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

Mr. Manager

My GF just got a phone call from a man claiming to be from Microsoft and looking to punch i some codes that will rid her PC/Laptop of all Viruses/Trojans.

Thankfully she had the sense to text me mid call

Real_World?

Got a call from these guys tdy.

Avoid at all costs. I think they are taking peoples details from the EIRCOM online phonebook.

jocmilt

I got a call from a man with an Indian accent called 'Jack'? Number unavailable. Knew my name. I knew it was a scam/marketing call but when I asked him if it was a telemarketing call he said 'no' that he was calling from Microsoft and he wanted to help me clean bugs off my PC.

He asked me to go to my PC. Didn't know my OS or anything about me that MS would. I played him along to see what he was up to and made out that I was an aged occaisional user with little knowledge. This meant he has to talk really slowly to me and wait for ages while I followed his instructions. I was actually making coffee. He just put me through a few drills to get my confidence and get me used to following orders.

START - Right Click My Computer - Left Click Manage - Computer management - expand event viewer - Application. Then he got me to notice all the red Error and yellow Warning messages in right pane. Got me to give him time and date of one of the error messages. Told me these were a danger but warned me not to open them. I engaged him in much conversation that forced him to explain what a hacker was, what malware was... etc,etc.

Then he got me to open a run window (DOS). I wasn't going to enter anything for him there but then he started asking me to enter the web address www.virtualpcdoctor.com and then click the Irish flag and read the phone number to him. I didn't hear him say to enter his web address in the internet explorer address bar. I wonder was he trying to get me to enter it in the DOS run window? Anyhow I was entering it in the google search window to find his scam, which I did here on boards. Go Boards!

He asked me if I could see the Remote Support button on their page but said not to press it yet. He asked what I could see and I said I saw the 'enter your 6-digit code' and 'connect to a technician'. He said fine and asked me to hold for a minute. As he did I turned off my PC as I was not going to make any changes to my setting or allow remote access.

He came back after a minute and gave me my code, 526211, and asked me to enter it. I told him I had a workmate waiting for me at the door and I just had to go. He asked when I would be back and I said I would be out until 23:30rs (the call was made at 13:30) as I was a police man and I had a shift to do. I said my daughter would be home from school in a couple of hours and he told me they could not talk to children. Do these guys have morals or do they not want to waste time on non-credit card holders? Ha ha.

He was a bit upset I had not told him I had to go sooner. Yay, I upset him. Chalk that as one up for the good guys!

Garda Dibble over and out!

rod flanders

Answered a call from them yesterday. The phone number they used was 234567 and they had called everyday for last two weeks until I answered. Scammers knew my name but I lied and said I don't own a pc.

sombaht

Next time they ring tell them you use Linux. Since I did I haven't heard from them in over a month!

Cheers,
sombaht

kearneybobs

They've not called here in a couple of weeks. Almost 2 weeks now. Think they gave up on us since we started answering the phone with "where did you get our number?" /hangs up on us.

_Whimsical_

jocmilt wrote: »

Do these guys have morals or do they not want to waste time on non-credit card holders? Ha ha!

The latter I think:)

I just had a really funny phone call from these guys.I immediately interrupted the man speaking to me as he started his opening line and politely said I was not interested in the service.
There was a pause on the line and he said "are you interested in me?"

Then he gave me a great speel about my voice (like a nightinggale apparently...the "cutest most gentle soft voice" he had heard in his life).Then he said he had my number and asked if he could ring me to hear my voice again as he could not bear to never hear it again.I said no. Then he asked if I was married so I said yes (I'm not). He sounded greatly disappointed and said there was no need for my husband to know about our phone calls. He even offered me his number. Then I said I had to go and he said ok that he would call me later when he was not working.I slightly panicked at this and gave a very firm no and a my husband would be very angry and I really had to go now goodbye. He says "ok but please one more question"....I expected this to be about the computer. Instead I get " have you also received compliments on your face?":D
I said no never. He said "ohhhh...."
And I hung up.

So either I got a genuine nutter or else they're trying a new and disturbing sales technique.:)

jack presley

sombaht wrote: »

Next time they ring tell them you use Linux. Since I did I haven't heard from them in over a month!

Cheers,
sombaht

That didn't work for me. One time I told them I had a Mac and another time I told them I never had a computer but they still call back. I don't know but maybe there is more than 1 company doing it?

By the way, has anyone actually asked them how they got their number? I must the next time they ring.

BostonB

I did but got nowhere.

Huawei Gallagher

Just got one now myself, hung up fairly early though. Next time will take them slowly through everything.:mad:

kearneybobs

Not gotten a call from them in a couple of weeks now. I'm not complaining, mind you.

MLMwatch

I got called this very morning.

As soon as he launched into his spiel in broken English my scam detector went to red alert. When I could see which way it was going I pointed out that I am an IT consultant. This is a mild exaggeration as my last contract finished two years ago and I am now a photographer.

He said "oh you are an IT professional". I said "Yes". He said "you can fix your own computer, bye".

Hence it became obvious that they are not interested in dealing with people who know computers. We can spot their line of bull.

A polite thank you but no followed by a hang up is the way to go I think. If there is a follow up call drop the polite.

Cheers.

seamus

MLMwatch wrote: »

A polite thank you but no followed by a hang up is the way to go I think.

