Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Jennifer Jane]

This has probably been posted before, but anyway.

 

I had a phone call this morning from somebody in what sounded like an Indian call centre. He said he was from Microsoft Tech Support, and I had been experiencing some serious errors on my computer. Well, I was a bit confused at first as he used my name and I was on my netbook at the time and, yes, I had had a couple of little errors. I did wonder if I had given out my home phone number when I bought/registered the netbook. But I told him I was too busy to talk to him now, so he said he would call back this afternoon. In the meantime, I googled and found this:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres?commentpage=2#start-of-comments

 

It sounds just like my call.

[Patricia W]

Thanks for the warning!

[mags]

yup it's a big scam

 

One of DS friends got caught out by this one

took ages to get viras off his pc - they ask you check a web side and click on things oh then they "find viras " they charge your to fix

 

 

Mags

[PurpleTree]

We've had a few calls like this, they came up as mobile phone numbers. We told them we didn't have a PC and they hung up.

[Brian]

I have had this call several times. With anything like this treat it as a scam - imagine how many people use microsoft and they are trying to call each and every user when teh accepted method is to automatic upgrade fixes anyway via t'internet.

 

Best way to deal with these calls is to say hold on a moment, put the phone down and go about your business until they hang up.

[Couperman]

Yes, we've had that one too. We don't use Windows so they didn't get very far.

 

It is so annoying, everywhere you turn some low life is trying to scam you.

 

Sign of the times I'm afraid.

 

Kev.

[Mrs Webmuppet]

There's another similar scam were the caller says they are from another IT company - I think they are targetting businesses.

[LolaLayla]

I had the 'tech support' phone call too. It was a couple of months ago, but fortunately a friend of mine had told me a few weeks earlier that she had received a scam call and had nearly been tricked. It must still be going on. It's horrid that you have to be on your guard all the time.

[bluekarin]

They are a scam. There is no way someone can phone you up to tell you that there is a problem with your computer. How on earth do they even know you own a computer? My dad had one and he said no we don't own any computers. The bloke on the end of the phone was a bit bemused by this. We've had a couple, and one chap happened to get my IT hubby on the other end Hubby gave him a piece of his mind. The chap from "Microsoft" then proceeded to phone back 4 or so times

 

Oh, hubby has just said that due to the privacy laws in the US, it is illegal for Microsoft to be able to read anything on your computer.

[sage]

This scam is on the rounds again.

Last night FIL let an Asian sounding guy from " Microsoft " access his pc.

FIL is still insisting it was a genuine call from Microsoft but after much banging of heads we managed to get him to freeze all bank accounts & credit card before anything was taken out.

Sage

[LisaP]

We get one of these calls nearly every week, sometimes twice a week, always saying that 15 mins ago they detected a virus oh and they always say they are called Andy or Kevin

 

Lisa P

[Tweety]

I had a really bizarre call this afternoon, purporting to be from the Inland Revenue, saying that I am entitled to a tax refund of £4,245 - apparently because I have always paid my taxes, have never filed for bankruptcy and have no criminal record!!

I was given a tax refund ID number, and told that a Legal Account Manager called Ray Martin would come to my house this afternoon with a cheque. I did point out that the Revenue don't usually call round in person with refund cheques, but they claimed that it was because lots of cheques had gone missing in the post recently!

I haven't worked out exactly how this scam works, and can't find anything about it on the Internet - i suspect that i would have been asked for some account details by Ray Martin to confirm my identity.

Apologies for hijacking the Microsoft scam, but I wondered if anyone knew anything about this particular one?

[sparkysmum]

This is apparently THE No 1 scam right now. Don't be fooled, you are asked to download a programme which enables the scammer to access your passwords and bank details.

[LolaLayla]

Yes it's back again. My DD told me that she had been contacted a couple of days ago. Thankfully she just told them she didn't own a computer and they rang off.

[kazmac]

We've had umpteen of these calls and they are a pain. My mum (in her 70s) got a similar call from someone last week and when she said they don't have a computer (which they don't) the woman on the other end of the phone asked her "Are you sure?" !!!!!!

After getting a very scottish piece of my mum's mind, the woman hung up!

[Alis girls]

We've had it some while back - showed OH - he said he;d told them he wasnt interested.

[Forestchook]

We get these calls fairly regularly. Depending on my mood I argue with them . Try questions like "which computer?" (Hilarious - one said "your second computer", told him it was an amstrad, he asked if I was sitting in front of it I suggested he look up Amstrad then call me back. Wishing I'd asked him which game cassette tape to load when I started it now.) Ask them to send the details in post as you won't agree to anything unless you have it in writting first! When they give you a website address point out that any scammer would easily be able to mock up an officail looking website, so you stilll need the details in writting. They never seem to understand that. Also, get them to confirm their company is registered in the uk, then ask them for the registration number. Last time I tried that he said he couldn't give out personal information

End the call by declining their services but congratulate them if they have managed to be more coherent and able to understand English than any others you have talked to.

Yes yes I know I have too much time on my hands.

 

I have to say they are not very good at insults either. I was a bit impatient last time I spoke to one of these. He obviously felt I was patronising (but didn't know the right word) so finished the call by telling me I was "really really old like a grandmother" oooohhh I was crying for days honest

N

[TheGirlsMum]

Thank you for posting this as I got a phone call today and was informed enough to tell them to "Go Away...Thank you" where would I be without this forum? what with this and getting my dishwasher fixed to.