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

fionny

Cork24 wrote: »

What did he say ? your COMputer has a Virus..

So he your telling me, you pick up the phone.. he didn't say where he was working from or what he was doing,

He just said hello sir your computer has a virus ? and you fell for it ? NO Mac user calls their Mac a Computer ! they call it my Mac,

1. Your Mac has a Virus,
2. Hold on 2 secs I'll get my mac pc and i'll check..

Your typical Chatter from mac users ! :rolleyes:

I got six Calls heard people talk about it, and they all saying " Hello Sir i am Calling from Microsoft and we have reports that your computer has a virus.. ":mad:

I dont Under Stand how the FU**CK are people still falling for this Sh**T Its all over the InterWeb, Radio, Youtube, Boards.ie Etc,Etc. and Muppets with MAC's are now falling for it..

ok, for every 1/1000 virus are also Virus for mac. Thanks to the Intel Chips inside Mac's. their is only about 3 RATs that are able to Remote Hack into a MAC.

if i was u i would run a virus Scanner, Nortons is the best for Mac... i would make sure your Sharing is all click off, Desktop Remote etc etc and folder Sharing... I would also. Change User passwords Disable and Guest accounts on the mac.

Chill Out.... not everyone is totally computer literate its not their fault that the scammers know how to exploit people.

Your Mac rant is also pretty pathetic...

ok, for every 1/1000 virus are also Virus for mac. Thanks to the Intel Chips inside Mac's.

Thats not the reason at ALL the reason there are so few Virus's existing for Mac's is that when you compare the ratio of Macs to PC's the difference is vast, if someone wants a virus to reach the most people then it makes sense to create it for the bigger "audience"



So before you go attacking people for being caught out get your facts straight... I hope for your sake you dont ever get caught out and face a tirade like you just dished out cause you are going to feel very stupid indeed.

greenart

Hi just off the phone from India for 1+ 1/2 hrs from a microsoft call centre. The guy took me through my whole system to show me that the computer ( my fathers that is) was 98.36 % corrupt with malicious software etc.
Bottom line was the computer would shut down in upto 48hrs and he would lose everything because the security licence was expired.
Also all computers sold here have only temporary licenences and that you can only buy them from the microsoft website.
We have been using microsft security essentials free download and it says that computer is ok.

anyone else had these phone calls??
(much aprecieated non techno wizard )

A2LUE42

Sounds like a scam to be honest.

Did they ring you ?

NeoRox

Its a scam, read here

JoeySully

98.36 % corrupt with malicious software !!

what the hell does that mean - are these your words or your trusty Indian call center employee. If they rang you then its DEFO a SCAM and they have probably gotten you to download a virus already. They are now probably asking you for money to remove this 98.36 corruption.

TBH it would only take 0.0001% corruption in the right place to break your computer so this figure sounds like someone is pulling the wool over yer eyes

Cork24

fionny wrote: »

Cork24 wrote: »

What did he say ? your COMputer has a Virus..

So he your telling me, you pick up the phone.. he didn't say where he was working from or what he was doing,

He just said hello sir your computer has a virus ? and you fell for it ? NO Mac user calls their Mac a Computer ! they call it my Mac,

1. Your Mac has a Virus,
2. Hold on 2 secs I'll get my mac pc and i'll check..

Your typical Chatter from mac users ! :rolleyes:

I got six Calls heard people talk about it, and they all saying " Hello Sir i am Calling from Microsoft and we have reports that your computer has a virus.. ":mad:

I dont Under Stand how the FU**CK are people still falling for this Sh**T Its all over the InterWeb, Radio, Youtube, Boards.ie Etc,Etc. and Muppets with MAC's are now falling for it..

ok, for every 1/1000 virus are also Virus for mac. Thanks to the Intel Chips inside Mac's. their is only about 3 RATs that are able to Remote Hack into a MAC.

if i was u i would run a virus Scanner, Nortons is the best for Mac... i would make sure your Sharing is all click off, Desktop Remote etc etc and folder Sharing... I would also. Change User passwords Disable and Guest accounts on the mac.

Chill Out.... not everyone is totally computer literate its not their fault that the scammers know how to exploit people.

Your Mac rant is also pretty pathetic...

ok, for every 1/1000 virus are also Virus for mac. Thanks to the Intel Chips inside Mac's.

Thats not the reason at ALL the reason there are so few Virus's existing for Mac's is that when you compare the ratio of Macs to PC's the difference is vast, if someone wants a virus to reach the most people then it makes sense to create it for the bigger "audience"



So before you go attacking people for being caught out get your facts straight... I hope for your sake you dont ever get caught out and face a tirade like you just dished out cause you are going to feel very stupid indeed.

That pie chart is Well out of date only 5% is mac and 2% Linux Unix?

Windows XP (37.92%) Windows 7 (29.72%) Windows Vista (13.09%) Mac OS X (7.40%) iOS (2.80%) Linux (2.07%)


Back to the point in why their is very little virus out for mac maybe the fact mac is build on unix platform. Who in their right mind will make a virus while running a Linux or unix os.

Is the person that is running the mac using an Intel or a motorola g4 or g5 mac ? Maybe that is the reason why hes mac is slow

Meesared

Cork24 wrote: »

That pie chart is Well out of date only 5% is mac and 2% Linux Unix?

Windows XP (37.92%) Windows 7 (29.72%) Windows Vista (13.09%) Mac OS X (7.40%) iOS (2.80%) Linux (2.07%)


Back to the point in why their is very little virus out for mac maybe the fact mac is build on unix platform. Who in their right mind will make a virus while running a Linux or unix os.

Is the person that is running the mac using an Intel or a motorola g4 or g5 mac ? Maybe that is the reason why hes mac is slow

Ok now i actually know your dont have a clue what your talking about.

1. Motorola having stuff to do with Macs? Since when? if your talking about PowerPC Macs, that was IBM...

2. That OS breakdown you have is silly, iOS listed beside full PC OS's?
It also doesnt add up to 100..

greenart

Have read the other threads relating to this, probably a scam alright, though there are a lot of varying answers to the question.
98.36 came up on the computer, his words though
i didnt buy anything off him though he was directing me to a microsoft website which sold these security licences.

greenart

lots of users use free malware/ software protection such as microsft security essentials or AVG etc. how reliable are these free programmes??

Cork24

Meesared wrote: »

Ok now i actually know your dont have a clue what your talking about.

1. Motorola having stuff to do with Macs? Since when? if your talking about PowerPC Macs, that was IBM...

2. That OS breakdown you have is silly, iOS listed beside full PC OS's?
It also doesnt add up to 100..

PowerPC G4 is a designation used by Apple Computer to describe a fourth generation of 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors. Apple has applied this name to various different (though closely related) processor models from Freescale, a former part of Motorola.


In September 1983, the firm made history when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the DynaTAC 8000X telephone, the world's first commercial cellular device. By 1998, cellphones accounted for two thirds of Motorola's gross revenue.[13] The company was also strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits used in computers. In particular, it is well known for the 6800 family and 68000 family of microprocessors used in Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Color Computer, and Apple Macintosh personal computers. The PowerPC family was developed with IBM and in a partnership with Apple (known as the AIM alliance). Motorola also has a diverse line of communication products, including satellite systems, digital cable boxes and modems.

Motorola were in the Imac's.

The OS breakdown was from Wiki from Last March '11

Look we are Moving to Far from Topic. We can Sit some other Day and Talk about what Chip was in What PC, what South Bridge, North Bridge in a Chip is for Etc. Etc.

What i was looking for is how did a user on a Mac fall for this Scam.

He said that he's mac is running slow is he using Intel or a G Chip ? what type of Ram and how much is in it.. what Free Space is on the HDD, plus does he just Click and move the App Icon to the Bin? if so the Temp Files and other files are still on his Mac, over time if he does not delete those type of files hes Mac could get slower..

Lazarus2.0

greenart wrote: »

lots of users use free malware/ software protection such as microsft security essentials or AVG etc. how reliable are these free programmes??

MSE seems as good as any - none are foolproof and certainly not the free ones . I prefer it to AVG which seems to be cumbersome of late . If I suspect something has got past MSE I update and run MBAM's scanner . In a home environment that seems sufficient (to me) . Curiously while MBAM's scanner is highly praised I dont recall ever seeing their realtime protection recommended .


Was your caller given remote access to the computer ? Were you asked to (and did you) download/instal anything ?

greenart

thanks nessyguin for reply. No i dont think they had remote access, they just asked me to look at different files on the computer tthat showed a rake of infected files and some warning signs and then directed me to different sites the last being the microsoft website i think with optios to buy different security licences ( seemed quite legit really).

5uspect

No anti virus software is perfect but one of the increasingly common way to compromise a machine is through exactly the kind of social engineering you've just experienced.

