If you have received a call anything like this, first Off: DON’T DO ANYTHING THEY ASK.
- Image via Wikipedia
If you are nervous, hang up. Sometimes they stay the other end waiting, so leave the phone for 15 minutes. You can unplug your router if you are in any doubt as to whether they are conencted remotely to your machine.
Next: then go to this site: http://www.digitaltoast.co.uk/supportonclick-systemrecure-scam
This came to my attention yesterday when I was contacted by a family friend who had recieved a cold call from “Windows Technical Support” and had proceeded to claim their machine was corrupt and virus-ridden.
I’ll embellish this article a little later, but just wanted to post something initially that could show up on search engines.
In the mean time, here’s a list of things NOT to do:
- Don’t do anything they ask.
- Don’t go to any website they request you access
- Don’t let them access your PC remotely (you will be prompted before this happens)
- Don’t give them any money
You might also like to try
- Wasting their time by playing stupid
- Recording the conversation
- Do a Google search for key phrases they are using
- Report it somewhere – even if it’s just leaving comments on a web page.
Generally if you do an internet search, you will come up with tons of results confirming that THIS IS A SCAM: Here are a few more links:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/081009-windows-event-viewer-phishing-scam.html
http://www.computerhq.co.uk/content/warning-fake-tech-support-call-scam-windows-xp-service-provider
http://www.pcproblem.co.uk/?p=49
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1424731
UPDATE
The Guardian newspaper seem to be onto this. This commented was posted on the Digital Toast forum above on 29/06/2010:
If anyone has been caught by this scam, or knows someone who has, then I’d be grateful if you could tell me the name of the company *whose name appears on your credit card*. It’s clear this company uses loads of different sites and different names, but I suspect it’s the same one (or ones?) behind it. Email me please at charles.arthur@guardian.co.uk
Charles Arthur, editor, Technology, The Guardian
Other Articles
This is one of an ongoing series of articles that I have written following this scam. You can find them under the following tag group:
http://www.jameswiseman.com/blog/tag/windows-support-telephone-scam/
I have just had an Indian phone me from logmein123 they got me as far as their logmein123 webb site and informed me they were giving me 1 six figure digit number and then the line went dead.
Did they access my computer by my having logged into their site?
No, as long as you didn’t type in the code you will be fine. The site itself is legitimate, and does not do any harm. It is a valid service that is being misused by these criminals.
For ultimate peace of mind, run a full virus scan on your computer, but I confident everything will be be fine.
I just got called by these jokers, said they were from some “PC Doctor” company who does windows support to “all the windows users”.
They tried to convince me that all the Information messages in the Windows 7 Event viewer relate to “corrupted files”, instead of the normal system messages that they are. I told them they are normal messages, and the guy transferred me to his supervisor, who tried to convince me of the same and that they could see a list of all my activities on the internet. After I wasn’t believing him and told him that it wasn’t a list of activities at all, but just information that services are starting as normal, he put me on hold and hung up. Apparently they are looking for the low hanging fruit of users who don’t know any better and who would panic if some stranger tells them there’s something wrong with their computer.
James
I have posted your http://disq.us/jfs9u into http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1485775&p=-1#bottom
I’m Colinm39 on this Australian site.
Had some person call me from a +1222 and a +1555 number saying they were windows support and i had corrupted files, i have a bachelors in computer science, and laughed at them then hung up.
I was contacted by a person at 947-663-2176 advising me that my computer had been infected by multiple viruses. They would help me to correct the problem before the hard drive became corrupted. I thanked them and hung up.
[...] are still plenty of reports coming in on the Microsoft Support Telephone Scam since I wrote the original article. A good repository for people’s experiences can be found [...]
Dear Sir,
I got a call from someone named FRANK and said that i have got some problem with my computer and my computer has send some warnings and error reports to their server. They told me that they are calling from MY PC TREAT on behalf of MICROSOFT. After i rejected their offer i called in at Microsoft and asked them about this errors and warnings and they told me that it was a scam call from someone. These people and after money. Moreover they use paypal for the payments. I strictly ask you to help me stop this company to prevent the scam. How can paypal approve these merchant requests even. They are after people’s hard earned money. PLEASE HELP US.
Regards
George Bebbington
Hi there,
My husband and I are dairy farm workers in NZ and are being hassled 24/7 by these jerks. Although the phrase farm worker may indicate a lower degree of academia, I have a concurrent bachelors degree in Computers and Business. When I lost the bottle at 2am this morning and informed the jerk on the line to #$%@ off, I’ve got a #$%@&* degree in computers, I was informed that my degree was from NZ, therefore was worthless!! Please take these scum down before some poor hardworking soul loses there hard worked for technology!!!
I got one of these calls in July the phone started ringing just after i got home after being out.
they said my computer had a virus and they could fix it i told them that my laptop had just been checked over by my next door neighbours son who is a computer technician and that there was nothing wrong with my laptop that it had had the hard drive cleaned and a virus disk run through it i also pointed out how could they tell my computer had a virus because the laptop wasnt switched on.
here are some other ways of getting rid of them but it works with all cold calls not just this computer scam call
if they ask for you by name say oh im very sorry he passed away last week im a relative sorting out his personal effects, go into ringtones on your mobile phone and select one to play and say oh important call on my mobile must go please call again though
if your phone is near a smoke alarm within reach press the test button and say oh god the dinner is burning and hang up, say oh he’s just outside i will go and get him could you hold on please and leave the phone handset down and ignore it also play some loud music near the phone as well, if your phone is cordless go to the front door and ring the door bell and then say must go got visitors.
say im awful sorry but im bursting for the toilet could you phone back in five minutes and hang up then if they do phone back say the same thing again!
Just to say that this scam is still going the rounds. Today, 03/11/2010, I was telephoned with an identical call to that described. I asked for the name of the company – and was quoted Windows Support as expected. I then asked for their address and was told it was in London. I asked for the post code and was give INQ … which, of course, told me instantly that it was a scam. So I kept them for about 30 minutes pretending that I was logged on but asking which of my “companies” they were concerned about and eventually “Charles” smelt a rat and put the ‘phone down. The scam was a new one for me so thanks for the reassurance.
In my case it was clearly a cold call since they had no information about me – not even my name.
I got one of these calls earlier & thankfully knew it was a scam from earlier info on another site.
Indian voice telling me my pooter was corrupted. Very persistent. I lied & told him I was recording his call for the police & he hung up
Have warned all my contacts not to fall for this.
I fell for this scam stupidly although I had niggling doubts. What do i do, I feel awful that I may have lost £59.99! PLEASE HELP
@Laura – You’re not stupid.
Not sure what help I can offer, though. I’m afraid you have probably lost the money, although its worth contacting your card company to find out their policy on such scams.
It may be worth cancelling it and running a virus scan on your PC.
I think I have just escaped from a ‘Windows Support’ scam. They phoned earlier in the week when I wasn’t even out of bed although it was in normal working hours so he said he’d phone back which happened today. A man with a foreign accent (possible Indian) said they had noted many viruses being reported to them on my pc in the last 25 days and if I could turn my pc on he could show me how to get rid of them. I was a bit dubious from the start, however, he gave his name as sounding like Pholim Wilson, when asked for his tel no gave 808404411143 which I thought was a bit odd with no zero at the start. He guided me to a site ‘Team Viewer 6′ with a description that it was able to remotely control my pc. I said I wasn’t going to let anyone remotely control my pc so he skipped to the next stage having said he could give me his website with his return no. on to go through the process with him that way. He then guided me via the start/computer icons to eventually show me the errors on my pc. At this stage he said there were 5 areas which needed attention and he could do this himself quicker if he could remotely control my screen. At this point I said I didn’t let anyone do that and asked how to spell his name which he then gave as Jack Tipton. I said he’d given his name as Pholim Wison and he said that was his supervisor’s name who had passed the call to him. At this point he said he would give me his website and a return no to phone him back. The website given was Windowssupport.info. At that point I ended the call. He said he was phoning from London and I noticed that it sounded like after I spoke there was a pause before he replied and then when he was on the line there was a lot of other voices going on in the background as if it was a very busy office environment. Hope this helps anyone else before they get caught out by these people.
Just had a call from “windows support” claiming my computer had been sending ‘error messages’ that indicated my computer was filled with corrupt files and viruses. My hard drive was about to crash!! Heavily indian accented said I should go to my computer and he would tell me which files to delete and which files to download from the support site.
