Windows Support scam

hikerbob (Bob) · #1 01-07-2011, 01:38 PM

I had a call from someone claiming to be from Windows Support to tell me that my computer was infected with a virus. Yeah right, except that he knew the CLSID code for one of my windows box's and they are quite different on my two windows 7 machines. To see yours run the assoc command in a cmd box and it will be towards the bottom of the list.

The call was very echo'y, I've been told that's because they use Skype and similar to keep the call costs down.

Plenty of on line mentions of similar scams although I didn't see any reference to them knowing that sort of detail. The Microsoft site makes it very clear that they never cold call regarding virus's.

I think this was the general call that I got.
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/.../itemId/792165

I'm mentioning it here because it was unusual that he could provide what appears to be specific details about my PC. I've reported that to Scamwatch, HP and Microsoft.

Bob

steve000 (Steve) · #2 01-07-2011, 02:12 PM

yea they keep calling my house as well.

unfortunatly the dumbas err person i live with followed their instructions, went to their site and allowed them to remote in.. she then called me so i got her 2 pull the modem etc... they called back complaing they were disconnected, she told them to go away and now we get constant phone spam. I work in IT support BTW, why let someone else "fix" our computers other than me i will never know. it disturbs me as I have up to 7 computers in my house, inc a server and terabytes of data on it...

I think the ID of your pc can be found with the virus running on it. ive had a keylogger before and that compromised my WOW account.

Just keep the following up to date
Antivirus and scan often.
windows updates
Firewall including the Hardware firewall on the modem. i found by enabling that I was getting ICMP bombs.

Chillie (Henry) · #3 01-07-2011, 02:25 PM

Thank for posting the link Bob.

I have bookmarked the home page of SCAMwatch for future reference.

Exfso (Peter) · #4 02-07-2011, 09:58 AM

I got one of these the other day as well. I knew it was a scam and told them so and they promptly hung up, I did not even get a chance to tell them to naff-off

hikerbob (Bob) · #5 02-07-2011, 11:02 AM

I've just noticed a similar thread in the General Chat area Dodgy Tech Phone Call

I'd not noticed it when I started this one. It's scary how many of us have had those call's. The number of calls being made must be enormous.

gds (Geoff) · #6 28-07-2011, 07:34 PM

I have had several of these usually about 6:00PM in the evening, they are really annoying and while yelling at them or abusing them is a normal response I have found 3 better ways of dealing with it.

1. Act like a complete computer novice and keep them on thye line for as long as possible letting them think that they are getting remote access to your PC without really doing any such thing. This wastes lots of their time and in the end gets them very annoyed, then laugh at them, they will eventually hang up. It seems to work in that they are far less likley to call back.

2. Tell them that your are really interested and then just put the phone down next to the television, radio or let them talk with your young children/grandchildren and go back to whatever you were doing. Eventually they will give up and hang up. Like No1 they are far less likley to try again in the short term.

3. Go to the web site they tell you about
(e.g. www.onlinepcmanager.com) and register a totally bogus tech support request like:-
Subject: Help Me
Email Address richard_cranium@turdnet.com
Phone Number: 9109873539035
Message: Go take a running jump at yourself MORON !

Method 3 is not really very effective but will make you feel better !

Geoff

FlashDrive (Poppy) · #7 28-07-2011, 08:01 PM

Caller: Hi mate, This is Windows Support calling.....
Me: Ah... Yes,

Caller : Whom am I speaking with,
Me : This is Flash from Internet Crime Division.....!!!!

Caller: Beep, Beep,Beep,Beep.

Me: Ohhhhhh ... Gee... He hung up on me....!!!!!

Flash

telemarker (Keith) · #8 29-07-2011, 05:52 PM

I haven't had one of these for a while now, but the last time they were subjected to No. 1. When he complained that he couldn't see my machine he became angry. So I started taunting him and he became very angry and abusive at which time I gave him a tirade of extremely bad language. He responded in kind then hung up, only to call again 5 min later to abuse me some more. This time I told him what he could do with his appendage, his dog and his mum.

