OT- New phone-internet scam

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: OT- New phone-internet scam
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 12:41 am:

Yesterday, I answered a phone call on my cell phone from an Asian male who said he was with Microsoft or Windows or something like that. His accent was a little hard to understand. He said that their server had alerted them to a possible virus in my computer. I questioned him more and I made the mistake of saying that I had a certain provider who fixed my computer problems. With that information, he said, Oh we work for them. I'm calling for (that company). He wanted me to go right then to my computer so he could help me "FIX" the problem (probably asking me to turn control of my computer over to him.) I'd had enough and told him I'd call my service repair company and check his story out. Sure enough, my computer repair service said that it was not them or anyone associated with them and it was a scam. I blocked that number so they couldn't call back on that line. Today, I got three more calls like yesterday's call, except it was from an Asian female. I promptly told her I was onto their scam and not to call back. I turned my ringer to silent and only later did I discover that they tried calling me two more times after that, making four calls in two days. FYI, beware.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill dugger on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 12:51 am:

Terry I had the same kind of call. I can't put on here what I told and called him. I had a call today from a female and I told her, sorry I don't have a computer.
It is a giant scam of some sort. I have not given any info other than a good cussing out. My wife thought with the words I used I must have really lost it. So for you hopefully nothing will happen.
?Bill D
MTFCA#14079


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Schedler, Sacramento on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 02:14 am:

I received an email from E-ZPass Collections that I owed for a toll that was not paid. I haven't been on a Toll Road for years. I Googled E-ZPass and there was and entry that this scam was going around.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Justin in South Africa on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 02:29 am:

Scam... Happened to my Mother in law a while back.. Microsoft called to help her fix her computer.. She was so impressed that she went along with it, even downloading and installing (with their generous help) a program that would analyse her computer and give them the info they needed to help her.

She called me afterwards to tell me of this... I said to her that no one will call you, spend an hour on the phone with you to help you...without some gain for them. Anyway, she unplugged the computer and took it to the repair guys who wiped it, and re-installed the OS.. Also had to change all passwords, and account numbers etc etc... just in case... but she was lucky..and now she doesn't blindly accept the apparent kindness of anyone calling in and offering to help.. As if!

Its the world we live in. Ignorance is bliss...

All the best,
Justin


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 08:54 am:

I received the same call so I asked her if she knew what operating system I had, she responded that I had windows 8.1! I informed her that I had never had any windblows on any of my computers to which she replied oh! I'm sorry I was looking at the wrong line I see you are running Mac O.S. I told her nice try but I don't run Mac-in-trash either this really confused her so I asked if I could get her mac address and log into her computer with timbuktu pro she hung up!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 11:07 am:

Well the first call I cussed the dude out and hung up.
The next day I got another call.
This time I changed my accent best I could and acted dumb as a fence post.Well, hey, it aint hard for me to do. :-)
Anyway I told the guy I was so happy he had called and that I had been having trouble with my computer for a while.He ask if I was near it and I said no ,not right this minute but I could get to it soon.He thought he had him 1. I went on to say that for whatever reason things just got so slow the past couple of years. he ask what system I had and I said "dial-up".
He said, "no no, what operating system do you have".I just told him windows 95. I heard silence and a busy signal.
I have no heard from them since. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth from NC on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 11:15 am:

Sounds like North Korea needs some money.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 12:07 pm:

There are lots of scams going around these days, it seems. Here's another valuable warning....


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Chuck Hoffman - Gold Country of Calif. on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 01:32 pm:

I love my caller i.d.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 01:40 pm:

I have caller ID, but too many people that NEED to call me, even my wife's son, have cell phones that just display, "Unknown Caller", and yesterday I was expecting calls from doctors and hospitals.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 02:03 pm:

I have Caller ID and an answering machine. If I don't recognize the number, I wait for the caller to start talking. Then I decide whether to take the call.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 02:13 pm:

Dick has the right idea. I never answer the land line anymore. The machine takes all calls. Telemarketers are told to take a hike and legitimate callers are told to leave a message. If I happen to be there and hear that it's a real person, then I pick up. When I play back the messages and find robo calls from politicians and other scammers, I just hit the delete button.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 02:55 pm:

Steve, My wife and I do the same thing that you do with our land line; however, that's hard to do on a cell phone. Mine displays the caller, only if they have their phone number identified with their name, otherwise, its "Unknown Number".