If they've directed you to one of their dodgy websites and got you to click stuff on it there's a very good change your machine is compromised. You really should get it looked at by someone who knows what they're doing.

Lazarus2.0

5uspect wrote: »

No anti virus software is perfect but one of the increasingly common way to compromise a machine is through exactly the kind of social engineering you've just experienced.

If they've directed you to one of their dodgy websites and got you to click stuff on it there's a very good change your machine is compromised. You really should get it looked at by someone who knows what they're doing.

I'd have to agree with 5uspect on both counts , the latter being of more immediate concern .

Just by visiting a rogue site a machine can be compromised - no further clicks required . I'm not given to scaremongering but I'd urge anyone who went any further than looking at Event Viewer to get their pc checked thoroughly . They seem to vary the scam in one of 3 ways - 1. persuading the user to allow remote access (thereby giving them the freedom to plant whatever they want on the machine and harvest whatever might be of gain to them , present and future) 2. Visiting their recommended site (end result probably same as 1) or 3. buying their recommended software that's 'guaranteed to remedy your problems' (gets them an instant payment and most likely permanent access to your computer as in 1 and 2 with added bonus of getting your credit card details on a plate) .

I'm only a hobbyist - by no means an authority - but am sure if I'm far off the mark the more experienced IT guys will chime in ..

nodolan

greenart wrote:

thanks nessyguin for reply. No i dont think they had remote access, they just asked me to look at different files on the computer tthat showed a rake of infected files and some warning signs and then directed me to different sites the last being the microsoft website i think with optios to buy different security licences ( seemed quite legit really).

Agreeing with 5uspect and nessyguin.

I'm curious as to how you knew that you had a 'rake of infected files'. The warnings in the Event Log are pretty standard for most Microsoft operating systems, in fact the Event Viewer is something the vast majority of end users never even hear about never mind look at. There are yellow and red warnings almost from the day you install an operating system because certain services are only used if you're on a network (like in an office environment).

If your event log is really showing up a massive amount of errors then it would do no harm to do a reinstall of Windows either way. I personally recommend that you reinstall Windows every 6-12 months (depending on your usage of the PC) as Windows isn't very good at managing disk space and a lot of software 'disrespects' the file system (by which I mean new files sometimes get overwritten by older versions or when you uninstall a program it takes files away that you may need etc.). There are also problems with drivers (the software that makes your hardware work) becoming corrupt over time or the wrong version being installed etc.

If you have the original recovery disks and you know how to back up all the relevant data then a reinstall isn't the end of the world, it may even be a good thing.

I'd recommend downloading all the latest drivers from the PC manufacturer's support website first and if you have iTunes and an iDevice remember to de-authorise that computer before wiping it.

Standard backup includes (but is not limited to): Emails and email addresses (if you use an email program as opposed to webmail), Internet favourites, documents, pictures, music, videos, the stuff you've left on your desktop etc. Some programs have stuff saved to their own folders and some can export custom settings. Always take your time when doing a big backup in preparation to doing a reinstall.

Having your hard drive partitioned into two drives is a habit of mine so that I can wipe the C drive but keep all my data on the D drive plus I always have a backup on an external drive. It sounds like a lot of work but once you get into the habit of it...;)

If in doubt as to the integrity of your computer don't take any chances - back it up, wipe it clean, reinstall (and remember to scan your backup before using it with the newly installed antivirus software).

fionny

Cork24 wrote: »

What i was looking for is how did a user on a Mac fall for this Scam.

Because Mac users are AS if not MORE susceptible to scams as anyone else.

5uspect

There is no reason to assume that OS X is any more secure than Windows or that Apple fanboys* are anymore tech savvy. If anything the onslaught on Windows security has probably hardened windows to a much greater extent.

The best security measure is an educated user. Know the difference between an actual dialog box and a popup. M$ will never call you about a virus on a machine.

*myself included, I run Windows, OS X and Linux machines

Cork24

Did i say they were i asked a question to the guy with the mac problem or aré You going to sit around and keep this up or can get back to helping pepe out

greenart

This is one of the sites i was directed to http://www.microtechon.com/ to buy one of the licences for 89 euro, think it was called (comodossl)
seems to be a microsoft certified partner.
Is this a dodgy site??

fti

greenart wrote: »

This is one of the sites i was directed to http://www.microtechon.com/ to buy one of the licences for 89 euro, think it was called (comodossl)
seems to be a microsoft certified partner.
Is this a dodgy site??

COMODO SSL is a kind of SSL certificate. It guarantees that you are indeed dealing with the intended website on an encrypted channel (in other words, no one is intercepting your communication). It does not mean that the website is legit. Comodo SSL being quite cheap, it can tell you that this either a small company (which does not mean it is not legit) or a phony one.

Were you directed to that website by someone cold calling you about your PC being slow, infected or hacked ?

on their website they advertise their phone number as +61 (Australia). I guess that you could find a company located closer
So even if it's a legit one I cannot see the point in dealing with them if you're located in Ireland.

nodolan

Cork24 wrote: »

Did i say they were i asked a question to the guy with the mac problem or aré You going to sit around and keep this up or can get back to helping pepe out

:eek:

Cork24 wrote: »

I dont Under Stand how the FU**CK are people still falling for this Sh**T Its all over the InterWeb, Radio, Youtube, Boards.ie Etc,Etc. and Muppets with MAC's are now falling for it.

:rolleyes:

greenart

It was my mother who they rang initially, then rang back again when she told them to. she is registered with eircom. They were saying that they got an error report sent form (my fathers) laptop. Think they work for or are in partnership with microsoft.
Through the talk they directed me to somewhere on the computer where it said that the computeer was working on 98.36 capacity i think and was slow due to all the malware ( shiv on computer?) showed up lots of errors and warning signs in hundreds of folders. Also look at the tree on laptop?
Its always been kinda slow its an Acer laptop with vista on it. My father bought it from Lidl for few hundred euro /:rolleyes:
I think they are just trying to sell support or anti virus products etc?? though give the impression that they are working for microsoft.
will need to get the laptop checked out locally!! i recon to see if it has al these errors.
They said that the laptop would stop working altogether in 24 - 48 hrs. still working last time i checked:). and would lose everything.

greenart

I think they are doing the hard sell! just need to get it checked out to see if it has reall virus problems that microsoft essentials hasnt picked up on) though i doubt it unless they have infected it.
Irish are good at this too. My own PC had problems with critical dumping. Brought it to a local computer expert( i use this word very loosely) he still runs a PC doctor business. He told me that bascically the whole PC was finished and had a heap of problems including RAM that wasnt working.Basically it was going to catch fire and blow up!! it had so many problems. Wanted to sell me a new one.
I brought it to a computer shop as couldnt afford this, who simply reinstalled windows which wasnt working properly (and microsoft security essentials) .
And it has been fine since, that was 2yrs ago. The other prix still charged me 50 euro for his diagnosis. (bast**rd :mad:)

5uspect

greenart wrote: »

This is one of the sites i was directed to http://www.microtechon.com/ to buy one of the licences for 89 euro, think it was called (comodossl)
seems to be a microsoft certified partner.
Is this a dodgy site??

There are no results for them on the M$ website, even the Indian one.
Just because they have the logo on their site doesn't mean it's legit.

And if they were a Certified Partner and they feel the need to dupe you into a phone scam from half way across the planet I would be reporting them to Microsoft.

Your immediate action is to get your machine checked out and all data safely backed up.

EDIT: Listen, greenart, this is a scam, simple as that. Do not believe a word they say. Do believe that they may have ****ed you up royally and tried to extort money from you and your family by either planting spyware on your machine to steal credit card details or make you buy useless scareware.

You need to get your machine looked at to see what they've done to it, not what they claim is wrong with it. The things they've told you don't even make sense. They just sound techie.

nodolan

fti wrote: »

COMODO SSL is a kind of SSL certificate. It guarantees that you are indeed dealing with the intended website on an encrypted channel (in other words, no one is intercepting your communication). It does not mean that the website is legit. Comodo SSL being quite cheap, it can tell you that this either a small company (which does not mean it is not legit) or a phony one.

Were you directed to that website by someone cold calling you about your PC being slow, infected or hacked ?

on their website they advertise their phone number as +61 (Australia). I guess that you could find a company located closer
So even if it's a legit one I cannot see the point in dealing with them if you're located in Ireland.

Absolutely fti.

Plus wasn't Comodo also one of the SSL companies that were hacked into?

http://forums.devshed.com/security-and-cryptography-17/comodo-hacked-fraudulent-ssl-certs-produced-800193.html

As for MicroTechOn:

Domain Name: MICROTECHON.COM

Registrant:
MicroTechOn
Md Wasim (microtechon@hotmail.com)
124 Collin Street
kolkata
null,00000
IN
Tel. +1.7135745287

Creation Date: 12-Apr-2011
Expiration Date: 12-Apr-2012

Domain servers in listed order:
ns2819.hostgator.com
ns2820.hostgator.com

from: http://www.whois.net

The company is based in Calcutta (kolkata) and they're using a Hotmail address which is never a good sign for a supposedly professional IT company.

