"Microsoft" Scam

joewilliams · 2015-06-23T13:31:10.000Z

Maybe I should report it to Microsoft?

What could they do about it?

Education is the answer - don’t trust people without verification.

aboushard · 2015-06-23T13:31:11.000Z

My Uncle fell for this unfortunately some time ago. His computer was a mess. I fixed it for him. I then spent a good amount of time with him just educating him on things. I got a lot of my savvy users at work to forward me a lot of phishing emails and the like to show that to him. He recently had this type of scam call him again. He just hung up on him. They called him right back. He then said to them that “My nephew is in IT, he educated me about you (insert inappropriate language), if you call me again I am reporting you to the police” The guy hung up on him this time and didn’t call back. He then called me and told me what he did and it gave me a big smile.

allenmills9462 · 2015-06-23T13:31:29.000Z

I have been called by them many times before. Last call I remember they said they were calling from Microsoft Security Center and there was an error. I told them I didn’t have a Windows PC and to my surprise he said that they support all OS’s. OSX, Linux, and Windows. I asked him if he was calling from MS why they would support OSX or Linux and he hung up on me.

I also know someone who fell for the scam. He told me someone called and said there was an error so he let them in and not only that he gave them his bank information to pay for the service. I told him to call his bank and put a hold on the money which he did. The people who scammed him kept calling him every five mins after I put his laptop in airplane mode and then did a factory restore. They did eventually give up after he told them that he had alerted the bank that it was a scam and that they wouldn’t be receiving any money.

toodamax · 2015-06-23T13:32:03.000Z

I tell them to stop calling me or I will have my friend in the FBI’s Cyber Crimes division track them down…

brycekatz · 2015-06-23T13:32:11.000Z

Jeremy_B:

Yeah, I just helped a guy clean up from answering one of those calls. Found a ton of malware (which he probably had from before), but didn’t expect to find a keylogger. Lesson learned for him.

I tell people who call me about this scam (for the last 8 months, I’ve received at least one inquiry per week) exactly what I gave above, plus:

"If you gave these people access to your computer, there’s only one way to confidently know they didn’t leave something nasty on your computer: Back up your data, completely erase the hard drive, and re-install Windows. While I can be 95% certain to catch most things, the cost of the wipe and reload is only slightly more and I can be 100% certain your system isn’t compromised when I’m done.

If you gave these people access to your computer, I also strongly recommend you notify the police of the incident. They won’t actually do anything at this point, but you’ll be glad to have filed the report if you have issues with identity theft down the road. Then change the password and security challenge questions on every single online account. Do that right now, from a computer belonging to a trusted friend or family member."

brycekatz · 2015-06-23T13:35:05.000Z

I actually had an employee at my W2 gig fall for this.

At her desk.

At work.

big-green-man · 2015-06-23T13:38:41.000Z

You can report it here: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1

aboushard · 2015-06-23T13:38:42.000Z

That is what I did for my Uncle’s computer is a complete re-install.

Dukat · 2015-06-23T13:41:41.000Z

This is nothing new. You can change Microsoft to Dell, HP, or any of the others. I know tons of people who have gotten these and a couple who were stupid enough to just let them in. I laughed and charged them extra.

seanalvis · 2015-06-23T13:47:42.000Z

If you knew they were calling, wouldn’t it be great if you were able to get a copy of cryptolocker and rename it to “Buisness Bank Accts.doc”?

aboushard · 2015-06-23T13:55:20.000Z

A scam is a scam is a scam. Recently there have been phone calls going around threatening to throw people in jail for various reasons. They say that you need to pay money to avoid being arrested and papers have been filed in court. I received a call like this. I asked them what court and what district? State or federal, they couldn’t answer. I said this is not how this works. They started yelling at me. I then said okay let me ask an attorney about this. They then said attorneys are more expensive than what I need to pay them. I said, I know exactly how much attorneys cost, I work for a law firm. I then heard them hanging up.

neal-exclaimer · 2015-06-23T13:56:22.000Z

I’d report it, but there simply will be another scam that comes along. The best defence here is to remain vigilant and teach others what signs they should watch out for.

kylerobinson · 2015-06-23T13:57:57.000Z

I got that call a little while ago, too. Instead of just hanging up, I decided to play with him a little. When he said that my Windows computer was having problems and he needed to access it, I was like, really? I didn’t know I was running Windows. He assured me that I was. Okay, but I thought that it was an Apple OS since it was on a Mac…? Silence for a bit, then an oh, sorry, must have dialed the wrong number.

For the record, I don’t have a Mac, though.

aboushard · 2015-06-23T14:00:01.000Z

They used Teamviewer on my uncle’s computer. I always wanted them to call me. I would give them Teamviewer access to a Linux box without telling them it Linux. Then just watch them.

outnlimbo · 2015-06-23T14:01:33.000Z

Our network admin had that a while ago, and tracked the guy calling down to a apartment in brooklyn… he was like since when did msft downsize to a one bedroom apt in brooklyn. on xyz street… the guy hung up right away and then had the nerve to call back a few days later and his wife answered!

worse than telemarketers back in the day!

Colts · 2015-06-23T14:15:44.000Z

People will fall for anything… scary that to some this seems perfectly legit.

carlasmith · 2015-06-23T15:31:30.000Z

Bryce Katz:

I actually had an employee at my W2 gig fall for this.

At her desk.

At work.

Woah… that is extra special haha. Thanks everyone for the replies! I am going to spread the word… down with these scam artist jerks!

striker090871 · 2015-06-23T15:37:59.000Z

It seems to me that most of these scammers end up using something like LogMeIn123, or TeamViewer to access your computer. This typically means that the scammer will ask you to go to a site, and put in a session code so they can connect to your system.

Wouldn’t it be helpful for these companies to set up a quick way for people to report the session IDs that the scammers are using? That way they could kill the account that the scammers are using. I’m sure the scammers have access to many accounts, but it might still slow them down if they keep having to set up new TeamViewer/LogMeIn123 accounts.

Or even if by reporting them, they could work with the Feds, to trace back the origins of the scammers, and cut them off completely.

Oohh, maybe they could even have something in the client end of the software where they could reverse the control of the session and take over the scammers computers. Or at least remote uninstall the software.

zuphzuph · 2015-06-23T15:50:07.000Z

This happens constantly throughout the US. I’ve heard stories about it first hand. Just troll them really hard and act like a complete idiot for fun.

aaronhildebrand7628 · 2015-06-23T16:23:01.000Z

I don’t get these, though I suspect the volume of spam calls are equilateral to how much exposure your phone number gets through online interactions, which unless I’m actually buying something I use a fake phone number.

First step of prevention is to not be found, while not bulletproof certainly keeps my phone quiet.