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Scam Phone call offering to clean infections on your computer

26K views 73 replies 48 participants last post by  Danster 
#1 ·
On Friday we received a phone call at the house from the number 123-456-7890. The person on the call told us our computer was likely infected with a new infection that is going around and wanted us to log in to a web page to have them look at the problem and repair it.

Being a computer expert, I didn't trust it. When I told him I was an expert, he hung up. I didn't think too much about it until I was talking with my mother who received the same call, in a location 3 1/2 hours away from me.

My hunch is that this is some company trying to leverage something like GoToAssist or other web remote control software that lets you control someone's computer. This company could get control of the computer and install scanning software that will incorrectly report viruses on your computer and then require you pay them money to clean out the 'infections'.

If we get a call like this, any idea who we should alert, if anyone?
 
#5 ·
Possible scam

I don't know if this is the right forum but anyway today I got a call from "National Internet Service" out of Toronto and the guy was asking me if I had computer problems etc... He wanted to remotely connect to my computer and delete upt to 15 viruses, more than that and he could not do it. He said they "control" the internet in Canada. He got me to right click computer, left click manage, event viewer, windows log, system and apparently any yellow warnings there represented viruses that he could remotely delete. Is this a scam of some sort or was he legit? He had nothing to sell, I was just leary of him remotely controlling my computer so I hung up on him.
 
#14 ·
Out of curriosity what was he getting me to look at that had the warnings and some errors
The Event Viewer lets you view anything odd that Windows has to report to you. Most of the time, you can ignore all that stuff unless you have an apparent problem. When you have an issue, the event viewer can sometimes help figure out what's wrong. The scammer knows of the pollution of warnings that can be in the event log and directed you there under false pretense. Just the sign of yellow warnings (yellow is just a warning) can fool someone not knowing better.

As others have said, it's a scam and one I've been hearing about for a long time. I can only hope for one to call me so I can have some fun. :)
 
#10 · (Edited)
Those warnings are normal under windows.
If you want to protect against viruses you can download one of the many free application available, I do use Microsoft Security Essentials.

Never let anyone connect to your computer with remote assistance. For security this function should always be turned off; System properties, Remote.
 
#12 ·
I like the line "they control the internet in Canada". Now that would be real POWER!!! Does anyone remember the Corner Gas episode where the "folks down at the internet" were getting upset?
 
#20 ·
^^^^
That doesn't mean anything. Call agents can be anywhere, but show a common number for the company. I did some work, a couple of years ago, setting up remote phones for employees of a company in Mississauga. The employees, IIRC were in Ottawa, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They all had Mississauga numbers. For another company, employees in Edmondton and Vancouver, appeared in Calgary. I have done a fair bit of such work extending PBXs to remote locations.

As another example, at one company that I worked at a while ago, I had a line on my desk with a Seattle number, even though I worked in the Toronto area. When I used that line, it would appear that I was in Seattle, even though both the customer and I were in Canada.

With modern phone technology, there's often no relationship between phone number and location. VoIP makes it even easier and cheaper to do that.
 
#21 ·
New scam warning

The phone rang a couple of day ago during diner. here is how it goes.
ring... ring..
me: hello
caller: I want to talk about your computer
me what about my computer?
caller It is full of errors
me where are you calling from
caller: megabyte computer solutions
me: go away! clank! I hang up and go back to diner.


the next day I phone my friend Paul from a computer service company and ask him if he heard of a new scam going on, he said he got a call and the caller claiming to be from Microsoft and wanted him to go to a particular web site for a fix. he ask for the caller for his microsoft id and got dead air.
one of his client actually follows the caller's directions and gave control of the computer to the scammer. We may laught at such a stupid ploy, but a lot of office stall might think the caller is from their IT support company and gets into deep doodo. The RCMP actually had issued a warning about this new phom scam. BTW the call center is in India.
 
#22 ·
Sadly this is not new, it has been going on for months now.

They told me I had a problem with my Windows, I agreed, they were old and there is some rot but they said it was my computers Windows, which is impossible, I run a Mac. They then hung up.
 
#24 ·
They told me I had a problem with my Windows, I agreed, they were old and there is some rot but they said it was my computers Windows, which is impossible, I run a Mac. They then hung up.
lol, this is what they said to me. Same thing, I asked him how he could know my computer had a virus when I use a Mac. He also just hung up. I tried to keep him on the line by playing dumb with him for a bit before I mentioned I had a Mac.
 
#25 ·
I've received these calls several times. Telling them not to call again didn't work. The last time, I told the caller I had 500 computers. He hung up. I'm amazed he would hang up on such a lucrative prospect. :D

I believe these people may also be responsible for making prank calls regarding computers. Then, when the target is shaken by the prank calls, they call back. Nasty business.
 
#28 ·
they called me told me they where with Microsoft i said ok they wanted me to go to team viewer and get the app. after 20mins of trying to find the link he hung up on me. lol stupid people. kept saying i don't see it i kept asking if he could send someone to my home and he would just ignore my request lol was fun while it lasted
 
#29 ·
I had them call me once. Being a compuer guy I was already expecting the call.

I had time to waste so I thought I'd have a little fun with them.

He had me do the usual, check for errors, etc.. I made sure that part took about 15 minutes. Then he wanted me to go to Log Me In to allow remote access.

He kept giving me an access code, which I kept telling him wasn't working. He transferred me to his "supervisor" who tried generating several new codes, all of which "didn't work".

Then this "supervisor" was asking how I'd pay for the service. I told him I don't have a credit card. He insisted that I should to to Walmart and get a pre-paid CC while they were working on my computer.

A few new access codes later and I finally told the guy "hey, that code looks like it worked, but the screen says that the technician is a scammer!" He insisted that he wasn't and then hung up.


People who aren't computer savvy can really get caught up in this. All they have to do is correctly guess your ISP (Can't be that hard) and the victim thinks it is their ISP calling.

One scammer called me from "Internet support" and insisted that my computer was sending out viruses. I told him that I didn't have a computer, but he insisted that I did.
 
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