I asked for his Microsoft call ID reference (two can play the make-it-up-as-you-go-along waffle game) but couldn’t get a straight answer out of him about anything. Asked him to hang on whilst I started up my computer – them put phone down and went downstairs to watch TV. Checked 20 minutes later but he had hung up!
Not very convincing scammers but annoying just the same.
Just try and tie them up with any old nonesense for as long as you can – you might as well try and get some small satisfaction out of keeping scammmers waiting on for a nibble for as long as you can – after all THEY are paying for the call!
REceived this call today – again an Indian-type heavy accent. Said he worked for Windows Support – a company authorised (didnt say by who, even though I tried to get information) to monitor all Windows systems. They had detected that I had lots of viruses infecting my applications. Unable to get any information as to how they were paid and I eventually told them I didnt believe them.
had a call from an indian male claiming my computer was infected,told me to swith on my computer,and was very persistant telling me it was corrupt and full of viruses,just put the phone down.He said he was from global such and such…
ok so i work graveyards and was just woken up by these pricks. at first i started playing dumb saying ive not recieved any errors and the only problem ive had with my computer was internet explorer (as always) crashing and i had fixed the prob lol.
he asked me to go turn on my pooter (accent was indian i believe like everyone elses) and when i told him it WAS already on (i know im not too power smart
) he seemed a little taken back he told me to open the run menu and type wwwsupport.me (which was his EXACT spelling but got corrected with the proper http://www.support.me later) when it brought up this 6 digit code thing he said now enter the code you got when you purchased the pooter. told him it was custom built by myself and to f-off with his scam
another time waster for him in addition to asking him his microsoft call ID reference is to also ask him for his D.A.E.H.T.I.H.S. liability key in case what he does makes things worse (yes folks read that one backwards hehe) or you could take them WITH you into the bathroom and give detailed info on what bowel/bladder issues you are having lol. my personal fav tho is the detective from the homicide dept recording and treating the caller like hes a personal friend of the “victim” and hanging up will cause them to be charged with impeeding a police investigation in which the police CAN bypass all phone number blockers lol
just had a call from this company.Said they were in Manchester.They were very persistent as I took the first call and after realising it was B***S**t I hung up.within a minute they had rung again and the wife answered.She played dumb asking for company name and registered number but he just kept mumbling something about windows.She asked for a contact number to ring them back and was given 1614084448 missing the prefix 0.this was asked for at least three times so he was not familiar with UK telephone numbering.When she asked if it would cost money and he replied Yes she hung up.On trying 1471 the caller had witheld their number.
Hi Just had 45 mins of these people, lucky it seems I didn’t pay the money or get the code they offered, so hope I’m okay. can these crooks not be stopped???
Had a very polite indian gentleman call today,out of the blue.going on about windows support.i did see all the (corrupt)error files in the manager.THATS AS FAR AS HE GOT.phoned my brother( a proper support technician) to ask him.knew it was a bit suspect,what a bunch of twats…told him how helpfull he had been in bringing it to my attention, and i hung up.HOW DO THESE PEOPLE SLEEP AT NIGHT!!!.
my dad recieved one of these calls today and due to being an older guy he didnt pick up on the scam thing to start with and follow the instructions given to him over the phone, he entred the 6 digit code and let them log on. it wasnt untill they started to ask him for money to fix it that he said he wasnt intrested. he rung me and i told him to turn the computer of and disconnect it form the internet till i got round.
im rebuilding the machine but what sort of information do they take of it or do they just do it so you pay them the money they ask for and dont nick any of your details?
Just got a call from an Indian named “Sam Thomas” from Delaware. I knew it was a scam and decided to have some fun. I started by acting shocked that they would have my phone number and pushed them to give me my name… they never did. I proceeded to push him on what was the name of his company, all he’d tell me is that he was with Windows Support Group. I continued to ask how he knew my computer had a virus and he said my computer was sending him corrupt messages. I asked how could that happen? I also, threw for a loop when I asked him which computer. He said how many computers do you have, I said 4. He said it didn’t matter which computer I turned on… ha!
He was very pushy and insisted that I needed to go to a website and down load something. I told him I would and really just wrote down the steps he told me to take: Go to Explorer, type in http://www.ammyy.com see ‘run’, click on run…none of which I did. Then he asked me what I saw and I said nothing. He continued to ask what I saw and I continued to say I see nothing…so much so he got frustrated and said he needed to bring on his ‘supervisor’. Some other guy got on the phone, stating he was the supervisor and asked me to repeat the steps. So I started over with my questions for him… name, phone # and address to contact him back. He insisted it was a legitimate business and I needed to hurry and download before my computer blew up. I told him I still wasn’t convinced. Then, I asked for the direct spelling of his name and direct phone number as I wanted to give it to my husband who is a police office and would be able to look it up. They hung up on me! Ok…so I had some time on my hands to bug them back. But is was fun to try and scare them when they were trying to scare me!
Does anyone know if these people actually implant malicious code? My son had allowed them to logmeinrescue.com before I was told that someone was on the phone, so I don’t know what if anything they did to the pc. I’m hoping they were just going to bluff him into paying money for nothing.
They said they were based in Manchester but gave the company name as Windows Operating System Help and Support. Number was of course withheld.
Kia ora Alvina from New Zealand; I have had three phone calls in the last 5 hours saying that they are aware that I have multiple virus that they are Windows technique support team; and asked me to go to my computer; I have refused each time – they just do not give up; they gave me a phone number in Auckland which isn’t- the phone on my home number just comes up 0000 – but they knew my name
Just had the same scammers on phone for about an hour, the problem is that I do have issues with my laptop being really slow so thought it was a genuine call up to the point when they were going to connect me to a site to update my “windows warrenty” which they say is out of date, they wanted £126 for a one year cover, which as soon as I said I had no money they said it was for two year cover to which I still declined, then it went up to £206 for “life cover” for up to 4 pc’s ALARM BELLS started at this point I switched on my desk top and googled this forum,
I HAD ALREADY ALLOWED THEM ACCESS TO MY LAPTOP AM I IN DANGER OF VIRUS/SPYWARE SCAMWARE ???, I have deleted everything they loaded and run AVG 9 which found nothing ,can anyone please advise
I had some guy call saying he was from microsoft – indian accent, alarm bells were ringing, but in what i can only describe as total stupidity/carcrash curiosity i proceded to http://www.support.me and typed in the 6 digit code. The guy said some tech guy will be there shortly, at which point i thought WHAT HAVE I DONE?! disconnected from that site, cancelled on the permission box, checked control panel/ran virus scan etc…
Is there any way of seeing what they implant, if anything? or do they simply just ask for money? I hung up, but as per a few people previously i am also now rather worried.
My Mum just got phoned by these guys, then called me after they had gone – she couldn’t get Teamviewer working so they had given up. They told her she had “junk files” – I guess the script said “corrupt”, but the guy’s English wasn’t so good, but better than my Hindi (or whatever). He had said he was from BT, and she has had Indian tech support from BT before, so she believed it. May be the guy took the mailing list when he changed company?
I just got called by these people, I am retired law enforcement. almost bought it. but didnt. they accessed my computer, and all! funny they should call 3 days AFTER I started having problems, said ther was a program installed on my computer that allowed microsoft to see I was having problems, and they wanted to fix it for $300
Just had a call from these guys – Indian accent, called from a mobile (07990987466), claimed to be from Microsoft Manchester and called Harry, but gave me a London number (02032393430) when I said that I would call them back. Seems to be the phishing scam mentioned in the Guardian piece.
A young woman with a heavily accented Indian accent just rang. The call identifier said “International”. She said she was from “Windows Support” and that my Windows machine was running slowly. I was immediately suspicious. I asked for her address. She said she was calling from London and gave address as 145-157 St Johns Street, London. She gave her phone number, hesitatingly and correcting herself, as 800 206 1133. I told her that the phone number was not genuine. She asked angrily why I was asking all these questions and then rang off.
I found the address she gave was for a firm of Accountants and Business Advisers.
Haha I had a call from them, I was half thinking it is true, an Indian guy called from Microsoft and saying they were getting notification from my computer I had errors and viruses, I kept questioning him, and saying you are from microsoft?, my computer is sending you messages,this is not a sales call? etc he gave me a website http://windowssupport.info/, then told me to switch off my computer, instead I goggled the website which took me here, quick look through then I informed him that I have uptodate software for virus I know a bit about computers, I have A+ and A+ Networking and my partner works in IT so will get him to have a look.
Then I said oh right just goggled you are a scam and surprise he hung up .
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I had one of these calls. Caught me unawares, and I’m afraid, not being a computer buff, and not thinking straight, I did as he asked (he was convincing). Put in the six digit number etc etc. then he asked for 399.99 USD for a 5 years warranty bla bla bla. Didn’t succomb to that, but have they accessed my passwords etc? really worried now.
My son just fell for this and allowed someone claiming to be from Windows support access tohis desktop where they showed him a lot of error files and said hiscomputer had a virus. They then persuaded himto give his card details and took GBP119.99 from his account. He has had to cancel his card and it seems unlikely Barclays will refund his money as he handed this over voluntarily. The perosn who called gave his name as Charles and an 0800 number which I think was 0800404411143 or something similar. Iemailed the gusardian and phoned the police who took down all the details. They said a crime has only been committed if he can’t get his money back from the bank and that if this happens he should call again and they will taker some action. WhAT surprised me was how persistent they are. Even after I had told Charles he would rot eternally in hell for what he was doing, he still tried to persuade my wife to allow him access to her computer as well! Unelievable but its true!
Hi, yes I have just had a call from sounds like the same people also, indian accents lots of noise in background then transferred to technician. Said they were from Windows operating systems and that it had shown up on their system that we had been having problems with our computer, which we had, they also knew our names as asked if they could speak to either of us! I thought great maybe they can fix it for us so stupidly as others, went ahead all the way through to letting them in remotely and using the 6 digit code they started loading “Advanced system care3″ showed lots of errors etc. but then said for a one of payment of $350 would have their support for anything as issued by the federal govt. along with a registerd versiojn of AVG Antivurus which would be valid for next 7 years. this is when I said NO I can’t afford to pay this at present, they then asked me what I could pay with which I said not paying anything and mentioned that I did not feel confident that they weren’t legitimately from Windows. I did however ask them for their No. which they were happy to give me 612 80915003 with which they uninstalled the program and supposedly my computer is back to normal. the phone number that came up on my ph was 0012345678 and when I tried to call this back it was invalid however the number they gave me I rang and pretty sure it was the same person that answered. I too am concerned now that they will still be able to get into computer, any suggestions as what to do?
(I apologize in advance for the length)
My mom answered a phone call from the number 1-253-802-0308 saying that we had a corrupt file on our computer. Well, we have 5 computers, so she asked which one. And she was cussing him out and asking how she knew that we had corrupt files unless they put them there.
A couple minutes after my mom hung up, the guy called back and my sister answered. He told her the same spiel, and she calmly told him the same thing our mom said. He told her to “follow steps”. But she said that she was in the middle of something and that she would write them down. The guy insisted that she do them now. Eventually the guy got pissed off and told us to “enjoy our corrupt computers”.
Apparently my step dad received the same type of phone call a month ago. But this particular man told us that we got the file “a month ago”. How is it possible that we got a phone call before the problem, too? Time travel? ESP?
Also, we tried calling the number back, but we got a message saying that it was unassigned to anyone.
New Zealand experience here
I also had them call, initially at my parents where I happened to be and at home
First call, Indian chap claiming to be calling from Auckland, NZ, telling me all about the visues that wer einfecting the machine. So I asked him how he knew, he said the MS system told him. I’ve worked 20 years in IT and am MSCE qualified so I staretd asking him about how and why they could tell.
He hung up.
I was then called 2 weeks later at home and the same spiel started – I knew he was immediately lying as I run Ubuntu at home so I told him he was a liar and a fraud .I then chose to use some rather good Hindi swear words a mate of mine had taught me which he didn’t like. The funny part was he kept saying for me not to swear and that I should hang up the phone. So I would put the phone down for a minute, let him prattle his bollocks then when I picked it up again I would ask why he was still even trying. This went on for a few more miunte until finally he hung up
Interesting part is the call id showed as 1215 which is a Telecom NZ underdevelopment number – so will be following up on this with Telecom as to ways they can protect thier numbers
I am expecting some more calls from them at annoying times so I have an EXTREMELY loud whistle by the phone which will hopefully cause some serious pain when blown at maximum force next time they call
They are lying scum and should be dealt with as such
This is the very reason why I don’t deal with international call centers, or deal with any company that uses one.
just had a call from an Indian called “kevin” saying he was from Windows Customer Support saying that he had been receiving messages from my computer showing that I was infected with viruses! I have three computers so asked which one. He said it was the one loaded with Vista – does this allow them any better access I wonder? I told him they all have Vista and then started to aske where he had got my home number from. He actually really persisted in trying to get me to type windows support into my search engine going so far as to spell “windows”! As soon as I said that within the search results there was a site showing “windows support scam” he put the phone down.
I just got a call from them, I allowed them to access the computer remotely but was very upset about it and I gave him no information about credit/debit cards and shut down my computer whilst he was still talking to me.
What should I do?
Christchurch NZ. They called tonight wanting us to switch on any PC. Lucky for us we have a MAC – they said they weren’t interested. Got their number and called them back to say we had notified the police.
Hi
I had one follow up call so far – I think they have mutiple call centres or different scammers all of whom use the same contact lists.
Didn’t use the whistle as it would have woken my son.
Once more a choice set of Hindi expletives delivered part way into the conversation provided me with much amusement and wasted 10 minutes of thier time so someone else would not be a targeted (useful time to do some painting using a speaker phone)
There are some amusing sites of people recording thier conversations with these scum but as always these people are picking on the less computer literate. So please tell eveyone you know who may be vulnerable to simply say no and hang up.
Just heard from them for the first time, told him he was a liar straight away which he refuted, repeated it a couple more times then told him I don’t use Windows I use Linux and he hung up.
Spoke to these guys today, what a bunch of liars, had a twenty minute argument with him about whether they were affiliated with microsoft legitimately (obviously not). Decided to go to their website for a giggle and it claims on the site that they are microsoft partners!
Also they have a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Windows-Support/177248622292179?v=wall
Populated by people who could well be the chaps on the phone.
Although they come up as international they are on tel: 08002061133
I eventually asked him which OS I was using – he said Vista, I laughed and told him that was incorrect he then tried to backtrack but I was bored so ended the call.
I have just received a call from an international no. it was a lady with an indian accent she informed me she was calling on behalf of windows support as there is an operations problem with windows xp and vista and it is causing users to experience programs running slowly etc at first I thought she must be real as I am experiencing problems at the time my computer had frozen up she the put me on to her technician to help me to cut a long story short he told me to type in http://www.getcontect.co.cc and he would fix me computer remotely then I would need to update my antivirus software for £83 a year he told me to type in code 288079 I then thought this is not right I bet it is a scam and hung up they have tried phoning 3 more times so far.
Christchurch NZ. Received a call last night, same thing, same rubbish (Indian “Ralph” from Microsoft stating Microsoft have detected a virus on my computer etc). He used my surname. Asked scammer to hold while I phone my IT support friend in NZ. He hung up, but rang back saying there had been a technical issue from his end. I stated clearly that he was making a nuisance call and that I was happy to contact the police. No further calls.
Please tell friends etc…….scammer scum are now targetting Christchurch!!!
I have had numerous of these nuisance phone calls. They are just so persistent and when I refuse to turn on my pc they become extremely rude. I did manage to get a contact number 0800 1021133, guess what no such number
Just had the call from the Indian man saying the usual things about viruses. It seemed simplest to tell him that I did not have a computer. He seemed to find that hard to believe at first but when I insisted that it was true he just hung up.
Indian called Peter Gomes called from “Windows Support” wantedme to go to http://www.ammyy.com to down load some software to remove warnings in the event viewer. I asked if I could ring him back. He got a bit stroppy and gave me a number 0207 393 2134
I really wish I’d known about this scam… I’m pretty sure I was had yesterday. After calling several times over a week, I finally listened and for some reason believed this guy (Indian) and let him take control of my laptop and THEN I was even more stupid and paid £60 for ‘an 18 month extended warrenty’. Argh! The thing is, payment was all legit and even came up with the mastercard/ visa online security code thing. I received an invoice, but while the URL said live solutions or something, the merchants name was a call centre in Bengal.
Brilliant. I can accept that I’ve probably lost that money, but I need to be reassured that these people can’t access my pc again, and that they don’t have access to my bank details. I will definitely never be so naive again.
Just had a call from Joan, a male with a heavy Indian accent telling me that their department “Windows Support” had detected some corrupt files which he could delete for me. He was very persistent and I told him I did not trust him. I asked if I could call back he gave me the number 0800 206 1133. Please don’t fall victim to these fraudsters.
Singapore. Same tactic. A male by the name of “Jordan” called. The number they gave me was +61390018685 but claimed that they were calling from Auckland. The country code is in fact Australia’s.
I have had two of these calls now from so called “Windows Support Group” Indian accent speaking man saying that I had a virus on my PC. He wanted me to switch my PC so he could show me these errors. I asked if he was from Microsoft he said they were part of the Microsoft Group. He knew my name & my postcode. On both occasions I have told them that I feel they are nothing to do with Mircosoft and have hung up. I suggest eveyone does the same.
Same as everyone here just got a phone call from a heavily accented indain man telling me my windows computer has virses ha ha i then went on a 12 mintue story of how ive been building my own computers since i was 13 years old and he can go mulitply with himself
long story short i feel sorry for the people who got done by this scam its an easy enough mistake. oh they withheld the number aswell cant say im surprised!
Just had a call from an indian guy saying the same thing about viruses, im not very experienced so i believed him and went to http://www.ammyy.com he asked me for some number and i told him and then he started to use my computer remotely, i kind of got scared then cause he kept asking me questions and he wasn’t very polite when i said i was worried about giving out information to him. I didn’t give him any bank details and i don’t think i downloaded anything and i hung up as he was getting a bit rude. I then informed my internet bank just in case but im very worried. Doe’s this mean he can get into my computer whenever he wants ? and will i infect my friends computers ?
I got a call yesterday on my work line from them, and then today on my home line.
I work for a Firewall manufacturer… I’m pretty secure.
The guy STILL argued with me that I have an infection.
He did tell me they are calling from “BC” so they are calling from within Canada.
That’s great… that way I could file a complaint with the CRTC.
MAKE SURE YOU DO IT TOO!
I got the call from an indian guy yesterday, they asked me to go to this website: http://www.techexpertonline.com and the company is RITZY TECHNO SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
I did make the payment by paypal and found out online that it’s a scam. I immidiately filed a dispute for paypal, hopefully it will stop the payment go through.
after I made the payment they sent me email asked me to reply so that I “authorised” the payment, luckly I didn’t otherwise I maynot be able to stop the transfer. it seems they are getting more prefessional, just be aware.
Christchurch NZ
i found my 13 year old son on the phone with the comp screen running and giving out details of the contents of our computer last night( the indian sounding lady made him go into a certain INR page etc and made him read out number etc)
the thing is ,,,,,,,i cant be sure if thats all my son gave her cause he is now too frightened to tell me the truth.
i had taken the handset form him…only to be told by the lady that she was a Windows XP support service from AUCK and that our computer had been sending error report messages so she has been trying to clear some hacking virus with my son.
i told him to call again at a different time to talk to my husband , who is more familiar with computers that I.
Now…..does anyone know if they cand do anything to our computer or the imformation we have in it? if thats alll my son gave?
PS….bad enough we have the earthquakes ….now THIS!
Julie
And today’s UK phone number for these scammers is 0151 209 0021……….same story as all above.
Guys,
Those who have been fooled around by such services, one services has been traced back with a link to a fraud BPO name as “USHA OM”, based at kota, india.
their website is w w w . u s h a o m . i n and they are running fake Technical Support Services to fool around with innocent people.
SUE them guys. their physical address are as follows as on their website
Head Office
176, Shastri Nagar, Dadabari,
Kota 324005
Ph +91-744 –3205227 (call on this number and catch them)
I just got called by them in Australia – they said they were calling from Prcure PC Online in Melbourne. Thinking it was weird that some random private company would call me asking me to access a website with no official start like “Microsoft” when I had a perfectly good Norton Antivirus subscription, I hung up on them and did a search on scams.
Thanks everybody for reporting this!
I got cought out with this same scam 21st March 2011
same indian accent.had to cacel all my credit cards,even PayPal,had my PC cleaned up but still scared they can access it.Visa are trying to get my money back but not holing my breath.Got the OMBUDSMAN service involved too will go to POLICE if I get no JOY.Told me they were at APTURO.net I also wrote down CYBER ASTRO ltd. CYBER MEDIA GROUP and phone no 02080997526 if this helps.LIVE AND LEARN
I got the same call just then…
I told the guy that i used a Mac (which i was at the time) I told him to not call again and then he got very angry so of course i got angry at him. The he just made the situation worse for himself when he said that he was going to come to my house right now and f**k me.
It was gross and creepy and honestly i was a little afraid.
I live in Singapore. I got called by some Indian girl clearly calling from a busy and crowded call centre.
She said that my computer was sending out error messages and that she was calling from the Windows Support Centre. She wanted me to press the windows key and ‘R’ (which brings up a command prompt).
I played along for a while, then asked her whether she was an honest person and whether she worked for an honest company. She said “go to hell” and then hung up.
I had another call today. It is the third in the last six months. Today I repeatedly asked the caller to tell me the name of the company he worked for and in the end he lost his temper and shouted shutupshutupshutupshutup! I said ‘I BEG your pardon! Did you just tell me to shut up?’ He muttered ‘you made me cross’ and put down the phone! He wasn’t really offensive – just infuriated. What frustrates me the most is that there is nowhere I can report this so that the number can be traced and something done to stamp this out. I do what I can to filter niusance calls but this one always seems to get through. It usually follows my putting down the receiver from a previous call.
I am based in S’pore and just got a call from a girl ( sounds like from China) .She knew my name and said the same funny stuff as mnay has mentioned before. I instantly knew it is a scam and told her that I want see her in person somwhere in clarque quey for a drink before we speak about the support requirements
. She hung up
I got this phonecall here in Scotland yesterday Afternoon. They said they were from Windows Support Group. The guy was speaking with an Indian Accent, and very insistant. he informed me my Computer was sending out Error messages about a “Hidden” Virus inside my Computer. I asked him which Computer was sending the messages, as I have just had one repaired, and we have 4 Laptops and a Desktop running in the House. I also said we were all connected “Wireless” and he got annoyed and said “Not Wireless, VIRUS” I asked him for his phone Number, and he gave me this one. 02032865123, which may be a London Number, but I never called. They also tried to pin me down for a time to call back, as this would be better for me if they called. His name was Malk, but it all seemed a bit contrived. I told them I would be back in between 4 & 5, and I had 4 missed Calls om my Answering Machine when I came back later. Don’t give them air Time, just hang up. Just not sure where they got my number from, and they also knew my postcode!
i’m afraid I have fallen for this in a big way. I was called on 29 January 2011 by an Indian sounding male. They took me through a procedure similar to that already described. I was convinced and agreed to have my computer ‘cleaned out’ and a new operating system (Windows 7 Ultimate) and antivirus(Kaspersky) installed. I paid £199.99 via a payment website called Alert Pay. I had to set up an account with them and provide my credit card details. They worked on my computer all day using a remote access program called Team Viewer. I was warned by a relative to be cautious and so contacted my credit card bank. however apart from the agreed payment there was nothing suspicious subsequently. They did install the software as agreed and all was wll until a few days ago, when the Kaspersky began to produce warnings that the subscription was about to expire. Then yesterday I had a message that my Windows 7 is not genuine. It is exactly 3 months since installation.
I think I will have to cut my losses and buy a genuine version of windows. I do have details and phone numbers from the ‘Windows Support’ company but feel it would probably be a waste of time to pursue them. Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.
I got a call from these guys a couple of minutes ago. Identified herself as Jazz, she had Indian accent & it sounded like an international call, but she told me she was calling from Sydney. Gave me an address in Sydney and said her phone number was 02 8006 1059. Said she was from the customer care unit of Blue Tech Support and as I was the registered windows user I was who they needed to speak with. Lots of talk about severely corrupted files and that I needed to go and turn my computer on. I kept her talking for a few minutes, eventually she got shirty and hung up on me. DODGETOWN.
I received a call today from an man with an accented voice who asked if I was the owner of the telephone. I said yes. He said he had received messages that my computer was infected. I said you have. He said yes I stated that I have two spyware programs. He said it doesnt matter you still have bad something or other. He asked me to do then do something an I asked him if you received messages from my computer why did you have to ask me if it was my phone? I said thank you but no thank you and hung up.
Singapore. Received a call from a heavily accented indian man today. Couldnt understand him half the time. Basically same story as the above. My computer is sending out messages to them ( microsoft support service) saying that there is a problem with my computer . They are a MNC linked to microsoft office, able to rectify the problems in my computer. He said that my microsoft software warranty has expired and i need to renew it NOW if not my computer is in danger of being damaged. Gave me a list of instructions as mentioned by others above. Run……etc Kept asking what i see on the screen. Showed me that there were 20000+ errors in my computer which needed to be rectified. Connected the phone call to his supervisor called Sam Watson ( tried to sound ang moh, caucasian accent but had an underlying indian twang) who gave me a 6 digit code to type in which allowed him to have remote control access to my computer!!!!Extremely pushy and persistent. Said i had to renew my warranty today if not my computer will be damaged in a few days. Quoted price of $194 for 1 computer, $334 for 3 computers and $529 for 5 or more computers.Claimed to be from ritzy techno solutions in New Zealand. tel number for call back 098890786. Told him that i need to consider and will call back tomorrow. Very pushy….told me to seek family and friends advice and he would call back in 15 minutes.Which he did without success in reaching me. There is now a program called Advanced WindowscareV2 Personal which has corrupted my system and i cant access my data.Hope he is reading this. Dont ever call back. Ever.
Alistair, talk to Microsoft they sometimes do a special deal for people who have been conned like you have rather than having to pay full price for Windows7.
I got the call today on my home telephone. As I work from home I have all my internet connections through my business line so when I told him I didn’t have an internet connection at home and so he must be a lieing scumbag he hung up on me. How rude is that?
Singapore: Just received a call from “ROSE” at Microsoft telling me I had a virus on my computer……I don’t know much about this stuff so I told her to call me back in a few minutes. Thankfully I Googled the phone number she gave me and found this blog. The number she called from was +61390018685.
I had a call from someone claiming to be from windows support. He wanted to gain access to my computer and I was skeptical and said he could be anyone. He gave me details of his website: http://www.thewindowssupport. I was still skeptical and would not co-operate with his requests so he hung up. The company address on this website, obviously to avoid as another scam is as follows:
XENSIS IT SEVICES LTD.
Southfield House,
2 Southfield Road
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol, BS9 3BH
United Kingdom
Contact no- 020-328-65123
Just had a call in Edinburgh. Bad line and very Indian accent meant that I could not understand everything he was saying and after making him repeat himself several times. I felt it was a scam so I cut the call off. Who should this be reported to?
Thanks
Sandy
I am in Singapore as well , and just received a call from an indian guy in Melbourne Australia- by the name Mike Johnson ???!!!- phone nr: +61390018685 – claiming that our computer is being “under attack”!!
We said will call back, then ran a scan – all was safe and secure- then googled the ph number and came across this site. We called back, and after we started questioning him more he hang up on us.
Thanks for this site !!
Singapore. same guy called Mike Johnson.
Phone exactly the same +61390018685.
Windows technical support, very urgent. under security breach.
Many Indians talking in the background. It is a scam.
Someone’s gotta report this to Windows or to the Australian police.
I just got this call today. No information about caller ID or anything like that. Wasted a few moments of his time giving him a hard time then just hung up.
He was telling about all this information they received from my computer so I asked him which versions of software I was running if he received so much information. Yeah…
It is a good scam and I bet they get many non-technical people.
When these guys rang me I asked them where they were calling from. He replied Auckland.
“hows the weather in Auckland today?”
“I do not have time for these silly questions”
He then got really irrate until I hung up on him. Other suspicious behaviour was always ringing on weekends and public holidays.
Another thing you can do is tell them you use MAC.
i got a call from jim carrey from the carrey group… He said that i was downloading a corrupt file. I said my computer is off and asked how he could know that i had a corrupt file and said do you truley belive that i will trust you. Then i said that im starting my computer… he asked frequently if i have reached my desktop.. i said no. I asked him many questions and then he just hang up.
Exact same scam happened to me today. Company name was BlueTech Support, caller was an Indian sounding lady, phone number was meant to be a Sydney number – 0280061059.
The bastards called me yesterday. same dumb spiel. I asked lots of Qs, they had no answers that sounded anyway legit. I did look at the so called corrupt files, and, although I’m a computer dinosaur, ie no tech knowledge, I could see by dates etc that these were normal error messages. When he asked for me to type in an access code for him to use HA!! and also would not answer when i asked if he wanted money… I hung up. Mongrel will get worse if he dares call again.
Saskatchewan,Canada. Got a call yesterday-13/07/11- from 1-253-802-0308; from a woman with a heavy accent telling me I had a malfunction in my computer. I knew it for what it was and asked the woman if she or the company she worked for thought I was stupid enough to fall for their scam. She was still mumbling something when I said goodbye and hung up. I called the number back and got a recording by a Jennifer Reach from the Federal Trade Commission basically stating it was a physhing call. Then I started second guessing THAT but am thinking it was legit as there was no solicitation for information. Someone mentioned blowing a whistle-I’m going shopping!
Moderator? I’m curious why my comment wasn’t posted; it was definitely legitimate. I realized after that I did make a mistake on the date because today is the 13th. However…I would like people to know that the 1-253-802-0308 number is still in use even though the Federal Trade Commission has intercepted it. Thanks.
We received a similar call in Saskatoon today from the 253-802-0308 number. When my husband pushed the strongly Indian accented “Rick Johnson” for information he threatened that he would call us every day until we cooperated. They did provide us with a contact number which turned out to be the next number on their call list. They claim their company name is Ecovision.
Just had a call here in Victoria from ‘Private Name/Private Number” asking to speak to Mr XXXXX. (which is my husband’s christian name not his surname). The man’s accent was Indian and very hard to understand. He then asked if I was Mrs XXXX (correct surname). I asked him who he was and who he was calling from. He said his name was “James” and he said that my computer was downloading “malicious files with many viruses that would cause my computer to crash”. By this time I was struggling to understand what he was saying and asked to speak to someone else. Another heavily accented Indian voice came on and told me they were a “Windows Help and Support Company”. He asked if my computer was taking longer than usual to start up etc and I said No it was fine and asked him who he was calling from as I thought this all sounded suspicious and could be a “scam”. At this he got all offended and asked “why did I think it was a scam and did I even understand English”. He said that when my computer came across a problem the information box on the screen is how they knew who we were from our IP address and wanted us to know that our computer “was infected with viruses”. I asked to speak to his supervisor as I was still not happy with all this and he said that he was the supervisor. I told him that I wanted to check this out with my husband and would have him call them back. I asked for his name and he said he was “Mr Barry Johnson” and gave me the phone number 1-647-523-0488. I then used Google and came up with this website and so I am posting my experience here.
Vancouver, BC – got a call a couple of hours ago from “Unknown Number”, which turned out to be a man who sounded African rather than Indian (maybe he’s a Nigerian Bank employee during the week!). Same story – Windows computer, corrupted files, blah de blah. He had a convincing sense of urgency, I’ll admit, but between my natural cynicism of telephone solicitation and the shocking echo on the line, it didn’t take me long to cut him off. Bad luck for him that I’m hip to scams, and use a Mac.
i had a call from an indian guy who said his name was Brad Stewart, he wanted me to run eventvwr into my pc, i didn’t and aksed how i would know he was genunine from microsoft support, he said to call 01414163377, i took down a digit wrong and called it but there was no number. I since found this site as i was suspicious and hence didn’t do anything with my pc. he said i had files which would corrupt my pc and he could show me how to get rid of them. when i asked for his windows id he said he wasn’t allowed to give out those details. He said he was calling from glasgow and the post code started with g so it sounded plausible. when he called back he said i hadn’t call to verify his company and i asked for the number again, then i realised i had a wrong digit. he asked for my name and i said that if he knew i was a genuine windows user, then surely he must know my name. he siad he was calling to inform me my pc was corrupted with some files and he would help me to get rid of them, i have had a lot of error reports on my pc and i am not all that comp literate but i said thank you for calling as you have told me my pc is corrupt which is what u wanted to do and then just said goodbye, he then hung up. when i called the number it did ring but i hung up before anyone answered. Some differences in what happened to those listed above but i think it was still a scam all the same.
I had a phonecall like this last friday in the Netherlands. I was suspicious but also in doubt because my computer service contract had just ended a few days before (but that was probably a coincidence).
I listened to what they asked me and looked in my computer at the same time. He handed me over to his superiour, just as some people above described, I could hardly understand his English. I asked for their names and they were Justin Slater and his superiour Mike Hammish. I did alow them to chat with me. But when they asked me to buy and install their so called service program, I ended the chat programme and the phonecall. Do you think they installed something on my computer? Could they do any harm with this chat program? I didn´t fill in the form and did not give any personal information.
Hope someone can help me out.
Got a call from an Indian about a virus on my computer, I know that there is no way they can legally know that even if it were so. So right off the bat I ask him is name, “Max” and his phone number there at the office. He gives me, 305-702-0516, and I ask where is that located. He plays dumb, I insist politely, he says Miama, Florida is where he’s calling from. Then he changes his mind and says the number he gave me is incorrect it actually ends in 20 instead of 16. Big surprise. So he tells me to turn on my computer. I turn it off and pretend I’m following along. He guides me through some event viewing steps and then he asks what I see. I tell him I see my MacBook pro sitting off on my desk. He says why would I waste his time if I don’t have a PC, (which I actually do, I just wanted to mess with him) I went off on him, I said “how effing stupid do you think I am?” He’s silent, “There is no legal way you can know anything about my computer, furthermore Microsoft will not call me unless i ask them to first.” He plays dumb. I ask to speak to him Manager. He puts another guy one. First thing I ask him. “what was the man’s name I was just speaking to?” He says Max. So I pretend like I’m trusting him now, “okay okay, and where are you calling from again?” he says Ontario, Canada.
“Funny max just told me you’re calling from Miami.” The man is silent.
I tell him, “The next time you’re trying to scam me, keep to the same f–king story idiots.”
Then what really put me over the edge is he goes, “F–k your mother.” and hangs up.
A–holes! so I *69 the number.
(510) 943 3040
Don’t know if it’ll do much good but that’s my story.
I just got a call from a gentleman with what sounds like an Indian accent, as in the country India. Caller ID listed UNKNOWN. He said he was calling from..and spoke really fast, three words, second one started with the letter H, last one was Design. He said he was calling because the Windows OS computer I use has been generating errors that I was not even aware of, corrupt files….
I asked him the name of the company he was calling from & he just said “in behalf of all Windows Operating Systems”. I asked for a callback number, and he would not respond. I advised I was not interested and promptly hung up. I also updated my Facebook status, because I know quite a few people (especially the elderly) who would not hesitate to let them remote in on their system. Not that the man ever asked to do that, but I suspected that is where we were heading.
I also would not be shocked to learn that this group of scam artists manipulates the phone system so that the caller ID shows a local or long distance #, but when you dial that number a real person answers the phone and says…”they’ve been using my phone number, and I’ve been getting phone calls all day.” If you have received any calls from “Rachel with Cardholder Services” you will know what I am talking about.
It is very frustrating!!
Just got a phone call today at 7:35pm gst.
The guy was speaking too fast in a thick Indian Accent. The first time i didn’t get what he wanted but keep telling me stuff about my computer.(I didn’t want to pay attention either cause I had this weird echo of my voice in the phone that ticked me off (Alarm rang in my head cause of it))
He asked me if i couldn’t understand english, Now don’t get me wrong I do speak english but I live in Quebec Canada which is a French speaking province. So I asked him if they had anyone speaking French. (duh moron i’m speaking with you atm in english)
So after a while getting pissed off about the fact that he wanted me to check my computer, calling on behalf of Windows I asked him why did Windows called in english when they’re aware that i’m living in a french speaking area (Someone who work with phone numbers can easily remember which area is calling or being called with the 3 first digits in Canada or USA (hell even I know how to recognise which place i’m calling with those digits))It kind of give them away when he said they had no one speaking french (THAT and the fact that they DO have French services in windows company…, plus if they DID have my coordinates they would know where I’m living and my preference of language to be contacted (if needed be) and that they should call in french.
After a while getting pissed off after him (still haven’t touch the computers (yes i have 2))I told him to call back when they’ll find someone who could speak in french to me.
Maybe I helped them by saying that, but Hey what kind of Scammer will pay attention to WHERE he is calling and to the language he is using… That and the weird hour he called (office closes at 4:00pm everywhere in Canada and 7 o’clock PM in QC IS 4o’clock in BC… And in a Friday night… people tend to leave early… If you see my point.
Well right after i hung up I checked the net to see if anything was on those kind of phone calls, guess i was right… but everyone talked about it in english in UK or USA so now let’s add QC, CAN.
my mother just got a call from 0141 416 3377 Ronnie Stone this is a scam to hack into your computer by telephone
We get one a day and I ask them for their credit card details so that I can send them a bill,it works pretty good.
I just got the same thing – someone from Megabyte or something computers with a thick Indian accent claiming my computer was sending out viruses. Sure. I could hardly understand what he was saying, but he indicated that it was a Windows machine that was sending out virus reports. I asked him which one (I have 5 computers in the house) he said Windows 7. I kept asking him how he got my number, but he wouldn’t say. He says he is based in Ontario (sure, with an accent like that). I then told him I was going to record his instructions as I followed them, and pretty soon, he caught on that I was actually using a Mac! Hahahaha that got him really mad but the idiot had the cheek to swear at me before he put the phone down. I should have dragged it out longer just to bait him and waste more of his time.
Scumbags. How can they think they could make a living this way?
Hi all, i got a call from Microsoft support team member on Thur 4 Aug, said my computer was constantly sending error messages to Microsoft server and i had a lot of viruses that are not picked up by my anti virus, he phoned me from 0253820308, he had a heavy Indian accent when i asked his name and he said Brad Stewart i nearly burst out laughing,i said give me your number and i will phone you back he gave me 01414163377 and even asked me to repeat the number back to him, as if i am going to ring him, 01414163 is the code for Glasgow in Scotland, mind you Stewart is a Scottish name, i thought it was April fools day, i feel sorry for any one who has been caught by these B%&@£*^S
Tried to get us this morning too @ number 13122638267, be wary. West coast Canada.
Winnipeg, MB Canada: got calls both yesterday and today stated that there were bad files on my computer and that their Windows support team got fix this. Didn’t ask for me by name. “Unknown number” showed on call display. Both times I asked to be removed from their call list early in the conversation which is when I was hung up on.
Have just had a call from an Indian man called Ashley (!)calling on behalf of windows who told me my computer was under attack from a malicious something or other. Very bad line which made me suspicious so i asked some questions and told him i couldnt access my laptop at that moment as i was busy so could i call him back? Got a number but 1471 shows he withheld his number.Asked him questions and wasted his time trying to trip him up but he kept telling me under no circumstances turn on my computer until i had called him. I am not very au fait with computers but i have McAfee protection and i mentioned this but he said they wouldnt protect against this virus as it was something they couldnt deal with. Anyway, got him off the line and turned on my laptop and guess what?? Everythings fine. Can only hope i wasted more of their time than mine!
Just got this call in Tasmania, her name was Sarah and call back number was 0280061059
I’ve had 4 or 5 of these calls. I’m fairly computer savvy, so I knew it was a scam, also a friend of mine did actually get scammed by these leeches, and ended up 20 quid poorer. The last time they phoned, about an hour ago, when they said that my computer was being monitored, I said I thought that was illegal (for a private company). They were evasive about the details.
Anyway I acted dumb for a while until the Indian lady mentioned ‘Microsoft’ three times in one sentence. I said that I didn’t have a Microsoft OS. She asked what I was using then, so I told her I was EXCLUSIVELY a Mac (OS X) user. That’s was her cue to hang up on me. Next time I’ll try to keep them going for as long as possible.
My spouse received a call this morning from an Indian accented man claiming he was calling from “Windows” and wanted to fix our virus infected Windows computer. He was calling from 253-802-0308. She would give him any personal nor computer information, not even that we have a computer. She is not technical, but could sense it was a scam. He hung up shortly after realizing he was not getting anywhere.
After reading these posts, I want to play “telephone Rodeo” if they call again: I will play along and see how long I can keep them on the phone, maybe even tell them whatever is necessary (but untrue) and even throw in that the “rainbow wheel” is still spinning, and they need to wait… please wait…(ie I have a MAC) to see how long before they hang up.
Same thing happened here. Got four phone calls from an Indian accented woman who later handed me to her ‘master’ to explain. They claimed they were from some kind of technical doctor department phoning all people who use Windows….yea right!!! I was just a bit horrified that they new my surname and address?? The number they gave and came up on the screen was 006032149030. Did phone it back but it doesn’t exist. The guy kept asking what I saw on my computer screen, so I told him I don’t trust this and hung up.
logmein.com scam i did the 6 digit code and when it got to 20% it hit me as wierd, so i unpluged computer,am i ok, edson alberta canada
Same scam, second time in a week. The first time, once I actually understood they were from “windows” I said I had a mac so must be a scam and he hung up immediately. Today, I went along with it for a bit, then started asking questions – How did you get my number, What’s my IP address? He said he only had “general information” about my computer. I finally told him I have a mac and that he’s running a scam. He actually put on his “mac support” person. Apparently they are now trying to get into macs. I hung up on the mac support person.
Same as all of the above except i was stupid enough to fall for it! I’m usualy really good when it comes to these sort of things and feel like a complete idiot! I’ll phone the bank tomorrow and explain what has happened (in shame) and maybe they can stop the payment before it is taken out of my account.Do I need to have my laptop cleaned out? They had controll of it and i’m worried they have got access to confidential information and banking etc
Just received a call from anman with an indian accent claiming to be representing a Company called Globaltek based at 124 Baker St London. Wanted to perform a chack on my computer. Told him that I was aware that it was a scam, which he refuted, but wouldn’t give anymore detail until I log on to computer. I told him that I was going to report the call to the authorites but he didn’t seem worried by the threat, probably heard it all before! When I hung up, I checked the last incoming number on the phone and it was 0208 099 7526.
It is about time the authorites did something about these people.
It appears I am the latest to fall for this scam and I would normally consider myself to be security aware …nevertheless they were in my pc before I could think and after not getting me to agree to give any money or card details out they left…at this point I panicked, rang the bank and stressed all day until the bareface cheek of someone called Glen! called me again in the afternoon to see if I had decided to buy the cover or not…to be honest I was so glad to hear from him again, to see if there was a small chance of getting some contact details for these scumbags but yes the number he gave did go through to false ‘windows support’. He is ringing me back today but in the meantime I have found all these reviews…uhm what do I say to him….virus run, passwords changed etc etc etc….am in still in any danger, please advise? interestingly the bank, including their fraud dpt didnt seem interested?
Hey, just received a similar phone call, from number 1-253-802-0308, funny part is, i dont have a computer, i do everything via cell phone or tablet. I called the number back, it was a recorded message from “Jennifer leach from the federal trade commission” about phishing and to go to a website onguardonline.gov
The same, heavy Indian accent blah blah blah. I refused to give out any information and then when he asked me to type in the http://www.support.me I googled it instead. There were reams of “Scam” and dont get caught by the scam. I told them I was done and hung up. They called back and I said if you are legit I appologize but I need to check things out first. I wont be scammed. They said I waisted their time! I said sorry and hung up. They called back and called me a real bastard. I told them to go F@#K them selves.
I think our friendship is over… they dont call anymore.
Ontario Canada
They called me more than 6 times in the last 3-4 months. Today they called again and m not busy, i played like stupid and talked with 2 of their ppl for 45 mins. First they ask you to pop the window’s event viewer and browse tho all the Warning, Error logs (no big deal), then they will ask you to type http://www.support.me OR http://www.mmyy.com in the RUN box, which, of course will bring up the browser. I keep failing them saying that my anti-virus wont let me go to this website… They claim to help my computer to run smooth at first, and the 2nd person said i got virus which infected my anti-virus software which blocked me from browsing their site…and they are to only Microsoft ppl which can fix my computer…etc
Anyway, i am really wondering how they got my phone number and also my name…
I received a call from these idiots just yesterday. We were actually in the process of getting my new PC up and running when the phone rang. An indian accent greeted me by name, informed me he was from Windows tech support and that my computer had a virus.
I told him that was pretty hard to believe, considering my computer was brand new and didn’t even have internet access yet. He asked how I could be sure. I told him that I had not been online in weeks after my previous computer croaked, and this one had only been hooked up for about fifteen minutes.
He offered to stay on the line while I got the internet working so we could deal with the viruses. I told him to shove it and hung up.
This scam has now reached Alaska. I have received a phone call each night for the past week – same time each evening – from a heavily accented Indian man claiming to be a technical support engineer from Megabytes Solutions. He claims that they are receiving error messages from my computer and he can fix the problem on line. I have asked to have my name and phone number removed from his call list, but he refuses. Do these people really think they will be successful if they just keep calling?
I got called yesterday morning by “Microsoft” Told me my computer was running slow etc etc… The sounded so convincing and Im afraid, I stupidly agreed to a year contract paying £89 via credit card. There were so many alarm bells ringing and I questioned alot of these but still managed to be convinced that this was a legitimate company.
I have canceled the credit card used and suspended my online banking but is it safe to use my computer now that they have access to it? All my personal details and my families are on my computer and Im extremely worried about identity theft etc..
Any advice would be very gratefully received…
Today I received the second phone call from these jerks…I told them I did not own a computer and they said ok thanks and hung up…I’d like to know how they got my name and phone number in the first place, hopefully they don’t call back
I received a call from a person named LLewellyn from Manchester claiming to be from a windows computer monitoring company and wanted to discuss problems with my computer. 1471 found he was phoning from 0253820308. When I said that I had never heard of anyone from the Indian sub continent being named llewellyn he decided to hang up.
I’m from the UK, and I got a call from these people this morning. They seemed to almost mumble the company they said they were from. But mentioned Microsoft, I was instantly skeptical, so I just sorta played along for a bit, but when they mentioned a website, I googled it first. Surprise Surprise, a bunch of links to things saying what a scam it was. So I put the phone down. They even tried calling twice more after that.
Living in Wales. Had telephone call from asian male called ‘Kelvin Martin’ his bogus telephone number is 02088199804 different to others on this forum. Just to keep your data up to date
I have been plagued by the same kind of calls reporting to be from Windows Support Centre or Megabyte Solutions and providing fictitious return telephone numbers such as 0870 820 0086. I contact Consumer Direct in the UK every time and report each incident.
I’m in UK and have just been contacted by an Indian call centre, purporting to be Windows Support, who stated that messages indicating my PC is corrupted have been received. Neither my phone nor PC are wireless and located in different parts of my house but he was quite insistent that I run up and down stairs to advise what information was on the screen. I wasn’t prepared to do that and, as my PC was not switched on, I asked how I could be sure that what he wanted me to do would not corrupt my PC and he hung up. The scam is still going on!
Just got a call from a number that came up as “0″ on my caller id. A man with an Indian accent saying he was with Windows Support and that they’ve been receiving error reports from my computer blah, blah, blah. I suspected this was a scam and quickly googled “Windows Support” and came to this page. Thanks to all who have posted here. I confroted him with this but he pretended to ignore what I just said and kept on with his pitch. I just hung up on him.
Still going today received call from Indian saying windows system corrupt. he gave phone number as 02080990364 but its a scam so just fobbed him off.9th nov. 2011
I just received the same call, but typed in the 6 digit code. On the right hand side of the screen it said they were in no way affiliated with Microsoft, so I grabbed my Mac and found this site. I hung up the phone, and they’ve tried to call me back six times. I also shut all power off to the computer. Will they still have access? What do I do??
The phone number I received the call from was 1-999-910-0103
Had this phone call this morning, and a few other times while not been at home. Asian women ( for a change) using the number 02081293275.
I went as far as looking for my code, dont think i had one in the first place. then when they got the the point of asking to renue my security. i realised somethin was up. plenty of free antivirus and anti malicious software around. microsoft windows and avg seem to the best so far of the free software.
Had a call from “global Windows help and support” with the same scam.
I asked for their phone number and was given 0161 350323. The caller “bruce” (heavy accent sounded Indian). I let him give me the details of what he wanted me to do and then he asked when he should call back. I said never. If I wanted help I would contact them.
My mum had a similar phone call less than 10 minutes before and being instantly panicked phoned me. She was given the phone number 0203 0266482.
I wonder if they are working their way through a phone book. They used my maiden name (not changed yet since marriage) and the computer is new and everything would be in married name now.