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Fowler - Eagle River, Alaska on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 03:27 pm:

Any 'Unknown' or unrecognized call I receive on my cell is not answered. I just wait for them to leave a message. If no message is left, then it wasn't that important. I then screen the messages and delete the garbage.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 03:45 pm:

I was on a call today, and call impatienting started beeping. I couldn't get my party to let me check it out--as it was a call from back east & I was hoping for such a call. Well after my call was through, I had the phone dial that other call,"The number you are dialing is disconnected" Hmm, the spammers are able to fool caller ID!!
David D.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim Wrenn on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 03:54 pm:

We too, do what Dick does. If we don't recognize a name or number, or says "unknown" or whatever, we don't answer. If we then want to, we can pick up the phone while they're till leaving a msg. Won't be long and we'll get rid of the landline anyway. I tell everyone including medical people if they use the cell number, be sure to leave a voicemail, as I don't always hear it driving the T, mowing the lawn, etc. But I always check for missed calls.
Really simple way to avoid the scammers.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky, Lytle TX on Thursday, July 31, 2014 - 05:08 pm:

That scam is not new. It's been around for years. Perhaps they just got a new list of phone numbers. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 01:54 am:

Where I live there is no cell coverage, no high speed internet, wireless connections, etc. My connection to the outside world is a pair of copper wires in an old cable with many many more pairs of copper wires.
Old School!
David D.
PS called the Gov't to ask about high speed for rural residents. "You're calling from California? California isn't rural!"
Hmm, sure looks rural outside my window, trees, deer (augh--get out of the garden!!) hills, rocks--no, no houses. hmmm, must not be California!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stroud on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 04:16 am:

We have been getting calls from "Card Services" for a couple of years or so here. They say that they can reduce our credit card payments by "a lot". We don't have a credit card, and never have had one, and I have told them that several times,and then they just hang up, but the calls keep coming. We are on the MO. No Call List, and we contacted the MO. Attorney Generals office about this problem. They told me that they have been trying to resolve this problem for some time, but they are tricky. Just in the last couple of weeks, we have recieved calls from them that have caller ID numbers from local people that have passed away. When the numbers are called, they come up as not current. I don't have any idea how they can do that, but they are. DON'T answere ANY calls from Card Services, they are getting very tricky. Just a heads up. Dave








































































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Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 06:53 am:

What's with all the "white Space"! I just wish the cell providers would offer to regular customers not to display the number but your name only they have the technology to display whatever they wish but the only choices they give you are phone # or unknown number!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 04:15 pm:

David D,
A couple years ago, I was fighting a bureaucratic nightmare and made several calls to offices in Sacramento. Imagine my surprise to be told that I needed to call Carson City because Grass Valley is in Nevada, not California. (They refused to refund the money I had paid in taxes, however)
No wonder the scammers keep doing what they do. They have no fear of being caught and prosecuted by an incompetent government.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mack Cole ---- Earth on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 05:06 pm:

Why would anyone do away with their land line? :>0
That is the single most reliable source of communication there is.
Around here when Hugo took out the power for 2 weeks, and the roads were closed, our phones never failed.
The phone has seldom went out since 1971 here.
If it did, it was for a very short time.
911 is about useless around here on a cell phone.There is several roads of very similar names and the directions will send ems to the wrong place.
As for it bothering me in the shop, I have got the ringers cut off on all the phones but the old rotary dial wall phone and it just barely jiggles.
Will probably put a large double knife switch on the line if I keep getting these calls about lowering intrest rates and some firemans union wanting money.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Richmond, Texas on Friday, August 01, 2014 - 05:09 pm:

G.R. Cheshire, you must have hit the space bar, too many times (grin).


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Sole - Castelldefels (Spain) on Saturday, August 02, 2014 - 03:38 am:

Some years back my dad (living in Kansas City) was complaining of the huge amount of telemarketing calls he received. A friend told me about the National Do Not Call Registry. I registered his phone number with them and dad told me he "thought" the number of these calls later diminished, it takes some weeks for it to kick in. Maybe someone could try it out and keep track, unfortunately it won't work here. It's not 100% foolproof, but it should reduce the amount of these calls by a large percent and it gives you a way to make an official complaint which could lead to getting you off of some of the call lists.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Sole - Castelldefels (Spain) on Saturday, August 02, 2014 - 03:39 am:

I forgot to post the link: https://www.donotcall.gov/


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Eric Sole - Castelldefels (Spain) on Saturday, August 02, 2014 - 03:42 am:


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