29 January 2011

Ring, ring!!! "...goodbye"

| Gerry-Built
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Has anyone else been receiving calls with nobody on the calling end, a long pause, then an automated “goodbye”? We had 2 last night, one well after 10pm, and another today at 130pm…

Any idea who it is?

I rather suspect it has something to do with the lovely people that ring telling me my Microsoft products are sending them error messages…

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screaming banshee12:03 pm 31 Jan 11

A story from IT news today suggest these sorts of scam might slow down a little

damien haas said :

Poor guy, he seemed quite angry that I wasted his time…

😀 Well done!

old canberran8:53 am 30 Jan 11

To answer the original post, yes we have had quite a few of these calls and my caller ID tells me they are from “overseas”. The only voice comment is “Goodbye” so since the first call we don’t answer anymore. I believe the call is computer generated to find out the best times for a human to ring so it’s best to not answer the call at all. The “Do Not Call” register does not seem to work with overseas calls.

JustThinking said :

[Trojans used to be good news for hackers a few years ago,,,,,but useless these days..That is why scamming has become more popular…The BEST scam wins the money….

If my firewall says no to ALL incoming connections, there is no way for a hacker to get in. If they can get you to download a Trojan, that then initiates the connection to the outside and then they have a way in to hack your computer. If I ask you to part with your money you are more likely to say no so stealing it is better!

Yep I had my second call last week, but could not be bothered playing along, you only need to say two words, and they hang up.

screaming banshee said :

The best thing you can do is keep these idiots on the phone as long as you can, it gives them less time to call people who aren’t wise to it and might actually fall for it.

I’ve had a few calls from these arse clowns. I tell them I’m really interested, and to hang on while I go turn on my PC. I then put the phone down and continue cooking/ironing/Rioting/whatever. Generally they’ve gone elsewhere after about 20 minute, although one patient bugger was still waiting when I checked the line before hanging up.

If I had the option of shooting these f***ers through the telephone line, I would cheerfully take it. They are doofus fools, but the truth is they are also rancid bloody vermin bastard mongrel thieves who are trying to steal our possessions, just like a mugger in the street. I lost $5000 from my credit card when some shithead scammed my account details while I was overseas a few years ago. If I could find that sonofabitch I would hurt him.

I was so pleased to receive a call from these scammers tonight, they asked for Mr or Mr’s Haas, i asked who was calling – it was Microsoft, they were calling because my PC has become infected and as they are the only authorised service technicians hey have called me so that my computer can become safe again. I muted the TV and stayed on the couch while i played along with him for at least 20 minutes. Sadly as a non-windows user, he tumbled me when i couldnt name a single file i was supposed to be looking at in some folder. he then said ‘you’ve just been kidding with me haven’t you’ i agreed. he then said ‘why would a person do such a thing!’ i said goodnight and hung up. He rang back and asked for my wife, i told him that she was out playing bridge, he then told me that he’d like to become quite intimate with her, as i was unable to satisfy her due to a malformation of my genitals. I laughed at him and said surely he could do better, but he didnt hear what I said and said ‘im sorry, could you repeat that’ at which point I said what sort of abusive caller apologises to the person he is abusing. he then accused me of being ‘quite a joker’ and again told me what he would like to do with my wife, then hung up. Poor guy, he seemed quite angry that I wasted his time…

I sometimes get the “…goodbye” voice, it’s a recorded American woman’s voice I think?! Usually happens during the day, once a week or so…

I’ve gotten the “computer” ones a few times, I say “tell me more!” and then leave the phone off the hook. Dunno how long they stayed on the phone for, they’ve stopped calling though!

screaming banshee5:27 pm 29 Jan 11

The best thing you can do is keep these idiots on the phone as long as you can, it gives them less time to call people who aren’t wise to it and might actually fall for it.

JustThinking said :

Who questions their bank about a $2.00 FEE each week (or fortnight)???

People who prefer their money to stay that way?
Fools and cash are easily parted.

I had one who called me recently claiming to be from Microsoft. She had a heavy accent, and was so obviously reading from a script it wasn’t funny!
But I think we’re currently averaging one call a week from these sort of scammers.

JustThinking4:43 pm 29 Jan 11

yoyo23 said :

These particular scammers direct you to a website where you can download a ‘fix’ or ‘anti-virus’ software. In actual fact, you are downloading a trojan, where they will have remote access to your computer..

Trojans are really useless to someone who has plans to rip off your money….Any hacker/tracker can find you once you have a trojan installed.
Why go to the trouble (now-a-days) to install a trojan on unsuspecting strangers to steal their money…..if another hacker can beat you to it,,,,,and yet are the one who will get caught for it????????

Trojans used to be good news for hackers a few years ago,,,,,but useless these days..That is why scamming has become more popular…The BEST scam wins the money….

JustThinking4:37 pm 29 Jan 11

yoyo23 said :

Always be wary of cold callers offering you anything. Even if the red cross ring for donations, you are better off calling their official number or donating online if you are inclined to make a donation.

Very good point…always be wary….I could ring you now and state I am from XYZ asking for support to a charity….All I have to do is sound confident and give you a receipt number.

The days of being scammed by the old “system” are long gone.
It isn’t about computers and emails any more.
A while ago I read in a “That’s Life” or “Take 5” magazine about a business woman in ACT who was scammed by some guy she met on a dating site (before that became a big thing)

Ligit companies have a “NO cold calling policy” (it is supposed to be illegal in Australia) unless you tick a box on something saying you will receive “offers/products/info” from sister sites/partners companies,,,,Problem is most of the calls come from other countries where the Aussie law doesn’t exist…

NOOOO I am not being racist so do not even go there….I Know some of you will anyway

These particular scammers direct you to a website where you can download a ‘fix’ or ‘anti-virus’ software. In actual fact, you are downloading a trojan, where they will have remote access to your computer. They can install key loggers that will catch your key strokes (and therefore get your passwords and credit card details if you type them in) and may direct your PC to participate in a denial-of-service attack (think of 200,000 pc’s all trying to download from the one website at the same time – kind of breaks that website).

Ask them how they could identify your computer. The answer is they can’t. Always be wary of cold callers offering you anything. Even if the red cross ring for donations, you are better off calling their official number or donating online if you are inclined to make a donation.

Gerry-Built said :

I like to ‘toy’ with scammers. It drives my wife nuts though…

Me too. I’d been looking forward to hearing from these dicks, and finally they called. I should explain that I don’t use Windows – I run Linux.

When they told me that my computer was a source of malware I said “Ooo – I’m glad you called! That sounds bad!” They asked me what operating system I was running, so I said “you must know – you’re working with the Certified Microsoft Engineers and you can see that my computer is sending malware.” Now you’d think that would have tipped them off, but these people are just following a script – they’ve probably never even seen a computer. So on they went with the script.

“Can you see a four-colour flag on the bottom left of your screen, sir?” he asked. “No. I can’t see anything like that.” I replied. This stumped him. After five minutes of probing I said that I could see an orange circle in the bottom left. He told me to click it.

“Now sir – you’ll see an item that says control panel.” he said. “No,” I replied, I can’t see that. “What can you see?” I told him and, again, he was stumped.

Anyway, this went on for about half an hour and this idiot still didn’t have a clue that I was playing with him. Eventually he passed me over to their “Certified Microsoft Engineer”, who started at the top again.

After an hour I got sick of it, and I said “look, idiot – I’m running Linux and I’ve been scamming you, just like you’ve been trying to scam me. Stick it.” I hung up.

Half an hour later I got another call starting from the top again.

I’ve had my fun. Now I just tell them to jam it.

Thoroughly Smashed3:51 pm 29 Jan 11

Gerry-Built said :

I’ve had these people call up three times now – I was just curious what the scam was…

Maxing out your credit card for you…

JustThinking3:48 pm 29 Jan 11

Hiyas,
Sorry to post again soo soon but I thought while on the subject of scammers etc I should point out….not ALL of them rip off all of your money from your bank account in one go.
I’m not going to say how or why I know BUT some of them will just take say $2.00 a week out of your account (showing up as FEE)

Who questions their bank about a $2.00 FEE each week (or fortnight)???
These guys will have hundreds (maybe thousands) of people on their lists and they just take the $2 each week or fortnight…Making them a few grand and noone ever notices…

Keep an eye on your FEES and question any you are worried about.

JustThinking3:36 pm 29 Jan 11

Gerry-Built said :

A quick Google revealed these:

http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/792165

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/314295/windows_event_viewer_phishing_scam_remains_active/

I like to ‘toy’ with scammers. It drives my wife nuts though…

ahahaha I toyed for a while too…
I asked them about “how do you know?” they told me where to click and what to look at in my system. Asked me if I seen any errors..I said Yes…. (as all computers have them)
Then they said it was very very bad….they had received many many errors from my computer but didn’t realise it was THAT bad….Transferred me to a ‘supervisor’ (which is the lady I asked who she worked for) then I asked her could she tell me which computer it was with all the errors as we have 4 online…funnily she has NO idea which computer it was sending the error messages.

I hope others do not get caught with this scam…
My son almost got caught by the fake “virus scam”
He was surfing the net when a WARNING Internet Security pop up showed saying he had visited an infected site…’click here’ for a system scan. ((The click here bit allows the ‘scam’ to download on your system)). It doesn’t infect your system,,,just stops you accessing anything as it keeps popping up warning you about the virus….”click here to fix it” takes you straight to a “pay $X now to remove the virus infection”
Of course paying only gives out your credit card details,,,,(deleting the program is all it takes to fix the issue but can you imagine how many people will get caught giving our their CC details?)

AussieRodney3:22 pm 29 Jan 11

The scam is that you provide them with access to your computer. Say no more.

…and at exactly 1 hour later I get the follow-up call – telling me my computer is sending them errors… Recorded the call…

So, the scam is, they tell me my virus software is expired, and they want to sell me a 2 year subscription for $290 or 3 years for $350… and all I have to do is give them my credit card details and they’ll put me through to a technician, who will help purge my computer of viruses and install the new (Microsoft anti-virus) software…

I’ve had these people call up three times now – I was just curious what the scam was…

JustThinking2:51 pm 29 Jan 11

Yup,
I had one of them calls last night…

Those idiots trying to sell you a product to fix the Microsoft Errors can be emailed and stopped.
Not only were they ringing daily but after hanging up on them they rang back 3 times in a row asking why I hung up,,their last call after 11pm at night.
I asked the lady what company she was working for and she repeated it..I googled and emailed. Next day I got a reply apologising for the calls and stating I would be placed on the DO NOT call list. Never heard from them again!!

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