Is This Company Legit, or Pro Hackers?

I hope this is the correct sub-forum to place this in. If not PLEASE forgive me, and please put it where it belongs. MOST importantly, if what I describe to you is some kind of hacking fraud, please let all of your members be aware.

Not 5 mins ago I got off of a phone call that just came out of the blue, and right off the bat I saw something very odd. Where there is usually the 10-digit ph. #, or someone's name from your Contact list, there was nothing but the # 36 displayed.

An EXTREMELY foreign voice comes on the line (and please don't give me a PC lecture me about the foreign deal). I thought he said he was from Microsoft, but knowing M'soft doesn't call ANYBODY, I became skeptical, but still listened. He was really hard to understand, but he started telling me that I had a leak in my Gateway, and it was creating files that would eventually corrupt my entire hard drive. I went to my PC, and he takes me to the Windows/INF folder, and tells me to type "1". I did, and the first thing that pops up is the 1394.INF file. Then, he tells me to go to <snip>. There I see what you will see if you pull up my jpeg attachment. But you won't let me upload it cuz it's 142kb

That's when I stopped him cold, and told him: "Hold on! I don't even know you, and I've got 15 yrs of work on this PC, and I KNOW M'soft doesn't call anyone, and I'm not about to let a perfect stranger with NO credentials go snooping around on my PC". Then, I asked to speak to his Supv. which he did, and that guy's accent was as bad as the 1st. At any rate, I explained to him I'm not letting a stranger go perusing on my PC when he might very well be a professional hacker. So, I told him " Look, I will get your name and number, and your company name, and I'm going to check you out on a tech forum, and if you are "kosher", I'll give you a call back. So, his number is: 567-252-5647. The name of the company he gave me was Windows Support Optics in Columbus, OH.

So, I want to know if anyone in your community has heard of anything like this, or this company, or whatever, and tell me if I should let them on my PC. Please let me know asap. If they are legit, I want whatever file they were after taken care of. If not, you need to spread the word in your community.

Thanks,
GPL

 

Hey gplea, TimW is correct. My wife got a call a few days ago telling her that her PC had a virus that was corrupting her files and they can fix it on line for $75.00. She told them thanks for letting her know but her husband can fix it for free. Then she hung up. It's and old scam, but some people still fall for it.

 

Unfortunately, it's usually elderly people with limited knowledge about their computers that are taken in by these scams. I even got one of these calls from "Microsoft" when I DIDN'T even have a computer.

 

Ppl who do have good knowledge of how computers work often like to have a bit of fun at the expense of these goons, leading the caller on to believe that they are doing what is being asked of them and so wasting as much of his time as they can. Unfortunately, because of the way the internet works, there isn't any way this time can be used to quickly trace the caller to a location and take him out. Pity!

 

Thanks guys. I've now realized it was a scam, and I'm thankful that I had the presence of mind to realize it, and no harm was done. NickT, I LOVE your wife's reply. Wish there were more women as smart as she.

 

Will someone please tell the moderator that I DID look for the button to indicate my case is RESOLVED, but I couldn't find it. And tell them if it's anywhere on this page, they really need to make it more obvious.

 

No such button on MG, threads are usually left open indefinitely.

 

I tell the scammer on the other end I run linux and hang up!

 

I never had to deal with people like this.

But i heard so much about it

I keep my computers so lean and clean that they dare not call me.:-D

I would report this scam to Microsoft them self's then they can take it to court and sue there buts.

Here is more info on this https://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEFmFMeXV3E