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

caomhino

My sister just got scammed by this shower. paid €96 for the privilege, did anyone ever get their money back of these or is it just a case of a dear lesson in phone scams ?

Gadgetman496

caomhino wrote: »

My sister just got scammed by this shower. paid €96 for the privilege, did anyone ever get their money back of these or is it just a case of a dear lesson in phone scams ?

My understanding of this SCAM is that while it is morally wrong it's technically not illegal, so I'm afraid it is "a case of a dear lesson in phone scams" unfortunately.

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Dermot Illogical

WARNING: These scammers are now resorting to causing damage (by deleting system files) if credit card details are not handed over and they have been already been granted remote access.

Dermot Illogical

caomhino wrote: »

My sister just got scammed by this shower. paid €96 for the privilege, did anyone ever get their money back of these or is it just a case of a dear lesson in phone scams ?

It's going to cost more than that. They have full access to her computer anytime it's connected to the internet, so she'll have to factor in the cost of repairing it too.

caomhino

Lovely, is there a software client they've installed that i need to remove ?

caomhino

caomhino wrote: »

Lovely, is there a software client they've installed that i need to remove ?

i'm assuming they just cold called here and she was gullible to hand over her info ?

Psychobabble

I'd a call from one of these guys last week. 'Daniel' had a very strong Indian accent and claimed that my computer was being hacked. Now I'm not terribly computer literate, but I smelled a rat and asked him where he was based; when he replied Dublin, I asked him for his number so I could phone him back, obviously it was a fake one.
I contacted UPC, as I was a bit disconcerted and wanted to check that there was no way these guys could gain access to my PC, I was told by a very helpful tech guy that this is a common scam and that they use Eircoms online international directory to call numbers at random. He offered to make my number ex-directory online, but to still appear in the phonebook (there's probably nothing to stop these people from getting a hard copy).
I also contacted COMREG, who are also well aware of the scam (which apparently is legal in the country out of which they operate), however, I was told that the Garda Fraud Squad were investigating this.
So if anyone does have solid information that they can pass on to the Fraud Squad, please do so. In the meantime, I suppose the best defence against this sort of thing is to tell as many people as you can about it, which is exactly what I have done!

Dermot Illogical

caomhino wrote: »

Lovely, is there a software client they've installed that i need to remove ?

They use logmein initially, but once they've gained access they can install any other backdoors they want. They only safe way to deal with it is to disconnect from the internet, back up files and reinstall the operating system.
It is possible to repair, but it's very time-consuming and involves switching off system restore, analysis of running processes and network traffic.

caomhino

cheers RT66, i'll check her laptop this evening, will try and remove or disable that logmein i'm fnot fully au fait with all this stuff but could i not just get down microsoft security essentials and check it that way or will that not detect it ?

Dermot Illogical

caomhino wrote: »

cheers RT66, i'll check her laptop this evening, will try and remove or disable that logmein i'm fnot fully au fait with all this stuff but could i not just get down microsoft security essentials and check it that way or will that not detect it ?

The problem is that they aren't using malware, so scanning won't detect anything amiss. You'll need to check all the files on the system (including system files) to see what has been modified in the period they've had access. Set the PC to show all system and hidden files, search for *, and order by date modified (and date created just to be certain). You'll need to disable system restore, disable remote access, check user accounts, check running processes and run wireshark or similar to see if the PC is in contact with any machines in Calcutta.
A reinstall is easier and quicker to be honest, and it allows you to fully trust the PC again.

caomhino

I see, might be tricky as it's a new netbook so not sure if she has a back-up copy of windows 7. I doubt it....

Tomk1

tadhgrrr wrote: »

had great craic with one of these lads today...

'Andy' called me up telling me I had an imminent computer crash coming my way...smelled a rat straight away but had answered the phone in my 'country bumpkin' accent so decided to see how far I could string him along.

Pretended to get very upset when he told me my compoooter was going to slow down (kept asking him what the feck would happen if my compoooter exploded)

He asked me to calm down and take a few deep breaths which I duly did and then proceeded to tell him that the compooter was opening up the Interweb and that was mad altogether and what did he think of the whole interweb thingy. That went on for a while

I then had him spelling out teamviewer.com to me 3 or 4 times....asking him how many w's were in www...was it 4 or 3....and why wasn't it working when i spelled .kom etc etc.

He was pretty patient all the way through while I told him that the teamviewer website had a fine picture of a woman on it and then started on about the weather and how the snow was doing awful stuff withe the phone reception before hanging up....

and then!!

he had the cheek to call me straight back and give out to ME for wasting HIS time...prick..:) but certainly brightened up my snowbound day!...hope he calls again tomorrow!

kev8t6

I got one of these calls a few months ago and i told him i knew it was a scam and to not ring this number again but now since last week they having been ringing nearly every day.Its getting more on the lines of malicious because when my mother answered he stayed silent on the phone then when i said hello he started talking and as soon as i said im not interested he hung up and cut me off the cheeky ****er.I got another one today and he hung up again i knew i should of had fun and kept him on the phone but hes really pissing me off now i think its the same guy they i know its a scam so i think there trying to take the piss but the fact there doing silent phone calls to my mother has really annoyed me...Has anyone experienced this lately and does anyone have advice on what to do?:mad::mad::mad:

Mr. Presentable

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0128/1224288458489.html

dubhman007

analogue_070 wrote: »

Got another call this morning. Are these guys thick? They have already got money from me, and 'guaranteed' my immunity from their fake viruses for four years or something. Now I admit I was stupid to be taken in the first time, but I'm really not that stupid that they can con me time and time again. Anyhow, I used a few expletives, beginning wtth the letter 'f' and followed by 'off'.

analogue 070 you certainly aint alone...i cant believe i fell for it ,however i had most of my stuff backed up on ext.harddrive so only solution for me was to wipe my laptop and do a complete restore of os system,thankfully still had the original discs,however after fallling for scam i immediately cancelled all cards and informed my bank which they transfered me to their fraud section.after a short period (about a week)theone year subscription fee was reinstated to my account...bank were aware of online pc scam..so i presume they shouldnt have let the transaction through,thats only my opinion.anyways this week theyve been ringing me daily,and are being quite aggressive asking me why i cancelled the previous transaction..blah blah ,ive led them on,ive also told them where to go..but by god they never stop.theyre so annoying.always around 1.30pmish his name he gave me was hilarious.Blackie West...you couldnt make it up.

Gadgetman496

Part of these guy's strategy is to engage the individual, and their training is such that they are experts in reeling people in once they get them conversing.

Sure we all like to think we're smarter than that & even feel a sense of bravado when we attempt to string them along? but remember, while you are attempting to string them along they actually have you engaged to a point?

Anyone receiving their first call from these white collar crimesters should simply respond by saying that they do not posses a computer & immediately hang up. Any calls thereafter, the recipient should hang up every time without conversing at all.

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Dermot Illogical

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/customers-warned-of-virus-phone-scam-491194.html
Inaccurate, but the more publicity the better.

Naikon

Honestly, anybody who falls for this deserves to be scammed. No question about it. ****ing idiots handing over their credit card details imo. THIS IS INSANE!!!

Naikon

gadgetman496 wrote: »

My understanding of this SCAM is that while it is morally wrong it's technically not illegal, so I'm afraid it is "a case of a dear lesson in phone scams" unfortunately.

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Posing as an Official Microsoft rep is an example of false misrepresentation. Fraud in my book. This is not a civil matter by any means.

sgb

They have rung me about a dozen times, I started off by being polite and telling them I was not interested but they still keep ringing so now I keep them on the phone as long as possible without giving out any imformation and wasting their time, it may be working because they have not rung me for over a week

dilallio

Naikon wrote: »

Honestly, anybody who falls for this deserves to be scammed. No question about it. ****ing idiots handing over their credit card details imo. THIS IS INSANE!!!

A bit harsh.

I know of 3 elderly people who have been caught in the past 10 days.

While none of them handed over their credit card details, they did allow the scammer to take control of their pc's, after he had talked them into looking at windows logs which showed some errors. The logs often show errors or exceptions, but these poor people are not computer-literate and didn't realise this.

They didn't realise it was a scam until the guy asked for credit card details, and by this time when alarm bells started ringing in their heads, their computers were already taken over.

NOBODY deserves to be scammed.

Even those whose knowledge of computers or scams isn't as good as yours.

Keshguy

I get about 2-3 calls each week from them. Now I tell them I don't have a PC - but they keep calling.
New thing tonight - phone rang & a recorded voice telling me to text my answer to 57777 to a simple question to win a prize. This has to be illegal

Dermot Illogical

Naikon wrote: »

Posing as an Official Microsoft rep is an example of false misrepresentation. Fraud in my book. This is not a civil matter by any means.

True, but saying "I'm calling on behalf of a Microsoft Certified Engineer" isn't. At the outset of this particular scam they were careful to phrase it in such a way that it was misleading, but not necessarily inaccurate. Cases like that are a civil matter.

Where they have directly claimed to be calling from Microsoft, or similar corporations, then it is indeed an attempt to defraud by deception and should be reported as such at the victim's local Garda station. A record of exactly what words they used introducing themselves is important.

More recent cases where they have damaged victim's PCs are also a criminal matter and should also be reported.

patentseven

Keshguy wrote: »

I get about 2-3 calls each week from them. Now I tell them I don't have a PC - but they keep calling.
New thing tonight - phone rang & a recorded voice telling me to text my answer to 57777 to a simple question to win a prize. This has to be illegal

Legal or not they are trying to get hold of mobile phone numbers & will charge YOU for calling you.

Naikon

dilallio wrote: »

A bit harsh.

I know of 3 elderly people who have been caught in the past 10 days.

While none of them handed over their credit card details, they did allow the scammer to take control of their pc's, after he had talked them into looking at windows logs which showed some errors. The logs often show errors or exceptions, but these poor people are not computer-literate and didn't realise this.

They didn't realise it was a scam until the guy asked for credit card details, and by this time when alarm bells started ringing in their heads, their computers were already taken over.

NOBODY deserves to be scammed.

Even those whose knowledge of computers or scams isn't as good as yours.

OK, yeah that was a bit harsh. I would feel bad for the genuine cases. Regardless of your knowledge of computers, the average person should not give any piece of information to an unsolicited non authenticated individual. I thought this was common sense for the most part?

Naikon

patentseven wrote: »

Legal or not they are trying to get hold of mobile phone numbers & will charge YOU for calling you.

Blacklist/ignore the number.

Naikon

RT66 wrote: »

True, but saying "I'm calling on behalf of a Microsoft Certified Engineer" isn't. At the outset of this particular scam they were careful to phrase it in such a way that it was misleading, but not necessarily inaccurate. Cases like that are a civil matter.

Where they have directly claimed to be calling from Microsoft, or similar corporations, then it is indeed an attempt to defraud by deception and should be reported as such at the victim's local Garda station. A record of exactly what words they used introducing themselves is important.

More recent cases where they have damaged victim's PCs are also a criminal matter and should also be reported.

Sorry, I get what you are saying, but I don't know if this would wash should the individual stand to lose anything. The intent is generally the factor used for determining the conviction. What you speak of may even come under a seperate law. Intent to defraud is taken on the merits of the act itself, not the information presented by the offending party. Again, I am not a lawyer, but a conviction of this nature applies once the victim loses property. The misleading information may be covered under a seperate civil tort though, yes.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/act/pub/0050/sec0006.html#sec6

blindpilot

Got a call from these boys on an "Out Of Area" number. Answered it once and gave them the run around. They kept ringin me after and I was never there to take the call. It got to a stage where I had 4 or 5 missed calls during the day. Haven't had a call from them this week. Claiming to be from Windows I asked them about Microsoft. It was like I was speaking a different language. I can understand how some people have been caught out especially if they just bought a new computer and are not sure about it but the thing is you cannot trust anyone who rings you regarding such. My first question was how did they know my name and their reply of "it was passed on to us by your supplier" just had those alarm bells ringing.

Dermot Illogical

Naikon wrote: »

Sorry, I get what you are saying, but I don't know if this would wash should the individual stand to lose anything. The intent is generally the factor used for determining the conviction. What you speak of may even come under a seperate law. Intent to defraud is taken on the merits of the act itself, not the information presented by the offending party. Again, I am not a lawyer, but a conviction of this nature applies once the victim loses property. The misleading information may be covered under a seperate civil tort though, yes.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2001/en/act/pub/0050/sec0006.html#sec6

I see where you're coming from. However, if they don't directly claim to be from Microsoft, and they show you "problems" with your computer by getting you to look at the event log, they haven't done anything illegal. If, following on from that they get you to agree to pay for their "service" (regardless of how useless it might be) and they actually deliver it at the agreed price, then I can't see how any conviction could be obtained. At that stage it's just a hard sell, something which many local companies have been at for years.
It's where they state as fact something which is demonstrably untrue that they stray into criminal activity. Stating that they are from Microsoft is an obvious one. Stating that the "problems" in the event log are in fact viruses is another example.
It's a thin line at times.

Bill G

I just had a call from these feckers this morning. Strung her along for about 30 minutes by letting her talk for a few minutes, then putting the phone down and just walking away. Go back a few minutes later, the phone line would be dead, i would hang up and she would immediately ring back, so at least she wasn't contacting anyone else in that time.

Finally got bored when she was getting to the point where I was to download something from their website. I told them not to ring me again, and if they did ring me again once I told them not to, it would be illegal and I would report them.