I don't see the need to be polite in the first instance.

It usually goes like this with me:
"Hello, is that Mr. <X>" (usually pronounced wrong even though it's only 4 letters)
"Yes."
"Hello, I'm calling from online.."

<click>

Don't waste any time even engaging them in conversation. They haven't got your phone number from a legitimate source and aren't going to listen to your requests to not call any more.

dnme

This thread is now 25 pages long, that make some think this is becoming a serious and prolific issue. Have any of you thought of bringing your issue and this thread to the attention of Eircom, the Consumer Agency, Offcom etc?

Boom_Bap

dnme wrote: »

This thread is now 25 pages long, that make some think this is becoming a serious and prolific issue. Have any of you thought of bringing your issue and this thread to the attention of Eircom, the Consumer Agency, Offcom etc?

This problem has been well documented in the media of late.

hellboy99

Calls have been going out round the Dundalk area for a few days now.

A guy or a woman rings up saying that they are working for Microsoft and that your Windows operating system is either infected or running slow and they can fix it at their end if you logon to your PC, go on the net and give them access to your PC online. You all know what happens next, while they have access to your PC they are downloading any details you have ie. bank details, email & bank account logons and passwords.

Numbers they are ringing from are 00212 area codes (Morocco).

seamus

dnme wrote: »

This thread is now 25 pages long, that make some think this is becoming a serious and prolific issue. Have any of you thought of bringing your issue and this thread to the attention of Eircom, the Consumer Agency, Offcom etc?

The calls originate outside of the EU. None of these bodies can do anything about it.

johnny_cash

I got a phone call from these guys today i posted it in the security forum.The man was from india or somewhere that part of the world.The man wanted me to type things into the run box he was telling my what letters to type into it he kept saying type v for victor g for google and something for every letter.I would love to know how these guys got my phone number and how he knew i had a laptop?

jack presley

johnny_cash wrote: »

.I would love to know how these guys got my phone number and how he knew i had a laptop?

1. Phone book probably because there doesn't seem to be any pattern with people getting these calls.

2. They're taking a chance. These days nearly every home has a laptop or PC so by assuming you have one, there's a good chance they'll be right.

BostonB

They are stupid aswell. They keep ringing numbers they've already rung. which suggests they don't have a database, or a system that tracks that.

Badgermonkey

Friendly lass from 'Windows' called at approx 12:15pm.

Said she was calling from Dublin as my PC was generating errors.

Must've been a bad connection as she suddenly disconnected after my 6th or 7th query.:rolleyes:

Disconcertingly the background chatter demonstrates these gits are pretty busy.

Multinationals in tech, insurance & aviation who farm their cust support out to third parties in Bangalore are complicit imo, as that personal info seems to be treated in a fairly cavalier fashion.

marco_polo

Sounds alot like this scam: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055837564

I'd love to know where some of them they get their information from alright.

lemon_sherbert

I got a similar call around the same time today. Didn't say he was calling from anywhere in particular. Hung up on him fairly sharpish - really annoying though, don't like to think about how they got the name and number.

Fogmatic

Got one last Friday (in Donegal); hadn't heard of it but immediately smelt a rat. He knew my name (phone book I suppose), & gabbled through through his intro; when asked (twice) to repeat it more slowly, it was something like 'the Computer Service department, for Windows'. They were apparently receiving 'multiple errors' from my computer, which he could help with (with my computer on). Once I managed to get a word in edgeways, I said it wasn't convenient to turn the computer on just now, but reassured him that I'd check the problem with Microsoft as soon as I did. That seemed to shut him up.
I searched the forums for it just out of curiosity, & found this thread.
I can't ask Microsoft for help, as I have preinstalled Vista Home Premium (though he obviously didn't know that; yet another alarm bell, if I needed one).

yosser hughes

I got 2 calls from these phuckers on Friday! I told the first one what I thought of him and the second guy hung up when I told him I was an IT professional.
It worries me though as my elderly Mother is just getting used to using a computer and a call like this could possible confuse her. A lot more elderly people are getting in to using the internet etc. these days and I genuinely worry for them. If you can,warn as many of these vulnerable people as possible.

TMarvoloR

Just to warn folks, I got a call from a company calling themselves 'Windows Care' ... In the call, I was told that my computer had been identified by them over the internet as 'having a fault' and that it needed to be fixed by them urgently" ... I asked the caller, where they got my number, the reply was "from a friend" & I hung up pretty quickly ...

It appears they are using the phone book to get numbers ...

This is just to let folks know of the scam and to pass the word to others who may not be as "tech" savvy as people on this forum ...

Hank Scorpio

Theres been big threads about these phonecalls and similar phonecalls

flyingsnail

you might want to have a look at this thread

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

Cabaal

Interesting to note that they are using logmein.com, you'd hope logmein.com are terminating accounts if they are reported for this type of crap

heavyballs

just got my first call fron these powicks,
thanks to this thread i had great craic with some Massala loving ******,

weird thing is my name is not in the phone book,tbh it's a fairly new house,don't even know the home number off by heart and only use my moby number as reference

anyway pretended to him that i had my pc on,followed his instructions,made him repeat every letter about 20 times,by the end he was the one peed off,needless to say i gave him a mouthfull before he hung up