Phone call warning of intrusion?

[derekn]

Last night I logged in to the internet with a minor hiccup and a couple of minutes later my phone rang and a foreign sounding guy told me that an attempt had been made to plant something in my pc that would slowly destroy my operating system. He was not easy to understand and I couldn't find out if it was an attempt or a success, he "wanted me to be aware".

I ran an AVG scan and a Spyzooka scan and nothing sinister showed up. My pc seems ok.

I did 1471 and the caller was 015593869702; I didn't call back in case it was a scam.

Anyone advise me on this, do I need to panic?

Cheers,

Derek

 

[derekn]

Just had another call - claiming to be from an organisation called Take Note, an associate of Microsoft.

I stalled the first guy and was passed to the team leader who told me that my pc had sent error reports indicating that I had downloaded some malware that would ..... etc.

He wanted to talk me through some procedures I should carry out on my pc and I declined. Number is 02032861400.

Anyone know what's going on?

Derek

 

[Jason56d]

There are lots of these so called help calls. Just make sure you do not give them any type of remote access to your PC after they claim they can fix it for you.

was it anything like this? http://www.avforums.com/forums/isps-internet/1241546-ammyy-phone-call-scam.html

Do what we do and say we are not connected to the internet!!! They soon go away.

 

[beerhunter]

Classic stuff. One of them called Rory Cellan-Jones of the Beeb recently. He strung them along for ages before admitting that he actually had a Mac. The guy on the other end then accuse RCJ of "wasting his time" - which, of course, was the objective.

 

[derekn]

Thank you both, I guessed it was a scam but wanted to be sure. Their approach is "your pc is sending out error messages, we are from Microsoft and you need our help".

Derek

 

[maf1970]

Classic scam phone call. I like to string them along as well cos it soon becomes apparent that they are following a script and infact have little or no PC knowledge. I don't just hang up on these types I always try and get details including a phone number from them(1471 after the call does not provide a number). I then report them to BT and whoever else I think necessary.
What I find annoying is -
1.Where do they get my number from when it is ex-directory and I'm very careful about who I give it out to.
2. Why should they be able to hide their number ?
3. The Data Protection Act seems to protect them more than us. Isn't that the wrong way round ?

If more people complained about them something might actually get done / change to stamp this sort of calling out.

 

[Trollslayer]

Last night I logged in to the internet with a minor hiccup and a couple of minutes later my phone rang and a foreign sounding guy told me that an attempt had been made to plant something in my pc that would slowly destroy my operating system. He was not easy to understand and I couldn't find out if it was an attempt or a success, he "wanted me to be aware".

I ran an AVG scan and a Spyzooka scan and nothing sinister showed up. My pc seems ok.

I did 1471 and the caller was 015593869702; I didn't call back in case it was a scam.

Anyone advise me on this, do I need to panic?

Cheers,

Derek

Call 101, the local police will give you a freephone nubmer to call (I think the outfit is called ActionFraud), they collate all this for the police cyber crime unit.
A phone number is very helpful to them.

 

[antiscammer]

Did you download a software he suggested? If you did, you might need to uninstall it.

Got a call like that before. Told me I had virus on my PC and asked me to download a software so he could access my PC and fix it from his end. "It's very technical and I'm afraid you're not equipped with proper knowledge to fix it," he said. But no, I knew who he was. I've read about scams such as this and there's no way I'm playing fool. I told the man I was recording the call and that I'd let the police listen and track him. He hung up.

 

[antiscammer]

By the way, I reported the man to Callercenter and guess what? There's been 9 other people who reported the same number for the same scam.

 

[Megaross]

If a nigerian stranger phones you, it's a scam, no exceptions,

Could just string them along for ages before saying "Oh by the way, I've got a mac, you mad bro?"

 

[noiseboy72]

I kept one going for about 15 minutes the other day.

I think it was when he asked me to re-boot my machine and tell him what it said and I replied Commodore C-64, (c) 1983 that he realised I was playing him...

 

[GuitarGuy]

I kept one going for about 15 minutes the other day.

I think it was when he asked me to re-boot my machine and tell him what it said and I replied Commodore C-64, (c) 1983 that he realised I was playing him...

Genius! Haha. I trolled one of these callers so bad he got his nickers in a twist and told me to fudge myself hard and hung up :L I got a call back 10 minuets later from his "manager" being very apologetic saying the operator had been fired (yeah right) and taking the same line. To which I replied, remove my number from your calling list or I'll sue you for harassment. To which he promptly hung up. Not had a call to my mobile nor my landline in about a year now from these blood sucking social leaches. :Smashin: