignore it, or go directly to the source.

So if one of these scammers cleans up their act, you will fall for it? Just say NO.

G4G has it right:

I never have discussions with unknown people who contact me over the phone or through e-mail. And I never use any information or link they send me.

It's easy enough to track down an independent phone number for the company in question (in this case Microsoft) and call them directly to take care of whatever problem your mysterious caller highlighted.

-ERD50

 

[Fishingmn]

The phone number was an 888 type number, even though she was calling from a non-888 number, 310-415-6129. Her employee ID was something that started with a W.

As a former Microsoft employee I can tell you that there are no letters in the employee ID

 

[MRG]

The notion that Msoft would employ hundreds or thousands of technical folks to monitor the health of individuals home PCs is amusing to me.

Why? Why would an OS vendor care? They didn't monitor Megacorp's machines and they gave Msoft millions every year! Let's see I paid ~$129.00 for a license several years ago and they're monitoring it cause they don't care about profits. Wow!

I did enterprise IT most of my career never has a OS supplier called up and said "been monitoring some issues on your servers let me fix that for you". It does happen with enterprise class hardware as it phones home with issues. If you want that for your home machines get a fat checkbook ready.

 

[scrabbler1]

A call from out of the blue is a clear sign of a scam. But sometimes things don't seem out of the blue like if you just bought something from ebay, but then get an email saying that a purchase didn't go through. That can fake someone out if not paying attention.

This is also what can work with those bank email phishing scams where the email tells you your online banking has been locked out and to click on this link to reactivate it. My ladyfriend had been having some problems with her online banking and just happened to receive one of these fake emails, the one-in-a-million shot the phishers hope for. She knew, of course, not to click on the link but the email was surely well timed and a lesser savvy person might have fallen for it. She forwarded the email to the bank's fraud/abuse department and repaired her actual online banking problem through the bank's official tech support line.

 

[brett]

You also need to be careful if you google for a vendor support number INSTEAD of going directly to the vendor site.

There are many phoney sits set up to look like vendor site and to receive problem calls. They will ask for a credit card number early on in the conversation and will even confirm that they are a vendor site. scammers.

My sister almost got caught in a look a like Hp site. She split when they asked for credit card data. She called Hp...they told her that this is a real problem for all of the reputable vendors.

The vendors spend a lot of time and energy tracking these guys down and closing them up. they simply pop back up a few days later

 

[walkinwood]

What a joke! Microsoft wanting to help you without asking for a credit card first!

 

[Live And Learn]

I used to get this call. I try and sound elderly and tell them that my PC is old and will take some time to boot up. I politely ask them if they can wait ( which they can, of course). After a few minutes they ask if I am still there and I tell them I am. After another few minutes I tell them that it is almost done and that they must be right because it seems it is taking longer than usual to start up. Then I put the phone on my cuckoo clock with its loud obnoxious tick-tock sound.

I figure I've saved 5 - 10 other people from getting the same call

 

[AtlasShrugged]

I got this scam call today. The caller asked me if I was the principal user of the computer in our household. When I told her it was none of her effing business, she swore at me in her Indian accent and hung up on me. It was the most entertaining part of my day.

 

[scrabbler1]

A few days ago one these morons called me. I yelled to the caller that they were a bunch of scammers and hung up on them. They called me back 3 or 4 times and each time I yelled at them some more without bothering to listen to anything they said. On the last call I just answered the phone and stayed silent for a few seconds before hanging up. No more calls since then but it is still too soon to tell. Felt good to yell at them, though.

 

[Jerry1]

I talked to them for awhile and the told them how confused I was that they were aware of all these problems since I don't have internet (of course I do but this was a phone call right?). He literally said "are you kidding me?" I said no but kept on about how much I appreciated him pointing out all the errors on my machine. He told me to call him back when I got connected to the internet. Again, I told him I'm retired and don't have internet - too expensive for a fixed income. He finally had enough and hung up.

There's a good youtube video on this where the person recorded the scam and what they do. Basically, they remote into your machine in order for you to purchase some software that is purported to fix everything. When the person realized that he was being played with, he started deleting files on the machine. So sad that this is what people do with their time. More sad because it must work often enough to be worth it.

 

[harley]

Bumping this thread because I found an interesting story where a bunch of researchers were trying to determine how these scams work. It's actually fairly sophisticated, assuming not-very-computer-savvy users.

Listen to "Tech Support" Scam That Bilks Millions Out Of Users

 

[Taxman59]

Last time Microsoft called me, I stopped them mid sentence and said " Excuse me, you have called at a great time. I am doing a survey and need to know what color your underwear is" After a few "Huhs and whats" I got him to say Black. I then said the final question is are they boxers or briefs? He again went through a series of huhs and Whats. I could hear the background get quiet before he swore and hung up!

I think he put me on speaker, or at least someone else was listening. I don't think he will call again!

 

[Souschef]

Well,
I just had my retirement cushion increased. I just got an e-mail from a retired banker in Benin, offering to share $ 18 million with me! I am sooo excited!

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

 

[calico1597]

My neighbor told me that last week a voice came out of her laptop and said her computer was at risk of a virus and she needed to pay $200 to have it fixed. The voice gave her a number to call for payment processing. So she did and paid the $$$. I though she was smarter than that. It was over and done with when she told me and I could see she would take offense if I expressed doubts that it was legit.

 

[Sunset]

My neighbor told me that last week a voice came out of her laptop and said her computer was at risk of a virus and she needed to pay $200 to have it fixed. The voice gave her a number to call for payment processing. So she did and paid the $$$. I though she was smarter than that. It was over and done with when she told me and I could see she would take offense if I expressed doubts that it was legit.

Well maybe you can tell her after the next time it happens, as she is now on the sucker list.

 

[Sunset]

A buddy just sent me this scam email:


It is the classic bad fake link (I won't post the link but it does not go to postal canada

from admin@odditiesinmotion.com

Your sending has not been delivered!

Your dispatch has not been delivered to the specified address on February 21, 2017, because nobody was at home. If you don't claim a package within 14 working days, Canada Post will fine you for keeping it.

Please download and examine the information about your parcel, print it and come to the post office to receive your sending: