Nuisance phone calls

[banjerbill]

Of late I have been getting phone calls daily by people with Asian accents claiming to be from Microsoft or BT or Windows. They all try, in a clumsy way, to get me to log on to my computer, one even asked to speak to my wife by name.

Obviously they want to access my computer but does anyone know how and what their end gain would be? Are they just speculative calls or have I been targeted?

Any advice welcomed.

Bill

 

[thetyreman]

I'd like to know where they live, and how they get your number, the microsoft one is almost funny they are that bad at pretending to be microsoft, clearly indian in origin accent, and not very convincing at all, but they must get the odd vulnerable or elderly person to steal money from, literally makes my blood boil.

 

[sunnybob]

Once you give them access to your computer, they can rip all your banking details and passwords.
My sister was very nearly caught 2 years ago, they told her the internet was faulty, she hadnt paid her bill and they needed to get access to correct the fault. Luckily her computer genius son got wind of it just as she was walking to the bank to arrange a money transfer.
If you are not expecting a call, and you dont know the person, dont get into any kind of discussion,just hang up.

 

[Tasky]

Obviously they want to access my computer but does anyone know how and what their end gain would be? Are they just speculative calls or have I been targeted?

Usually just speculative. You may have appeared on a list somewhere that some company has sold off, be it a bank, online shop, TV company, or whatever.
They want your data and possibly access to your files so they can steal your ID or something.

Just bullshit them back - Tell them you're logged in, play along, tell them you're doing everything they're telling you... but don't actually do it.
That, or start playing really thick and ask silly questions, like "How do I turn the computer on, again?".

If I don't recognise the number, I usually answer the phone with some non-descript phrase and, upon finding out it's a junk call, just pretend to be another company. The PPI scammers get the worst of it, as I pretend they're talking about PPE.

I'd like to know where they live, and how they get your number

India? Dubai? Bradford?
Quite possibly they just start dialling numbers - 0044-111-111-1111, 0044-111-111-1112, 0044-111-111-1113, 0044-111-111-1114, etc...

 

[NickN]

Most of the scammers are based in the Delhi area of India, as there've been a few of the groups raided and arrested in the past few months.

The Microsoft or Windows scam usually works by them asking you to sit at your computer and start up the Event Viewer utility, which they can then use to convince many people that there are major issues in their operating system including viruses and bugs, at which point they will very kindly offer to connect remotely to your dextop dewice, upon payment of a sum of money to their 'organisation', and fix said 'issues'. Of course as there aren't any issues, they are just concerned with getting that money and connecting to your computer remotely, when they will often browse around looking for details like text files with passwords, that could give them your credit card or bank details. Or they can deliberately crash your system and then demand even more money to fix the 'major virus' that must, of course, have been triggered by their attempts to 'fix' it.

Another very common scam is the HMRC (or in the USA, the IRS) scam, where they will tell you that you've mis-calcoolated your tax returns and have been a very bad person, but can escape certain imprisonment and a visit to the court house upon immediate payment of a large sum of owed money.

The calls are speculative, the numbers gained from harvesting operations, so unlikely that one person is specifically targeted. Sadly a fair few people do fall for these scams.

If you want to enjoy watching some revenge on these people, take a look at this Youtube stream, it's hilarious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNaKbiXkteo

 

[selectortone]

I'd like to know where they live, and how they get your number.

Most of these nuisance calls come from India. That's where a lot of call centres are, including Microsoft's. The people calling are usually ex-call centre employees who have helped themselves to the customer database before leaving.

 

[thetyreman]

another alternative is to use linux based OS or a mac computer, then you'd definitely know they are scamming you.

 

[eezageeza]

Just say, "Computer, I don't have a computer...." they soon put the phone down!

 

[Racers]

Ask them for the MAC address of the problem computer, it’s a 16 digit hexadecimal number that uniquely identifies your computer they usually put the phone down straight away.

