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

.skid

Ah I love those guys ringing me! I strung em along for about 10 minutes one day telling him I was going through all these steps for him to clean my computer. Eventually I told him I knew it was a scam and that the computer wasn't even turned on. He hung up quick enough and hasn't rang us since.

ross81

yeah I've been getting more and more of these foreign numbers in the last couple months. At first there was no voice on the other end and have just found out on this thread that that's their automated scanner (which has kind of freaked me out!). Then a couple weeks ago it was a fella with an Indian accent from....yep you guessed it....Microsoft tech support, claiming my computer had been hacked. I just hung up immediately. These people must get a decent amount of suckers falling for the scam and divulging personal info though.

Sam Mac

Just got a new line installed a few days ago to my home and got a call from these guys today. Needless to say I was well aware of the scam and strung them along for a while before telling them that I knew it was a scam. The poor guy 'Sean' insisted to me that it was not a scam and that I ''urgently needed their help and support"

I asked where they were located and they told me Glasgow

ART6

Sam Mac wrote: »

Just got a new line installed a few days ago to my home and got a call from these guys today. Needless to say I was well aware of the scam and strung them along for a while before telling them that I knew it was a scam. The poor guy 'Sean' insisted to me that it was not a scam and that I ''urgently needed their help and support"

I asked where they were located and they told me Glasgow

Why waste your time with these crooks? Personally nowadays, when I receive a call from a "Microsoft agent" with the fractured English accent of the Indian continent but, mysteriously, named David, or Sean, or Peter, I use a two-word English invitation for him to engage in an impossible sexual activity with himself. If that offends his sensitivities then fine -- that is the intention. Mainly, if the caller ID on my phone doesn't appear to conform to any recognised international code, I simply cancel the call.

furmi

furmi wrote: »

Have this number (01) 7061200 calling me on a regular basis looking for a family member saying they are MRBI. After putting the number in to google there are a lot of complaints and definately a scam number. Beware !!!!

This number still calls me a few times per week. How do I get them to stop ?

tphase

furmi wrote: »

This number still calls me a few times per week. How do I get them to stop ?

referee's whistle, as loud as you can manage.:)

red sean

Put the phone up to the smoke or co2 detector and press the button!
Tell him it was the computer if he's still there.

returnNull

as a few people above have mentioned either roar or blow a whistle down the line.For added effect till him/her that your pc is making a bleeping noise and ask if they can hear it,they'll go no,get them to higher the volume on their headset before letting rip.

taytothief

I just got this call. Got ten minutes before he told me to **** off. He even waited for me to make a cup of tea. The problem for me is that he has my name and address. And I have never given my house number out. Never. On absolutely anything because we just got it connected. So the only thing I can think of is they got it from Eircom or something...

Ravenid

It has to Eircom who passed peoples numbers on.

When I got the same call I asked how they spell my surname (Surname was spelt wrong on my Eircom account. It matched it exactly and its the only place I've seen it spelt like that.)

Since my number was Ex-Directory and I had only gotten a line to have Broadband, I complained to Eircom. They denied it to the ground. When I told them about the spelling the agent changed his tune, started apologising and said he would raise it with his manager saying it was happening all the time.

Strange how the calls stopped when I canceled my Eircom account and changed to UPC for my phone provider isnt it? (Still has surname spelt wrong, different to Eircoms spelling, just incase.)

Mearings

Ravenid wrote: »

It has to Eircom who passed peoples numbers on.

When I got the same call I asked how they spell my surname (Surname was spelt wrong on my Eircom account. It matched it exactly and its the only place I've seen it spelt like that.)

Since my number was Ex-Directory and I had only gotten a line to have Broadband, I complained to Eircom. They denied it to the ground. When I told them about the spelling the agent changed his tune, started apologising and said he would raise it with his manager saying it was happening all the time.

Strange how the calls stopped when I canceled my Eircom account and changed to UPC for my phone provider isnt it? (Still has surname spelt wrong, different to Eircoms spelling, just incase.)

I'm with UPC & I've had similar calls where they had my full name.

<<<Had "James D(mumble) Windows Tech Dept" on today. His phone no. is 00212340181,
0021 I believe is Morocco tho' old Jimmy's accent sounded as if he hails from the Indian sub continent. The annoying bit was that he knew my name. I wonder whose database they have hacked. My no. is ex directory. >>>

ross81

moved house a couple days ago and the new Eircom number has been activated...so am expecting Mujibar (aka James), Ranjit (aka William) and friends to call. Its funny cos I called Eircom about something else unrelated and the guy was friendly and cooperative but at the end when he asked if theres anything else he can help me with, and I mentioned the scammers, he suddenly lost all interest & just couldn't wait to end the call.

Outkast_IRE

I am with UPC and get similar phone calls, got one at half 6 this morning off the *****

CutWeldDrive

just received a call from neil (00212340181) windows tech department and all that rig-ma-roll.

Entertained him for a while, than told him i use a mac and he hung up straight away,

he had name and address and everything.

The Glass Key

Just checked on a missed call and it was another one from 002011772013 amazing that they have been using the same number to call from for at least the last 10 months maybe longer?

Fuzzy Clam

Call today from Eircom Internet department
They've been monitoring my internet andn noticed a lot of blocked packets which is making my intertnet slow.
He got a bit pissed of when I told him it was faster than usual.
Call descended into the usual farce before he hung up.

aimee5

missed calls while at work earlier, on the mobile this time, number cannot be called back, suspect its a scam yet again,

+3536262845, ring any alarm bells with anyone?

Cherrycola

God I love Boards! Missed call from 01 706 1200 on my mobile, quick google brought me here!

Needless to say I won't be answering anymore of them.

ross81

I so want to hit them with an Arnie or Dr.Phil soundboard now....see how they react to "hey, I'm a police officer" or "I want you to start living as a gay woman"

Going Forward

Just ask them to keep saying "vindows" again and again, good fun if nothing on TV, even better on speakerphone!!

hfallada

I once told one of them I know it's a scam and hung up on them. The women called me back to say we got disconnect and I said no I hung up. Don't call me again. She phoned back and I lost my **** with her. Her manager called me back and tired going ape at me. But I put him in his place.

Our weekly phone calls stopped from that moment on

tphase

got one of these last night from 0014429367.
I strung him along for about 5 minutes while I searched for my whistle then let him have a couple of lungfuls. Strangely he didn't stay on the line after that.....

Unitedfandoc

Missed a call from 001253820308 on the landline. Turns out it's these clowns again. Can anyone confirm that we don't get charged for answering the call?

KOTSC

Received a phone call on the house number from 0014429367 earlier this afternoon, guy with Indian accent on the phone saying your computer has viruses I hung up the phone, what are these people gaining by ringing others about viruses or pc running slow and one would wonder how they can hold of peoples phone numbers.

Unitedfandoc

KOTSC wrote: »

what are these people gaining by ringing others about viruses or pc running slow

I think their goal is to get you to go to your PC and follow their instructions which leads to you giving them remote access to your computer. Then they can get their hands on a load of valuable information.

Wendolene

KOTSC wrote: »

Received a phone call on the house number from 0014429367 earlier this afternoon, guy with Indian accent on the phone saying your computer has viruses I hung up the phone, what are these people gaining by ringing others about viruses or pc running slow and one would wonder how they can hold of peoples phone numbers.

The Indian accent isn't a coincidence. Many of these callers are workers in Indian call centres where wages are pretty poor.

What they gain is a little extra commission by wrangling credit card details out of people. They utilise either the phones & telecoms bandwith of a legitimate call centre in which they work, doing this as a nixer most likely with the assistance of a supervisor; or they dial through some company's hacked PBX and use their bandwith.

They don't need a list of phone numbers. Auto-diallers can be programmed with the international calling codes of any country and every area code therein. After that, it's just a case of dialling 0000001 -> 9999999 or whatever is the local number format in the particular area code they're dialling.

The majority of the calls made won't connect due to being malformed phone numbers, but that doesn't matter. The auto-dialler dials on until they get a number to ring and then it's recorded as valid and will be rung again and again until it's answered. Once it is answered, it's game on ! They've got a "customer" to "serve" as per a pretty sophisticated script that would suggest hanging up upon encountering a Linux or Mac user as their script wouldn't cater for those OS'.

To be honest, I seriously doubt whether most of the people making the calls actually know that they're involved in a scam. They're the pawns put forward by the brains of the operations, and they're happy to just earn some extra cash and that keeps them quiet.

dublinbusdude

Cherrycola wrote: »

God I love Boards! Missed call from 01 706 1200 on my mobile, quick google brought me here!

Needless to say I won't be answering anymore of them.

I've blocked that number from the iPhone

Mits

Wendolene wrote: »

To be honest, I seriously doubt whether most of the people making the calls actually know that they're involved in a scam. They're the pawns put forward by the brains of the operations, and they're happy to just earn some extra cash and that keeps them quiet.

They know its a scam. The majority of Indian people I have met or talked to are well educated. As such they know what they are looking for when they make the call and what use it is put to. It must be worth their while to make the calls because the percentage of failed calls must be high, but you know what they say "There's one born every minute"

Fuzzy Clam

Mits wrote: »

They know its a scam. The majority of Indian people I have met or talked to are well educated. As such the know what they are looking for and what use it is put to. It must be worth their well to make the calls because the percentage of failed calls must be high, but you know what they say "There's one born every minute"

Of course they do. They also know my name which they must have got from a phone listing.

degsie

dublinbusdude wrote: »

I've blocked that number from the iPhone

I've blocked India from all my phones.