Weird phone call! "online pc doctor" - Only thread on these scam calls please

Fuzzy Clam

Got one of these calls this morning. Not a good idea 'cos i had a hangover. Indian sounding guy, calls himself Chris, said he was from the Computer Management Center.
Tbh, he didn't get as far as to tell me why he was ringing as he hung up during me taking my sore head out on him.:mad:

Curiously, he knew my first name.

jarvis

I'm the OP and I wonder an I the first to get this email????
My name is not the name in the mail and I bought a laptop from laptopsdirect. Notice the way the mail is phrased like it's a response. May be unrelated. I might just be on an idiot list




If you no longer wish to receive these periodic alerts,
simply click Unsubscribe me from this list
Advice on this widespread scam

Hi Ronald,

To say the least, we have been surprised by just how widespread this scam has become recently and we have heard back from many people relating their experiences, sharing advice and asking for advice.* Below we share this with you.

1. If you receive a call that you are unsure of, ask for their name and number and tell them you will call them back - this is usually enough to end the conversation as they usually hang up.

2. Never give your credit card details out over the phone or on the Internet or less you are sure who you are giving it to.

3. Never install software that is not on a reputable website - look carefully at the website address and what comes just to the left of the .com or .co.uk.* - Eg virusinformation.microsoft.com is Microsoft, microsoft.virusinformation.com is NOT Microsoft.

Best

Terri

PS We have also heard from people that some of these scammers claim to be from zuuMedia or laptopsdirect (one of our partners).* As you know if you are a customer, click through to a technician from the desktop support icon (not a website they try to send you to) and if your desktop icon is not working then YOU should type www.zuumedia.com/support in your browser to connect to us.


zuuMedia | Siena Court | Maidenhead | Berkshire | SL6 1NJ
www.zuuMedia.com | 01628 200 147 | Support@zuuMedia.com
VAT No:GB 892 2882 82* |* Co. No: 5465515


If you received this email in error or no longer wish to receive these alerts simply click Unsubscribe me from this list to unsubscribe.

zuuMedia's Privacy Policy

laros

Hi Ronald.... :-)
I too have bought a laptop from Laptops Direct and to date I havent got one of these emails.
Lar

kearneybobs

Just got a phone call there from someone who said they were from 'PC Doctor'.
Dad answered the phone and didnt know what to do with him so he put him onto me. He went on about how his company had been contracted to follow up legitimate Windows users to inform them of 'junk files' that are downloaded onto you computer.
Flags were being risen all the way through this call. I know my tech and I was not falling for this one! Although, like Fuzzy Clam above, he knew my dads name.

He asked me if I was beside the computer, I said no. That it was in a different building!!! He said he'd wait until I am at the computer. I said I couldnt reach it.

He then said,
'It's ok, it doesn't matter'
and hung up.

I've a right mind to ring his supervisor and complain about him.:rolleyes:

m2wua0ox56iz93

This post has been deleted.

kearneybobs

They rang again there yesterday. An Indian-accented woman. My dad just told them to f**k off.

ewj1978

just got a phone call from a friend,,

her mate got the phone call and she allowed these Muppet's full access to her pc.. My friend walked in just as she was going to give out her cc details over the phone..

When questioned the caller said he was from Microsoft and the pc was infected and lo and behold it was.. amazingly after she'd already given him remote access..

I'm now going to have to go and re-install her OS..:rolleyes:

Bizzi Lizzy

I've just started getting these phone calls again, haven't had them since May, so far I've had two today, this time they are showing up on my phone as a "call", the last time their number showed up.

I've just screamed down the phone at him to take my phone number off his list, and that I don't have a computer.... I wonder if they will get the message

kilsmum

Got a call from this crowd yesterday afternoon - lot of noise in the background from my children when the phone rang initially I thought this guy Chris was calling from Dell.

As the conversation went on I asked was this guy (Indian I reckon) calling from Dell and he said no PC Doctor so I asked him how he got my number and he calls out a Dublin number to verify his authenticity.

He then asked me was I near the computer and I said I wasn't so he asked to me go to the computer and turn it on. I put down the phone at that stage.

They tried calling back - got 5 missed calls from a blocked number - Chris left one message saying "Mam pick up the phone at once!" Next time I will be more careful I wont be answering any blocked numbers

Mike.m

I had two call's from a Foreign man called Mr Smith wondering how my windows was working.I told him to mind his own business and not to call me again and he just hung up.

nomdeboardie

Mike.m wrote: »

I had two call's from a Foreign man called Mr Smith wondering how my windows was working.I told him to mind his own business and not to call me again and he just hung up.

Should have said "My windows are working fine, apart from a bit of rust on the hinges, and if I ever catch you peeping through them I'll come out with a shotgun, pervert"

tvbrat

I've had them back on the phone again today
number they called from was 001234567890.

Your man says he is from windows and there is a virus on my machine
I replied you are not from windows or microsoft and I use linux
he just hung up

They rang a few times during the week but I wasn't in.

It would appear that if you are on their list, they will keep trying, no matter what you tell them,

see previous post
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=66348634#post66348634

People must still be falling for this scam or they wouldn't bother.
Mods I wonder can this thread be stickied and left open.

jak/mar

Just got 2 calls from them there. Had my dads name but i decided to mess with him Told him that it takes 10 minutes for it to boot so he put me on hold. At that point I just hung up. He called back 2 minutes later saying that i was disconnected from him. I told him that it was still booting and he put me on hold again. I then make a completely fake "breaking up" noise and hung up.
I really want to have fun with him.:D

ED E

Wow, this is still going?


Surely somebody out there has the skills to give these scumbags a taste of their own medicine. Riddle their system with trojans and then see just how good at virus removal they are:rolleyes:

wingnut

Yeah, surprised my mother even entertained this one.. she is usually able to spot scams a mile off. She thought it was a scam but rang to check with me if there could be any truth to this one.

This was last week by the way.

budhabob

THe other half just got a call from an indian accented lady claiming to be from "Windows" and stating that there was a problem with her computer. OH went looking for the recipt/gaurantee to see what number we gave and I asked could she give me some proof that she worked for windowsl, she couldnt so I hung up.

Crazy stuff really.

demanufactured

Not crazy at all...

Its called social engineering....

CiDeRmAn

I got a call this afternoon about this, he tried to convince me he was from Microsoft tech support on Dame street, had me checking all sorts of crap, to convince me I had viruses, got suspicious then, and he asked me to open a Dos box, then wanted me to enter in some terms I didn't like the look of, so I blew him out.
It all sounded like crap from the start but let him have enough air time to cost him money before telling him to shag off.
He did try to ring me back a few times but told him to f off, filthy scammer!

kearneybobs

They keep ringing here. My mother asked them where they got our number and they replied that they are covering the Dublin area at the moment. Didn't answer her question so she told the never to call again.
No doubt they will try again in a few days time.

NOGMaxpower

I've had the same scam tried on me twice.
(indian accents all the time - the line is always terrible and sounds miles away = shoddy scam artists for sure)
1st time,

Hello sir I am from Windows and we are calling all of our customers about a virus that has been infecting your region. Can you go to your PC and I'll walk you through how to perform a scan on your system?

Me - You're from Windows eh, what department are you from?

Mr Windows - I am in our security deptartment sir can you go to you PC for me?

Me - Yeh sure just one sec, what region are you in?

Mr Windows - Yes sir I am calling from India

Me - Oh thats strange I didn't know we had offices in India doing this kind of support

Mr Window - oh yes sir we provide man services from here

Me - Well I work for microsoft and I know that none of our Partner Or Customer services department has this project or any other project like this in operation across the globe. What is your name, your company name and I have already recorded your phone number? I believe you are a scam and I will be reporting you to Microsofts Fraud devision who sits behind me.

mr Windows - ... eh... eh... line dropped.

2nd time

They tried it again but this time i didn't listen.

Me "I work for microsoft I have reported your details to MS Fraud division. We are currently investigating your DDI's, we know you are in Bangalore and we will be in contact with you shortly now please dont be stupid and cont....."

Line dropped again

I told everyone I knw about this issue including MS.

SeanKev

My mother handed me the phone yesterday to one of these guys.

He claimed he was from Microsoft, that there was many errors on my computer and that he would guide me through fixing them. I went along with him. Waiting to catch the bastard out and BAM! "Sir, what version of windows do you have?"

You know my mothers name, you "work with microsoft' and know about all these "errors on my computer" yet you don't know what version of Windows I have? :pac:

I asked him what branch of MS he worked for. He said "MS India"
I asked him to give me his name and the phone number to "MS India"
He hung up.

phogan

I would like to inform you all of a scam that I was made aware of today. While visiting my parents house, my mother told me of an unsolicited phone call she received. The person on the phone asked her if her internet connection was slow and if so could she go to her laptop and follow his instruction to change the windows settings, which he claimed would speed up her connection. She was busy at the time and also somewhat suspicious, so she asked the person to call back in a few days.
I called eircom technical support and they confirmed that they were aware of the scam, stating that the settings or configuration changes they instruct you to make open windows up for remote connection and essentially allow these people access personal information. With this I asked eircom if they have or would inform they customers of the scam. I was asked to call customer service to check if they had informed their customers or if not request that they do so. Customer Service again confirmed that they were aware of this scam and had posted information on their website, a post that i couldn't actually find on the website. It struck me that while this was better nothing, how effective was this communication. I know that I don't visit eircom's website unless I want to purchase something or receive technical support, so I nor my parents would see this warning. I suggested to eircom that either an email to their customers or a leaflet attached to every bill might be more effective means of communicating these types of scams. With this I ask you to spread the word in order to prevent vulnerable people from being scammed.
Thanks,
P.

Sgt. Bilko 09

Numbers such as this number as hoax customer service 0061111111112

Do not give any information Eircom are aware of it and the techinqual term is Phising.

If someone calls you pretend to be Eircom ask for there main number to be shown and hang up and see if they call back.

If so take the number down report it to comm reg and gardai.

These scam calls are going on nationwide.

Also you can ask for the third number 5th and last number in your account number and they get it wrong hang up.

Dont not give any information to callers on private numbers ask them for a Direct Line and check with your service provide that the call centre number is correct as some companies hire marketing companies abroad to get them to do customer service too.

Best advice is not to give any sort of information over the phone do not give your name either.

Call your provider and ask to speak to someone that has previuosly called you at that time you have taken down.

I work for a particular provider and honestly they are aware of the situation best advice is to try turn the call in your favour get as much inforamtion Try get a name or a HQ address and again i reiterate do not give anything to them don't agree to anything either.

timberjack

I received a phone call from a man with an indian accent, he told me he was from microsoft technical support, and i had a problem with my pc as microsoft had received several reports from my pc and i had malware and spyware, i told him i had sent no reports, he replied that windows automatically done it, and asked me to turn on my computer, i told him no, i had no time, it was actually on and i was sitting in front of it. I asked him where he had gotten my phone no from as it is not the one i use for broadband, he said microsoft had numbers of everyone who used windows, i said no way and again asked him where he got it, same reply adn again asked me to turn on my pc so he could help me, again i asked where he got number from, he kept insisting that microsoft had everyones numbers who had windows, there was an awful lot of chatter in the background like he was calling from a call centre, i told him i had no time and hung up before he could say another word. unfortunately some people will get caught by this, i rang my friends and warned them.

Jarren

follow link

http://www.google.ie/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENZZ270&q=online+pc+doctors&aq=2&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=online+pc+&gs_rfai=#q=online+pc+doctors&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENZZ270&prmd=iv&source=lnt&tbs=ctr:countryIE&cr=countryIE&sa=X&ei=npS0TK-QDsaJ4Qblpvn5DQ&ved=0CAoQpwU&fp=2c71b101b6b60794

SpaceBeetle

They phoned me last week. The guy got quite narky when I asked him what country he was calling from (caller ID said "out of Area"). After repeating my question 3 times, he replied "Dublin".

Jayd0g

Received a call from "Justin" in Online PC Care last Wednesday. He tried to convince me he could speed up my internet browsing. Even had a jingle play for me when I first answered the phone, how kind!

tonymahoney

timberjack wrote: »

I received a phone call from a man with an indian accent, he told me he was from microsoft technical support, and i had a problem with my pc as microsoft had received several reports from my pc and i had malware and spyware, i told him i had sent no reports, he replied that windows automatically done it, and asked me to turn on my computer, i told him no, i had no time, it was actually on and i was sitting in front of it. I asked him where he had gotten my phone no from as it is not the one i use for broadband, he said microsoft had numbers of everyone who used windows, i said no way and again asked him where he got it, same reply adn again asked me to turn on my pc so he could help me, again i asked where he got number from, he kept insisting that microsoft had everyones numbers who had windows, there was an awful lot of chatter in the background like he was calling from a call centre, i told him i had no time and hung up before he could say another word. unfortunately some people will get caught by this, i rang my friends and warned them.

Folks, I have read most of all postings in this thread because my folks are now receiving these scam phone calls - I am PC literate so fairly confident that their PC has not been compromised however one thing I cannot figure out is how the hell do you get the phone calls to stop?
Can Eircom help? Comreg? All suggestions greatly appreciated - need to sort these "£$%ers out and stop hassling my folks
Thanks

kearneybobs

tonymahoney wrote: »

how the hell do you get the phone calls to stop?

I have no idea how to get them to stop, but when you do, let us all know. My house must have gotten 12-15 calls in the last month.

notnigella

I am being tormented by this shower. I keep telling them I am not interested and have even taken to telling them that I have no PC but I still get about 3 calls a week. I found this info tonight about unsolicited calls so I am going to try this from Eircom to stop future cold calls:

http://support.eircom.net/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE/&/?St=2&E=0000000000263229282&K=3042&Sxi=7&Case=obj(10950)

In the meantime I think it's time to keep an airhorn by the phone to respond to the next call......