I think that flummoxed him as he was speechless for about 10 sec before I gave him another serve. Thats the last I've heard from them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gds

I have had several of these usually about 6:00PM in the evening, they are really annoying and while yelling at them or abusing them is a normal response I have found 3 better ways of dealing with it.

1. Act like a complete computer novice and keep them on thye line for as long as possible letting them think that they are getting remote access to your PC without really doing any such thing. This wastes lots of their time and in the end gets them very annoyed, then laugh at them, they will eventually hang up. It seems to work in that they are far less likley to call back.

2. Tell them that your are really interested and then just put the phone down next to the television, radio or let them talk with your young children/grandchildren and go back to whatever you were doing. Eventually they will give up and hang up. Like No1 they are far less likley to try again in the short term.

3. Go to the web site they tell you about
(e.g. www.onlinepcmanager.com) and register a totally bogus tech support request like:-
Subject: Help Me
Email Address richard_cranium@turdnet.com
Phone Number: 9109873539035
Message: Go take a running jump at yourself MORON !

Method 3 is not really very effective but will make you feel better !

Geoff

Amunous (Michael) · #9 16-08-2011, 08:27 AM

The best way to avoid virus's and i tell everyone this. Don't click everysingle link someone sends you or you see. If you dont visit dodgy sites you wont get dodgy malware. In regards to email. If its from someone you know but your unsure about the link email them back and ask if they sent it to you don't click reply click on a new message and add them in from your address book.
It's people who click every link ever thrown at them that get heaps of viruses. i have never used anti virus and have never needed to.
People challenge me saying yeah ill bet you have heaps of viruses you don't know about because you don't have a program to detect them. So i tell them to bring something over install it and run a scan for every virus they find ill give them $20. To this day no one has found anything, and they cant work it out.

Also anti virus programs slow your computer down particularly the ones that have live protection or whatever they are calling it. as it scans every thing you do on your PC your wasting resources trying to stay protected. My brother couldn't work out why his computer was running so slow. I uninstalled his anti virus and it went from using 97% resources to 5%.

Diligence is the key. DON'T click everything you see and don't go to dodgy sites, and you will be fine.

If your asking how you know if a site is dodgy or not, here is a tip. If your not sure don't click it. If you click it and pray that your anti virus will protect you or that its an OK site. It's usually too late. If you don't know DON'T go there.

Octane (Humayun) · #10 16-08-2011, 11:23 AM

Same boat as you, Michael. But, unfortunately, not everyone is that savvy.

H

byronpaul (Paul) · #11 16-08-2011, 11:41 AM

Got one of these call myself last night .....

Just hung up on the caller after about 30 seconds, but promptly told the wife and kids to never follow the sorts of instruction given by the caller as it's more than likely a scam.

jenchris (Jennifer) · #12 16-08-2011, 03:42 PM

Quote:

do with his appendage, his dog and his mum

the delay was probably him making a note of it for later

I've had a call too about a fortnight ago - started laughing and said "You've got to be joking you bloody idiot"

Rude word from his end and click

He actually asked for Mrs Robinson - so he'd taken the time to check the phone book. I told my sister about it and warned her.

g__day (Matthew) · #13 16-08-2011, 04:09 PM

They kept calling me back, - day one I asked if they were a part of the MS company - lady said no. Day 2 asked same question - man said yes. I asked for his employee number which he gave, when I asked for his name he didn't hesistate - Richard Jenkins - only he had the most Indian accent imaginable. Then I told him all PCs in this house run SuSE UNIX - there are absolutely no windows boxes - how did he wish to help me? That left him rather flumouxed

Chancellor (Jeff) · #14 16-08-2011, 04:26 PM

In regards to them asking you to run the assoc command, exactly what line did they ask about / tell you about?

