Hoax calls from "Microsoft"

[Billy T]

Tell 'em you have a MAC, that stops them in their tracks every time, or that you don't have a computer.

I'm in New Zealand and I had a flood of about 12-15 calls over a short period but they have since virtually stopped. The last was a few weeks back, a woman with the usual accent and when I told her I didn't have a computer she just hung up.

Incidentally, whistle blowing is no more than an irritant, a phone cannot transfer that volume and you are more likely to hurt your own ears.

Cheers

Billy

[zepe]

I have recently received several bogus phone calls and one text message which was probably a similar attack only I wasn't from Microsoft. I receied phone calls telling me that there were some issues with my Wells Fargo credit card ant it was about tobe cancelled. Then I received text message a few days later stating the said credit card had been "cancelled!"

Well I don't have a Wells Fargo credit card in the first place so I looked up my local Wells Fargo office (I didn't want to use the one in the messages because I was suspicious of them) and they told my that there is an ongoing phishing scam and they're trying to track it down. The main point here is that this type of scam can, and likely is, applied with respect to any company not just someone like Microsoft or a wells Fargo. Be careful out there!

[fossilkey67]

I don't know whether this is a problem in the USA, but it is in the UK. Most days now I receive a phone call, asking for me by name, no caller ID other than "International", from someone with an Indian accent, male and female, claiming to be calling from Microsoft. Sometimes it is "Microsoft Technical Service", sometimes "Windows Registration Department". A friend was taken in by this hoax, and persuaded to download some file that took control of her computer, which is now away being cleansed.

If you don't have a support issue open with Microsoft, they will NEVER call you, please don't be taken by these fraudsters.

i nearly got conned by a pair of gentlemen with indian accents. one bloke phoned saying he was from microsoft technical department ,saying that i was sending junk e mail with crash reports from internet explorer. as i have had problems with explorer and was sending crash reports,i nearly believed him. when i said i couldnt trust him he put me in touch with his so called supervisor, whom i nearly let have access to my computer. if it wasnt for the fact they seemed agitated and desperate and that i had read about this in the "windows secrets newsletter", which set the alarm bells ringing,to which i put the phone down. i wish to thankyou all and keep up the good work, "relieved computer user"

[bobprimak]

I don't know if this has helped me to avoid such scams, but I keep a very clean computer and use privacy controls in all of my browser sessions. My computers do not retain most log files, and my browsers do not advertise me through retained cookies and Flash Objects. (CCleaner and the ClickNClean browser plug-in are able to do a very fast job of cleaning out almost everything after an online session. Abine makes excellent privacy add-ons.)

I am usually polite when callers ask to speak with me, and if anything seems amiss, I know how to challenge them to present specific details about my computer configuration, which they should be able to see if they really are accessing my computer remotely. Or if they really do represent Microsoft and have received problem reports through legitimate Windows features.

Also, I have disabled Remote Access and Network Sharing on my computers. I only enable these features when I absolutely need them. When not in use, my WiFi radio is turned off at the hardware level (possible through the right-click menu in the Tray Icon). My Windows 7 computer does not even belong to a HomeGroup. Call me paranoid, but no one ever bothers me if I have not called them first.

[Tinto Tech]

It's prevalent here in the UK to, but appears to have dropped in frequency of late.

The victim receives a phone call asking to speak to them or one of their household by name. The caller pretends to be "Bob from Microsoft security department", or some similar sounding official title calling to inform the victim that their PC has been reporting errors to Microsoft and that he is there to help.

The victim is directed to open the Windows Logs in Event Viewer and sort on the Level field. This lists the errors first. The victim in encouraged to discuss some of those errors and is met by phrases like "umm, that's bad", or "ahh, yes definitely a virus".

The next part is the really dangerous part. Here in the UK, the victim is asked to navigate his or her browser to ammyy.com or teamviewer.com, to install the remote access application and to establish a remote desktop session to the attacker. The attacker then uses several different methods to con the victim into giving their banking / credit card details. The victim is sometimes directed to a fake website to enter the details, or even to quote their details over the phone to the attacker.

Either way, at that stage the attacker has complete control over the victim's machine and has their financial details. Not a good situation to find yourself in.

The direct calling of the victim was alleged to be due to a couple of bad guys in a call centre in the sub-continent run on behalf of one of the UK's leading broadband suppliers. The attackers got the names and numbers of the victims from a database held on behalf of the service provider. Those guys were recently caught, and in my experience the frequency of these attacks has reduced.

