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

Khannie

I got one of these recently. Told him he was a bad person for trying to steal money off me, that there was nothing wrong with my computer and to stop being dishonest. He continued trying to tell me that there was something wrong with my windows (Linux only house) so I just hung up.

arseagon

A customer of mine had one of these calls today however I've had his PC since Saturday reinstalling windows on it. The worrying this is it was from a Dublin number and a guy who gave his name as Robert Williams. When I called the number back I got a guy with an Indian accent who claimed that this was his own private number and knew no one named Robert Williams. So beware, the scam may be the same but it can come from anywhere. Also he answered the phone with "PC Doctor, how can I help you" so private line my ass...

nuac

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Everyone who's ever had real IT support knows these guys are a scam.


Here, I'll give you some REAL IT support:

• Have you checked if it's plugged in?
• Are you SUUUUUUUURE??

:pac:

And is it turned on? ( little switch near the power plug )

nuac

A few ways of dealing with these

1. Interrupt the spiel to ask " Son, have you found Jesus? He really does love you etcetc ". ( this has the advantage that they are likely to remove you from their DB

2. " Before dealing with you, you must be registered as one of our preferred suppliers.
Send you last three years accounts and one hundred euro registration fee to

---

c/o

---

post office"

arseagon

Google 014434736 and you get a whole website by them, obviously trying to seem legit but if they were they wouldn't be cold calling people telling them they were from Microsoft.

furmi

arseagon wrote: »

A customer of mine had one of these calls today however I've had his PC since Saturday reinstalling windows on it. The worrying this is it was from a Dublin number and a guy who gave his name as Robert Williams. When I called the number back I got a guy with an Indian accent who claimed that this was his own private number and knew no one named Robert Williams. So beware, the scam may be the same but it can come from anywhere. Also he answered the phone with "PC Doctor, how can I help you" so private line my ass...

Got a very similar call today 3pm.

darkhorse

Anacou wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm really at the end of my rope with this, they're driving me insane. We get at least 1-3 calls a day! Normally answer and hang up, don't wait for it to go to a voice. Answered guy last night and just laughed at him and hung up. Have strung them along a few times but they just play dumb. Been through the 'no i can't see that.....' stupidity and finally said 'but this is linux' so they keep contradicting me and saying no no its microsoft, kept it up and they hung up. Its become boring now though!

Think on the next one I'll string along and then use the fbi line!! Then move to the air horn (when I find one!!) Or maybe tutor my 6 and 2 year olds to scream as loud as they can down the phone in unison!!

Why can't anything be done on this, and the sad thing is people are still being caught by it! I'm nearing the point of getting shot of the landline altogether!

I got a call from one of the bas*ard's today (the 11th call in the space of a week). They are getting very cheeky. I told this guy today that I don't have a computer, and he said, but our records show---I cut him off there and I raised my voice and said, no I do not have a computer, and he said, sorry for disturbing you. But I agree with you that something should be done about this. I bet the authorities would be able to do something if it was you or I making prank calls to people. Anyhoo, the next time I get a call from them, I just gonna say, "hello, Microsoft"

Anacou

Well, having armed myself with a smoke alarm next to the phone I haven't had one call in 3 days - TYPICAL!!

But the more worrying thing is the last one I had was from a witheld number which is slient and then you get a recorded voice saying goodbye. I normally don't wait for it and just hang up, and was getting up to 3 a day from that one.

So last day, I waited in the hope I could deafen someone, and once it ended the recording my handset powered off! Nothing wrong with phone or battery etc. Contacted eircom to no avail, posted on eircom tech forum to check if its possible to hack (divert) a digital handset on their lines and again told contact their malicious calls bureau who will advise how to deal with it - which by the way I believe is useless!

I'm seriously considering getting rid of the landline cos these guys are getting the most use out of it!!

BloodBath

I'm amazed that any non business customers use landlines at all anymore to be honest. UPC and eircom pushing their packages I guess.

Jocelynel

8 years later and still getting monthly phone calls from this on-line pc doctor....will it ever end. just got a call from 001253820308

Trompette

I just had a call from the "Microsoft Tech Support" scam.
He told me that I have viruses on my computer...
BUT
All my computers are on LINUX...
Ha, ha, ha.....

His Number was 0016185299140

Trompette

Hi,

I had them again and kept them at least 40 minutes on the phone.
I opened a virtual XP on my Linux and did (not all) what they asked me, but they had to repeat 3 or 4 time each request.
The first one ask me to open the events window to show me that I have error and warning on my computer.
The second asked me to open the run window and go to the web site www.ammyy.com. He asked me the ID number but I gave him twice a wrong number (Ha, ha, ha!!)
The third one tried again to asked me this number and changed his mind then asked to connect to the web site www.support.me. He gave me an ID (6 digits) but I keyed a wrong one.
The line was cut at this time.
I'd guess they have a timer to cut the line when there is no success.

I think I'll be on there "black list"
The number they call from was 0015183999911

So I start a game; The longest time on call with them...
Who will beat my record time? around 40 minutes...
Lets play!