Pete

 

[DrPhill]

I had plenty of supposed engineers from 'TalkTalk' (aka 'LeakLeak') no guessing how they got my number/name/account details. I took delight in stringing them along, sounding like an old and gullible duffer, accidentally putting phone down so they had to redial, pressing wrong keys on computer, accidentally switching computer off. After about 15-20 mins I tell them that I run Linux, know exactly what they are up to and that I have sent their details to the fraud squad who will now be tracing their call.

Best reward is when they call me a 'mother fakir' (something religious I think).

Then I got a phone with BT call minder. Not a single scam call in the nine months that I have had it. Worth the price even though it does deprive me of some harmless entertainment.

 

[Brandlin]

Option 1 ... Just hang up. Makes for a very peaceful life.

Option 2 .... Curse swear and threaten them, then hang up. A very cathartic experienc, and then still quite peaceful.

Option 3 ... Get a phone / line upgrade with number blocking (most new handsets now do this).Hang up and block the number. Very very peaceful.

Just dont engage with them in any way. I dont see why anyone would. Usually they dont even manage to complete their first sentence before I have enacted option 1 then three. on a bad day they get option 2 before option 3.

The big clue here is these 'organisations' buy mailing lists of hundreds of thousands of numbers. Those numbers are auto dialed by computer. When you pick up, their computer then tries to connect you to one of their free operators. That's why there is often a clear machine click and delay before they reply as your details come up on their screen and their operator picks up the call. They do this because of the very high number of unanswered calls so their operators aren't wasting time dialing and waiting. It does however mean that it is VERY obvious you are not talking to someone who is calling you for a very specific reason - they would have you details to hand and answer when you say hello.

I understand why these sorts of reprehensible scams work on vulnerable people. But i really dont understand how anyone else would fall for them

I have wondered in the past about getting a couple of software engineers i know to craft some code that i could keep on a spare machine and when they ask me to log on, use that machine and let the code deliver a very nasty payload to their end. Not beyond the wit of man, but really i suspect of little advantage as they would be up and running again less than a day later... they really dont have anything to lose.

 

[DrPhill]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/2 ... _the_rise/

 

[Sheffield Tony]

My colleague usually answers the phone at work, and says "yes, I'd thought something was wrong, it's running really slow. I'll have to turn it on - you just hold on" and sets the phone to one side. They hang on surprisingly long, and at least aren't bothering anyone else.

These are the one type of scammer who deserve to get my Dad. He would have no idea what was going on, but is quite safe as he doesn't have a computer.

 

[Roland]

My father used to ask them to hold for a minute. He then put the ‘phone down and walked away ... sometimes for hours. He didn’t actually have a computer.

I tell them that my IT department will deal with the problem.

 

[t8hants]

I usually don't say anything for several seconds, if its a genuine caller they nearly always say something first. The silence helps me to listen to the background noise of the caller center and the moment they start speaking I hang up.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I once palyed the old duffer routine and strung them along, with several redials, for the best part of an hour. Very satisfying.
One targeted my elderly mother. Fortunately she had all her marbles (it was the only bit of her that did still function) and my brother was there at the time. He dealt with it in no uncertain terms.
Afterwards mum said that she was shocked that my bro could use such language...

 

[gwaithcoed]

I give my number in Welsh and ask them, A wnewch chi siarad yn Gymraeg (will you speak Welsh) and they don't want to speak to me and hang up

Alan.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yeah ....... but neither will anyone else.

 

[John Brown]

i used to string these people along, put the phone down and walk away, say bad words etc.
Then I came to the conclusion that they are probably desperate people who will clutch at anything to try and earn a crust. Anything you do or say to them will not affect the people running the show. These days I just hang up immediately.

 

[tomatwark]

I have caller ID at work, and generally know before I pick up, so most of the time I ignore it, when I do grab the the phone and realise I give them our head office number.

I have found that some of these companies will use a local number they have bought to try to fool caller ID.

I have one or two stuck on a post it, one of these becomes the head office number I give them.

It works with the companies selling services such as cheap phone deals you have to sign up for 25 years, dance naked on a moonlit night and sell you granny to to have.

No so well on the scammers though, but the I use 2 words to these people and put the phone down.