Computer Scam

Captain

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Final Approach
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After a bit of online research I see this has been around for quite awhile...

I just received a call from 888.888.8888. I answered and it started ringing...I've got time, let see where this goes. A male voice answered with an Indian accent. He said he worked for MicroSoft and had detected errors from my system on their servers. I played along and confirmed he said he worked FOR MicroSoft. Yes is the reply and he wants to know if my keyboard has a windows key in the lower left.

Why yes it does and we're off to the races...me playing the victim. So he wants me to press the windows key and R at the same time. I tell him I need to close an app, meanwhile I start Googleing "windows R". Tons of hits with words like scam in them so I read up.

As I get up to speed he asks that I type eventvwr into the run prompt. I do and we see tons of errors and warnings. From my searching I see this is normal, but my new friend informs me this is very serious. I play along for about 30 minutes before I tell him that I do use the Internet like he asked and I even know about Google and it tells me that you do not work for MicroSoft and this is a scam. Answer...click.

Reading online I see the next step was to get a 'technician' involved and have me download file sharing software. With them in my computer they have me start opening files and accounts like PayPal...while they watch.

Here's a write up from Wired

I know nobody here would fall for this, but we all have family members so spread the word.
 
I got that call before, except he worked for Windows. I said I didn't own a computer and he was definitely confused that someone wouldn't have a computer.
 
I do some informal IT for some older writing friends, and one of them got taken in by this one a few months back. It was a bit of a surprise, since she was always careful about not clicking on unknown links, etc. But the warning flags didn't go off when it was a person on the phone.

Until afterwards, of course.

She paid the scammers, but had a local computer tech check her computer over. The outfit had installed a bunch of freeware virus and malware detectors on her system and charged her about $100. No apparent hidden stuff, but I worried about cryptlocker and other such programs in hiding. She canceled the credit card. She uses the computer only for emails and research; doesn't have online bank account access, etc.

I begged her to copy her writing work off the hard disk and let me install a brand-new hard disk and build a brand-new system. But she felt it was now OK. I still keep worrying about a long-dormant virus popping up.

Part of the thing that led her to work with these folks is the stopping of support for Windows XP. All the warnings from Microsoft made her worried, and I think she was a little more amenable to a con artist because she's nervous about the lack of support.

I've pushed her to upgrade to at least Windows 7, but she's resisting...too much of her current software isn't compatible.

Ron Wanttaja
 
"Umm, actually I used Redmond Doors as my operating system..."
 
Captain said:
After a bit of online research I see this has been around for quite awhile...

I just received a call from 888.888.8888. I answered and it started ringing...I've got time, let see where this goes. A male voice answered with an Indian accent. He said he worked for MicroSoft and had detected errors from my system on their servers. I played along and confirmed he said he worked FOR MicroSoft. Yes is the reply and he wants to know if my keyboard has a windows key in the lower left.

Why yes it does and we're off to the races...me playing the victim. So he wants me to press the windows key and R at the same time. I tell him I need to close an app, meanwhile I start Googleing "windows R". Tons of hits with words like scam in them so I read up.

As I get up to speed he asks that I type eventvwr into the run prompt. I do and we see tons of errors and warnings. From my searching I see this is normal, but my new friend informs me this is very serious. I play along for about 30 minutes before I tell him that I do use the Internet like he asked and I even know about Google and it tells me that you do not work for MicroSoft and this is a scam. Answer...click.

Reading online I see the next step was to get a 'technician' involved and have me download file sharing software. With them in my computer they have me start opening files and accounts like PayPal...while they watch.

Here's a write up from Wired

I know nobody here would fall for this, but we all have family members so spread the word.
Click to expand...

I've gotten that call about three times. I usually just ask them to wait a minute while I turn on the computer. Then I put down the phone and go about whatever I had been doing before the phone rang. Glad to know where it leads. Maybe I'll engage them next time.
 
Christ, I'm an old DOS guy...Windows-R is a go-to key combination because I like to do command-line stuff.
 
That reminds me, I need to get my honeypot VM back up and running for calls like this...nice little walled-garden for them to play in while diagnostic tools record it all.
 
MAKG1 said:
If you want to really confuse them, say "OS/2."
Click to expand...

I remember once, I had a Novell server running as my home firewall (OK, I was a geek...I ran my own family GroupWise server!) and called the cable company for tech support and they asked what OS I was running, when I told them "Netware", the guy got quiet and said "uhhhh...I really have no idea what to do now"
 
Oh, to confuse the cable company, you don't need to get as exotic as Netware.

RedHat will be quite enough.
 
JeffDG said:
That reminds me, I need to get my honeypot VM back up and running for calls like this...nice little walled-garden for them to play in while diagnostic tools record it all.
Click to expand...

If you follow the link in my OP there is a YT video of a Security Researcher from Malwarebytes who got the call and screen captured it. Goes for 25 minutes as he plays along. He let them into his computer and after he entered fake info in the PayPal registration page the 'technician' got angry and started deleting files and drivers and called him an *sshole in the screen chat.
 
MAKG1 said:
If you want to really confuse them, say "OS/2."
Click to expand...

I remember a bumper sticker in the Macintosh computer lab "OS/2 = half an operating system"
 
What is amazing is how long you can get them to talk to you when you are having a little fun. I start out by telling them I don't use the email. They tell me it can be from the web. I then lower my voice (while on speaker with half the office listening) and ask if can be from porn. They keep trying to get me to go to my computer, but I just keep talking about how much porn I look at. I then ask if they have any recommendations for some safe porn sites. Next I lower my voice again and ask them is gay porn is more infectious than straight porn. This is great point to transition into how turned on I am getting discussing porn with then. I offer to send pictures, etc. Every time I push it further, but they never hang up. I usually get tired of playing and just hang up myself.
 
MAKG1 said:
The frightening thing is, it was more of an operating system than the Windows NT OS it was originally supposed to be.
Click to expand...

You can still get OS\2. I run a couple of different versions because I still consult in the computer business (when I can't find any way to avoid it). There are a number of places where OS\2 is still a force to be reckoned with. Finance houses, and municipalities (the NYC Metrocard system is all OS\2) love it because it is bullet proof.
 
We've gotten this call numerous time. The last few times from "George." On the last call, once "George" introduced himself, I, in an excited voice said, "George! How are you my man? Hey, can you do me a favor and go f*ck yourself?"

His response was classic...especially considering his Indian accent, "yes sir, well...at least I can try if you like me to."

I laughed for the rest of the evening.
 
"My keyboard does not have a Windows key." Stops them dead

Another is

"How does that work in Linux Mint?"
 
Shepherd said:
You can still get OS\2. I run a couple of different versions because I still consult in the computer business (when I can't find any way to avoid it). There are a number of places where OS\2 is still a force to be reckoned with. Finance houses, and municipalities (the NYC Metrocard system is all OS\2) love it because it is bullet proof.
Click to expand...


Yea, who would write a virus for OS/2
 
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