Earlier this year, I had many calls from clients who had been victim to the fraud. In one case the victim was caught off guard and allowed full access to the attacker, but stopped short of giving their financial details.

In some reports people have said that they don't own a PC, or that they work for the police, or other avoidance methods, only to be met with a tirade of verbal abuse and multiple nuisance calls throughout the day.

Interesting to see the fraud is still prevalent in other countries. If you suspect you are the victim of such a fraud, report it to you local law enforcement authorities, contact your bank and get in touch with a reputable local PC services company to clean out the system.

[Medico]

I also keep a clean browser, and choose to delete all browsing history and cookies when I close the browser, plus use CCleaner and Privacy Mantra to assist in further cleaning on a regular basis. This won't stop hoax calls, but may stop the perpetrators from getting info to use in these calls. I guess I have not heard of a lot of this here in the states recently. Several years ago these were much more prevalent here than now.

Unfortunately, the people that need to hear this, or read this, don't visit these forums. We need to somehow get word out to the masses. And yes contact the police if you receive one of these calls. The more contacts they get the better the chance these individuals will get caught.

[keith4324]

I don't know whether this is a problem in the USA, but it is in the UK. Most days now I receive a phone call, asking for me by name, no caller ID other than "International", from someone with an Indian accent, male and female, claiming to be calling from Microsoft. Sometimes it is "Microsoft Technical Service", sometimes "Windows Registration Department". A friend was taken in by this hoax, and persuaded to download some file that took control of her computer, which is now away being cleansed.

If you don't have a support issue open with Microsoft, they will NEVER call you, please don't be taken by these fraudsters.

The above information is correct - Microsoft do not cold call users.
We have this same hoax in Australia.
I had several such calls and decided to play along with the last caller - a seemingly polite lady from India.
She directed me to view some supposed files that were downloaded with out my knowledge and told me I had an issue with my computer downloading unwanted and dangerous files.
She gave me instructions, which I carefully pretended to follow, repeatedly asking her what would happen to my computer.
She got a little frustrated because I continually asked what was happening and eventually she said "Just trust me!"
When she was about to activate a remote session with my computer, I really acted dumb and she became quite impatient with me.
Finally I said, "I know exactly what you are doing, I am a computer professional for may years."
She then really lost it and asked me why I was wasting her time.
My reply was that this is a well known hoax in Australia and she must have wasted many a victim's time.
She really lost it and I heard what I suppose were some choice Hindi swear words but I soon got the desired hang up at her expense.
InterestinglyI have never had such a caller since- I wonder if they share information?

[High Sierra]

You really have to be carefull. I've been getting emails claiming to be from PayPal. They look pretty good but the links look bogus.

[jwitalka]

Never click on a link in an email especially from a financial site. Open a browser and manually type the log in address you normally use.

Jerry

[bobprimak]

While email scams are a serious matter, they are not relevant in this thread. This thread is about unsolicited "Microsoft tech support" phone calls only. Thanks to all for your cooperation in keeping on-topic here.

[petesmst]

It's even spread here to South Africa...(!)

[Medico]

I believe it is spreading to areas that have not been saturated in the past. It probably started in the US then after a while the returns were less so they expanded world wide. The problem is there are so many people worldwide that have no knowledge of this that they are successful.

[Infinicore]

Also, I have disabled Remote Access and Network Sharing on my computers. I only enable these features when I absolutely need them. When not in use, my WiFi radio is turned off at the hardware level (possible through the right-click menu in the Tray Icon). My Windows 7 computer does not even belong to a HomeGroup. Call me paranoid, but no one ever bothers me if I have not called them first.

Ok, hey paranoidie, but you are one safe dude that's for sure. I couldn't survive 5 minutes that way...my whole operation would just come to a screeching halt!

Ted's got the best angle on it...I don't worry one millisecond about anyone trying to socially engineer hacks on me...but for my Mom and Dad, different story. I can get the work out to them but how many more are clueless? Has to be many millions.
Like when that game show host of the Price is Right would always sign off with spay and neuter your pets, the word should get out over and over some way so it reaches the folks it needs to.

[baboon]

count in new-zealand also http://www.whycall.me/25240212258.html looks like this thing has gone global!

[Infinicore]

Hmmm, the information age, the Internet, and global?...I don't see the connection!