Why, after all these complaints, have these Asians not been caught? I also had an unpleasant experience with these rotters. I am a widowed pensioner who uses the computer purely for contacting friends and relatives and if I had not mentioned this to my son who has a degree in computing I would have been robbed. It is about time something was done to prosecute these scumbags.
Hey Tracy,
I got a similar call. They said with an indian accent that my pc is infected and needs to be maintened.
They tried to convince me that I need new protection.
I checked that number on http://www.tellows.co.uk and it says that they’re from Manchester…
I also checked the phone number you mentioned and it seems to be from London http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/02030266482
Just had a phone call from my Gran who is in her 70s and has just bought her first laptop. She has just had a phone call from an Indian lady telling her she has corrupted files on her computer and no internet security or virus checkers. Luckily last week I had told her all about her Norton package that she had bought with the laptop and what it does so alarm bells started ringing and she told the woman she would take it to PC world to be checked out and for her company not to worry about it HA!
Luckily she remember what I said about Norton but she still paniced and phoned to see if I can go round and check out her laptop. I fear this company is targeting the older generation who are not computer smart and are going to panic about the whole situation.
This has just happened to my sister and as Microsoft partner I called Microsoft immediately, they confirmed it is a scam and advised we call the police.
The ‘Microsoft Technical Department’ gave the number 02030266492, with a guy who said he was Ryan Williams with an email address ryanwilliams72@microsoft.co.us and address of something like 442 Kensington high street. They gain access to her machine before she suddenly realised something was wrong. Follow the advice on this website and give the b*****ds hell, those us with some more computer savvy MUST protect the innocent majority who would not spot this scam.
I just received call from someone claiming to be from Global Technical support and that they were receiving error warnings from my computer. They told me that they were not selling anything and just wanted to help me fix my computer before it crashed. They walked me thru going to an area in my system that showed me that my computer has had multiple errors and warnings occur in the last few days. That can make it appear legit for people. Then they wanted me to go to a website. http://www.support.me and that is where I ended the conversation. This is a scam and I am sure they were wanting to gain access to my computer. The phone number the call came from is 208-099-7526. I have reported them to the ICR3 and the local FBI
Hi there, I’m from Ontario, Canada and just got the same type of phone call. At first I thought it was legit…enough to get out my lap top and check it out. They got me to bring up the DOS screen and do the event checker with the applications and the system. I did have lots of errors, a couple warnings and on critical on my system. The indian man then started to panic telling me my computer was going to crash. Sent me to http://www.signmein123.com then got very mad I wasn’t connected to the internet. I live in the country so we don’t have highspeed, only mobile internet. He wanted to call me back tonight and I told him I wouldn’t be around. But asked him how I can check out the company to make sure its legit. His name was Eric Jones employee number MS1005 and the call back number he gave me was 01866 999 1487 with a website…www.worldithub.com checked it out but it doesn’t seem very legitimate to me. I just don’t understand how they knew so much about my computer and what was going on. They knew my CSID (I hope that’s right) as well
I just got one of these phone calls and it was a east indian.. And when i asked him who he was he told me windows blah blah hard to understand. He showed me that there were corruptions on my computer then asked me to go to support.me and then i had to enter a six digit code. It really started to bother me so i hung up, and he called me six repeated times, one right after another. Im worried that I did to much and they can hack my computer? Or is it just money they are after? I should have hung up long before then. When i asked him who he was twice, and then i asked him how do i know this isnt a scam, he said “o my god im from windows and your warranty is expired so your computer will crash any minute” and i kept trying to ask so what are you trying to sell me.. So can someone tell me if its just money they are after or are they going to get the personal information on my computer like banking info and stuff? Please can someone let me know
Just received 1 of these calls yesterday @ 2:22, guy soundin Indian said he was from Windows not sure the name hard 2 understand. Said that they had gotton message from my computer that I might hav a virus, asked if I was who I was n if my email was ? it was said yes 2 both then got this knot in my gut. When he said they could fix it w me over the phone, I explained I had no time @ the moment cause I was about 2 pic up kids. He asked when he could call bac I said in hr. Sure enough hr later I got a call yet this time it was a woman. Since I was drivin n Never talk on my cell when drivin
, I had my 13yr old talk 2 her n ask ? company she was from n f a # I could call bac on. My kid said it was hard 2 understand her, so I told my kid 2 tell her there was nothin wrong w my computer n that if I got anymore calls I would have 2 contact authorities. Glad f my gut feelin f once I got hm n went on line along w talkin to a trusted friend who knows computers, I found out that this was a scam n that Windows/Microsoft or any company f that matter NEVER cold call their customers. It sickens me that @ this time of year, 6 days bef Christmas and bout 2 mons bef f tax time these people can be so thoughtless, I realize that times r tough but this is not the way 2 makin things better. I realize there’s probably no way 2 stoppin them, but as a strong believer in Karma ” ? goes around comes around.” I hope they get their’s soon.
Just had one of these muppets phone me. Said they were from Windows Technical Support and they had been recieved a notification that there are corrupt files on my computer. The caller was Indian with a poor grasp of the English language. It took me a couple of minutes to explain to her that I don’t have a PC with windows and that I have a Mac.
We should fight fire with fire. I wonder if any of you good people have an old computer in the closet that’s out of date (lots of us do). Load it up with as many virus ridden programs as possible, like in a big fat “fake” juicy bank account or any other attractive info. Then sit back and wait for the phone call. Ready and waiting… I don’t know if it could be done or not as I’m just an average user. But just the thought of the possibility would make my day.
Just got the call. I was confused because they knew my full name – first, middle, and last, but the message was just like Marks. (Said they were from Windows Technical Support and they had been recieved a notification that there are corrupt files on my computer. The caller was Indian with a poor grasp of the English language.) Could barely understand him and that made it even worse.
I have just received a call today at 9.37am. An Indian sounding woman (very, very difficult to understand) said she was from Windows Technical Support. She said that they needed to help me with my computer as they have been receiving messages from my computer stating that there has been several messages stating send error report. She told me to turn on my computer as it has several viruses that need to be cleared and that she would talk me through how to clear the viruses. After many attempts to politely tell the woman to get lost as I have no intention of letting a stranger tell me what to do on my computer she said every user has a unique id number and she would tell me my number and that would confirm that she was genuinely from Windows. She then started to talk and then kept saying Mam, mam can you hear me. I kept saying yes, yes I am listening, continue. That scenario of to and fro words lasted for few minutes. I then told her how can you expect me to deal with something as serious as clearing my computer for viruses, on the telephone, when I cannot understand what she is saying and she cannot understand what I am saying. I told her that I was not at all happy that Windows would expect me to put my trust in someone from a cold call and especially when I can’t understand them. She just kept saying Mam, mam, every computer user has a unique id, Mam, mam..are you there. I then hung up and googled and found this site. Thanks for all the information hereon I feel a lot happier as I did think: What if they have hacked my computer?? I shall run a full system scan just to put my mind at rest.
Same exact words as Celie’s call “An Indian sounding woman (very, very difficult to understand) said she was from Windows Technical Support. She said that they needed to help me with my computer as they have been receiving messages from my computer stating that there has been several messages stating send error report. She told me to turn on my computer as it has several viruses that need to be cleared and that she would talk me through how to clear the viruses.” I told this lady that I was at work and was not at my computer. She said she would call me back. When home, I found this site then called my cell provider. They started a fraud report about this call and they work with the federal government for these types of fraud. Everyone, please call you phone companies with the exact time and date of the call (even if a blocked call like mine) they can still get the numbers even when blocked to prosecute these scammers.
I was also phoned by someone from USA – telling me but luckily I have denied their request – but foolishly I went as far as wher I had the option to link with the techno-expert. Do I have to worry? Thaks
I had a call today from somebody in India (not sure how they knew my name) saying that they were from Microsoft Support and that they have identified ‘corrupt files’ on my PC. As soon as I told them I had a MacBook they hung up.
Had phone call today from Indian – my husband allowed them to access remotely – I walked in and asked for verification of who they were. Company name Albha PC Care and said they were a service provider of windows. Telephone number 02032391998. Very persistant that they were a authentic. Am worried that they have put something into or taken out of computer but will run virus check. At least no credit card details were given out. Must get husband who is not so guillible!
Had this right now, just said, well i dont own an internet connection and got Oh, and they hanged up. all my phone displayed was 0