Trotter

I played along with them for about 10 mins. They're persistent I'll give them that! It was the phrase along the lines of "But you can't click on an iPad" after me telling him I was using an apple for 5 mins that broke his heart and he hung up.

RainyDay

Has anyone been getting strange calls from Cork numbers 021-4191208 or 021-4191209? We've been getting some calls from this number, they don't leave a message, and calling them back just results in a 'Thank You' recorded message. Any ideas?

Going Forward

RainyDay wrote: »

Has anyone been getting strange calls from Cork numbers 021-4191208 or 021-4191209? We've been getting some calls from this number, they don't leave a message, and calling them back just results in a 'Thank You' recorded message. Any ideas?

Not from those numbers, but today did have a call from a long number, picked up phone and silence for about 4 seconds then a female voice probably recorded says thank you in a an English accent.

Jimmy444

She's probably saying "Thank You" for replying to her call to a randomly generated phone number which you have now confirmed is a real phone and can be added to her spammers/phishing list for sale throughout the world of con-artists and chancers.

fifth

Getting calls from this number 001707822985 lately. Just silence if you answer. I just picked up the phone from one and am expecting that it's some auto dialler and an actual person will probably ring me back shortly to try and scam me.

This is getting ridiculous, most people I know are getting these calls regularly.

tricky D

Sounds like a call back scam trying to get you to dial back to some premium rate number in some other country.

daniel2013

funkyflea wrote: »

Getting calls from this number 001707822985 lately. Just silence if you answer. I just picked up the phone from one and am expecting that it's some auto dialler and an actual person will probably ring me back shortly to try and scam me.

This is getting ridiculous, most people I know are getting these calls regularly.

001 indicates the call is from North America, 707 indicates it's from North California. However, the number is missing a digit. All numbers in North America are 7 digits after the area code, unlike in Ireland where they can have 5/6/7 depending on the size of the area.

Check your Caller ID to ensure you haven't missed a digit and tell us whether you have or not. If you haven't, the caller ID is fake for definite. If not, its still possibly fake though not guaranteed to be.

daniel2013

tricky D wrote: »

Sounds like a call back scam trying to get you to dial back to some premium rate number in some other country.

The 707 area code in the USA is a regular landline/mobile number. Premium Rate numbers all begin with 900

demanufactured

Got a call from 00 48 667 083 628 the other day.... Missed the call by seconds.
It showed as Poland.

Irishgoatman

RainyDay wrote: »

Has anyone been getting strange calls from Cork numbers 021-4191208 or 021-4191209? We've been getting some calls from this number, they don't leave a message, and calling them back just results in a 'Thank You' recorded message. Any ideas?

I've said it before on here and I'm going to say it again.

With all the nuisance calls happening never ever call back on a number you don't recognise. Just the fact that you answered the phone in the first place can tell a computer that it is a genuine, in service number, without you standing the cost of calling them back.

aimee5

I received a call from "windows tech support"

Apparently they're old news, right up there with the Nigerian Bank scams. I was totally unaware.

I was suspicious immediately as I questioned why windows would ring in the first place and also at seven in the evening.

However I was caught slightly unaware and carried out cautiously.

I went to the "ammy.com" as requested and ran the free software.

However common sense prevailed and I DID NOT give out the i.d (i.p address?) and password that was displayed on screen. She became almost erratic on the phone and hung up.

From basic research I assume ammy.com is a legitimate program but one that is used to remotely access computers. And a scammers favourite.

Have a done any harm by running the program as I did not divulge the username and password?

And if so what steps can I take to remedy it.

Aimee

Dan Jaman

If you ran anything from their site you've probably already inserted a keylogger onto your machine.
Wipe out and re-install - or possibly, it might not have infected backups, so a system restore *might* be enough.

tricky D

Ammy is a legitimate service. There is no danger unless you allowed them to connect, which, by the sounds of it, you didn't. There is no need a wipe and re-install. As ever, there's no harm in doing a scan with your AV and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4716-malwarebytes-anti-malware.html

boards.ie recommends that program here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=55658184&postcount=3

aimee5

thanks, was thinking so, just wanted some reassurance..

scan came back clean

Bandana boy

0013034429287 called claiming to be from Windows

I asked why Microsoft would be calling me and he said I am from Windows not Microsoft.

I called him a liar and he called me an a$$hole and hung up

danjo-xx

Bandana boy wrote: »

0013034429287 called claiming to be from Windows

I asked why Microsoft would be calling me and he said I am from Windows not Microsoft.

I called him a liar and he called me an a$$hole and hung up

You should have asked him 'what window was he calling from' the one on the 3rd floor, 2nd left or the one on the 10th floor, 4th right:D

IrishEmperor

Missed a call from 01-7061200 earlier to my Meteor mobile number, tried to call back, got a mailbox-full message (English female accent) & thought it could be suspect ... google search brought me to this thread.

havetoquit

This is what works for me and not only saves me from having to listen, but has stopped them from ever calling me again; I simply put the phone on the table and let them talk to themselves. They soon realize they are wasting their time. Always wait for them to speak and do not respond, then Bob's your uncle.

I apply this to all cold calls, Indian and other supposed PC doctor scams and so on.

Hope this helps.