As for a phone number being in Austria - you can set up a Skype number to be from, what I can see, about 20 countries:

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=188571

Put simply (and pass the word around), never accept a cold call from anyone, any time, ever (IMO). You have no proof of who they are or where they are no matter what information they provide you with. I got a call years ago from Vodafone about my bill (when I was with them) and even though the guy had all kinds of personal info I still refused to accept that he was from Vodafone and I called them myself.

Call me paranoid but I've been shredding all my personal documents (bills, letters with my name and address etc.) for years now before putting them in the recycling bag. In this day and age you just can't take any chances any more. :cool:

greenart

Will get it checked out properly. Agree with what you say. cheers:)

The thing also he was saying which is mad is that they are the only ones who are able to sell security software licences form there website, any store that sells them are only temporary ones. When i told him that if the laptop was going to die i would just buy another one he said that it could happen again in 3 months because of free virus protection.
He got annoyed then when i said would think about it and wished me the best of health as he signed off.:D

artieanna

Hi
I don't know if there has been a lull in the phonecalls from these scammers but I got a call on fri last 15 July (second call in a year ) So maybe these calls are starting up again. Caller sounded like he was from india asked if I was the owner user of the computer then said how there were virus problems, I just hung up.

I was so annoyed as anyone with basic computer knowledge could get sucked in v easily!!!!

bbrhuft

artieanna wrote: »

Hi
I don't know if there has been a lull in the phonecalls from these scammers but I got a call on fri last 15 July (second call in a year ) So maybe these calls are starting up again. Caller sounded like he was from india asked if I was the owner user of the computer then said how there were virus problems, I just hung up.

I was so annoyed as anyone with basic computer knowledge could get sucked in v easily!!!!

I had them call from them last year. The best thing to do, logically, is not hangup but waste their time. Time is money. I kept him on the phone for a good 30-40 minutes, I acted like a right n00b and kept him interested up to the part where I told them my operating system was U b u n t u

He cursed at me and hung up.

Then early June, a neighbor of mine got caught by him, he got to the point of using Remote Desktop but before the credit card details were divulged. I tried shutting down the laptop but he had the mouse. After fighting over the mouse pointer for a while, I had to turn off the laptop by holding the power button, I then plugged out the router.

I disabled Remote Desktop and a few other unnecessary services. Rebooted and installed a virus checker (there was none) and a spyware scanner & blocker. I did a rootkit scan from a bootable CD later. Seems to be OK now.

The chocolates were nice

nodolan

Got stopped by someone yesterday who knows that I'm a computer engineer. He told me his brother got some weird call from Microsoft. Spoke to the brother, based in Bishopstown in Cork, ended up having to go to his house this morning to check his PC for him. Happy to report he hadn't installed anything but had come very close to coughing up GBP199.

While I was there...they called

I spoke to a guy with an Indian accent (on an undisclosed number). Told him I'm a Microsoft Certified Professional with an honours degree in Computer Science etc. etc. yadda yadda - he was having none of it :mad:

He got very aggressive and was a couple of notches below full-on shouting at me down the phone line :eek:

Hung up on him and he called back four times - four times!?!?

The guy I was with is a Garda, he said he'll be reporting the matter.

Cork24

nodolan wrote: »

Got stopped by someone yesterday who knows that I'm a computer engineer. He told me his brother got some weird call from Microsoft. Spoke to the brother, based in Bishopstown in Cork, ended up having to go to his house this morning to check his PC for him. Happy to report he hadn't installed anything but had come very close to coughing up GBP199.

While I was there...they called

I spoke to a guy with an Indian accent (on an undisclosed number). Told him I'm a Microsoft Certified Professional with an honours degree in Computer Science etc. etc. yadda yadda - he was having none of it :mad:

He got very aggressive and was a couple of notches below full-on shouting at me down the phone line :eek:

Hung up on him and he called back four times - four times!?!?

The guy I was with is a Garda, he said he'll be reporting the matter.

best thing people can do is get their number off public.. When you Say Microsoft Certified Professional.. What Courses did you do ? MCSE, MCSA currently doing MCITP Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2