Apparently some of the scammers are asking about the line ".ZFSendToTarget=CLSID\{888DCA6 0-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}" then state that it's your PC identifier. It's actually going to be an identifier for the "send to" command which should be the same for all PC's (not sure about Windows 7, I have only checked Windows XP)

Unfortunately the scammers are getting more tricky to "prove" that they are legitimate.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #15 17-08-2011, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chancellor

Unfortunately the scammers are getting more tricky to "prove" that they are legitimate.

It's really easy. Any unsolicited caller is a scammer.

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #16 18-08-2011, 01:21 AM

I have never had anyone ring me about this.

Just lucky I guess. But I do have a silent number, Maybe that helps.

hikerbob (Bob) · #17 18-08-2011, 07:08 AM

Jeff the CLSID value was different on the two Windows 7 PC's I had running at the time. One 32 bit, the other 64 bit.

I've not looked further that that.

Bob

mithrandir (Andrew) · #18 18-08-2011, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

I have never had anyone ring me about this.

Just lucky I guess. But I do have a silent number, Maybe that helps.

It might now. In the past cold callers had auto dialers that would ring anyone, including unlisted numbers. IIRC they made doing that an offence.

noswonky (Peter) · #19 21-08-2011, 09:32 AM

This is a typical call...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQQSOYf2xc

Zincberg (Andrew) · #20 23-08-2011, 01:03 PM

No no no, some of you have the right idea, but for the wrong reasons.
I keep them on the phone line as long as I possibly can, pure and simple...as long as they are wasting their time on me, they are not sucking in some other poor unfortunate soul who may not be as computer literate.
I certainly play games with them... and my record so far is to keep one of them on my phone for 35minutes before I had to leave

here is the way I play....and this is almost exactly what i did last week.

ring ring.... (seeing "o/seas caller" on my phone display.. I prepare myself)...

me: A hoi hoi?

them: Hello, this is patricia from windows..

Hello Patricia, sorry, where are you from?

I am patricia from Windows

Sorry? windows? my windows are all fine except for the one in the bathroom which has a small crack in the glass, what will you charge me to fix it?

No, I am patricia from windows, your operating system on your computer...

Ohhhhhhh... you mean Patricia from MICROSOFT.. nice to meet you Patricia, what can I do for you?

We have noticed there is a problem , we have had many complaints from our users that you have a virus!

Oh that? it wasnt a "virus" as such, I think it was just a cold, but yeah, quite a few people were worried they were going to catch it from me... one lady on the bus even yelled at me to cover my mouth before coughing!

Im sorry sir, I am talking about a virus on your computer.

Oh no.. I have a virus on my computer?

Yes sir, you will find your computer has been running slow lately?

Well, it was running a little slow, but I installed the flux capacitor and now it cruises like a delorian at 87 mph, it could probably go faster .. but Im a little afraid of what might happen.

Now sir, I can fix this problem if you just click on my computer.

haha, i dont see how I could possibly click on your computer from all the way over here, wait... are you bringing your computer to my house? I dont think thats a good idea... I have a virus apparantly!!!

No sir, I mean my computer on your desktop

I dont think it matters where you put your computer, if you bring it here.. you might catch the virus! I really dont think thats a good idea.

Sir, on YOUR computer, on the desktop, there is my computer

Ohhhh... on the computer? Im not on the computer at the moment.

You will need to get on your computer to fix this problem, could you go and turn it on please.

Im sorry, Im not really good with these computer things, will I need my internets to be on as well?

Yes please sir, please make sure your computer is on and the internet is connected.

Wait, do you know if its the grey cable or the black cable that goes into the computer to turn it on...?

etc etc etc.

Then I end it with "boy... you have been so helpful, The thing I am happiest about is that while you have been on the phone to me, you havent been scamming someone else"

They quite often dont get that...and try and continue.. one guy got REALLY angry with me and told me he was just keeping me on the phone because the police wanted to trace my call because they have been looking for me for a very long time...

I replied "they cant have been trying very hard...if an idiot like you can find me, Im sure they can find me EASILY"

He hung up...I want to try and record the call one day..any ideas on how to cheaply and easily set up a rig that will record both sides of the conversation?