Sitting at my desk with my fresh cup of coffee, about to check my tickets for the day when a call comes in on my direct help desk line. On the other end of the phone “Paul” from “Microsoft” call calling to alert me that my computer was in great danger!!! Oh no!!! He claimed that the poor thing was filled with errors and viruses. So i immediately gave him remote access and my domain admin credentials. Hahaha, kidding. But really? The nerve of this guy to call the help desk and try to scam me. Has anyone else received these calls at work? or have any of your users fell for it?
33 Spice ups
Unfortunately these are all common place now.
A few users have fallen for it, and brought their equipment in for repair (home equipment that is, we tell them that only IT are allowed remote access their computer, and would you believe it? They actually BELIEVE us!).
3 Spice ups
I haven’t, and its unfortunate, I would take up a huge amount of his time playing dumb.
7 Spice ups
@brycekatz had someone who did:
http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/post/4749250
Lots of other great stories in that thread too.
4 Spice ups
Oh i did hahah. After about 10 minutes i told him i was running Linux and he got mad and hung up
6 Spice ups
rj0
(RJKY)
6
I have gotten a few of those but none lately. One time, I had the guy on the phone for a while giving him false information about the PC in question; I just hung up when I got tired of BSing him, I was bored that day LOL
1 Spice up
seydon
(Seydon)
7
Got a call once at home, at 6:30 in the morning (yeap… 6:30 AM), on a Sunday morning… While I was waking up, and preparing my coffee, I “answered” some of his questions with “I don’t see no start menu”. “What is control panel?” and things like that… Then, I asked him if would made a difference if I was running Linux… The guy told me that no, there was no difference and continued to BS me…
Held him on the line for 45 minutes, then I told him that first: I was a system administrator and I knew better than his bullshit, and second, that I was recording the call (bs on my part) and that I would go to the authorities with the recording…
He then completely lost it, yelling at me that I was wasting HIS time, that he had a family and needed the money, yada, yada, yada… This is when I hung up on him…
This was the last call I received from them in over a year…
1 Spice up
bbigford
(bbigford)
8
I worked in a computer repair shop with a guy that had the scammer on the phone for well over an hour. All the while my co-worker was playing video games on his PC. Conversation snippet:
X: “I don’t see the Internet…”
MS: “Click on Internet Explorer.”
X: “I clicked on Explorer. Now I see My Computer, My Documents. What do I have to install?”
MS: “No, you don’t have to install anything. You just have to open Internet Explorer so we can get started.”
X: “Ooo that reminds me. My AVG says it has expired but I can’t remember if it’s the free version. Is this related? How do they even know when to alert me if they don’t know where I live? Is this why I can’t open Internet Explorer?”
…Nearly 2 hours later…
X: “I’m just kidding man, I know how to use a computer. Don’t ever f*ckin call me again.” CLICK
4 Spice ups
Dude called me at home twice, I took up about 20 minutes of his time both time he called. What’s a windows key I asked him over and over.
1 Spice up
Colts
(Colts)
10
Not going to say the name I use for scam artists… probably be banned for life!
Paul??? Sure fire scam. There is only one true helpdesk call I’d take
5 Spice ups
I love hearing of the scammers time being wasted, i do not have the patience to do it.
1 Spice up
hdqueen
(HD Queen)
13
Not at work only at home. 4 days in a row. Idiots just don’t learn when a woman is reeling them in!
3 Spice ups
codyherb
(Cody Herb)
14
Ahaha, I got one of these calls the other day. Ended up wasting about an hour of the ladies time stringing her along. At the end she finally clued in and was like "you Mother F**** ". I ended up laughing her off the phone, and kindly told her glad i could waste an hour of her time for an hour of entertainment on my end.
1 Spice up
gomachg
(Gregmfg)
15
I got this a few times now. I have them wait while I “reboot” my PC for constantly locking up, and constantly thank them for finally getting around and calling me. I then keep fumbling around finding IE, then I can’t hear them so I ask them to repeat the websites name a few 20 times. Finally I say ok it is downloading the installer. I wait around 15 minutes, pick the phone up say its still downloading, and put them down. 15 minutes later I pick it back up “yup still downloading, this dial up has been slow lately, can you fix it for me while I have you on the line?” *click
2 Spice ups
molan
(molan)
16
I have gotten this call at home in the past. But never at work.
I kept the guy on the line for 45 minutes and messed with him. He finally said he was going to transfer me to his manager and he hung up on me! LOL the Nerve!
1 Spice up
scott1408
(Scott1408)
17
Never on my work phone only on my personal phone. First time i said I didn’t have time for this scam. The second time I had them on the line for 25 minutes until they hung up on me.
How we feel about scammers, especially audacious scammers.
Unfortunately, a friend of mine who’s nearly 80 and quite tech savvy for her age but not an IT pro by any means, got one of these calls and gave them access. Thankfully, she realized the scam when the price suddenly went from $10 to $210, but they still screwed up her PC. I’ll be fixing it for her, free, because she was there for me at a time when I really needed someone, and did things for me and my kids I can never replay no matter how much free tech support I provide. (She always offers to pay me, and I always refuse because I’ll never be able to pay the kindness she showed me back then)
1 Spice up
Juwels
(Juwels)
20
I haven’t gotten one from them but my poor naive mother got the FBI Agent that called her saying she was going to go to prison for ordering drugs online illegally. She did receive prescriptions through the mail so she freaked out. To make her feel better I had to take her to the police station and let them run a check to make sure they weren’t on their way to lock her up. Poor old lady.
