Help Identifying Computer

Sigh. We have 5 computers in this house, and apparently one of them is sending out emails because it's infected with malware.

A few weeks ago we got a legitimate message from Comcast about it. It just so happened that my son had a bunch of gamer friends here the previous night. I went though the Malware forum and ran the steps on all the computers here. Didn't find anything, so I figured it was something on one of the visiting kids' laptops, and told my son to let them know they needed to check for malware.

Tonight, we got a phone call from people claiming to be from Microsoft. I wish that Microsoft would hire native English speakers to call native English customers, because these people were incredibly hard to understand, and I say that as a person who has never had a problem understanding Indians during service calls.

At first, I assumed it was some sort of a scam for that very reason, but figured I'd play along just to see what the game was. They had me check some activity in the Computer Management section. (Not sure what - I clicked through, but didn't take notes.) The page showed a lot of Red "E" icons, and he said that was telling me that something was wrong with my computer.

Then he said that my computer was sending out emails...which caught my attention and added legitimacy to his call.

He wanted me to open up my settings so a technician could fix it, but I wasn't convinced that was a good idea. He said I could fix it myself, and he would walk me through it. I told him he have several computers in this house, and needed to know which one, specifically, was sending out the messages.

He said something I couldn't understand, but gave me this number: 8885860 . Then the call was cut off.

So, what is that number?

I'm only partially sure the call was legit, but it seems pretty coincidental that the issue they identified was the same one that Comcast mentioned.

V1270559450001 is what showed up on my caller ID.

Any thoughts?

 

Microsoft does not ever make unsolicited tech support calls to PC users. It is a scam.

 

I agree. It is positively a scam. The number is meaningless.

The call was cut because you did not fall for their attempt.

 

>> We have 5 computers in this house, and apparently one of them is sending out emails because it's infected with malware. A few weeks ago we got a legitimate message from Comcast about it. indyattic <<

If you believe you might be infected with malware; I'd strongly suggest that you install and run both of these freeware utilities: "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free" as well as "Spybot - Search & Destroy"

Side Note: These utilities can both take quite a while to complete their initial malware scans.

Good Luck! -- COMP
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OK - I'll go with that then. I was pretty sure that if my PC was so infected that it was sending out so many unsolicited emails that Microsoft felt compelled to track me down and fix it , Comcast would have pulled the plug already.

It just seemed so bizarre that they picked the same issue that Comcast had warned me about.

Thanks to all!

 

It is not bizarre at all. Probably the two major reasons that scammers want access to your computer are:

1) To turn it into a "mule" that sends out spam messages for the scammer.
2) To install software that will gain your log-on IDs and passwords so they can drain your bank accounts and make charges to your credit cards.

 

Heh - yeah, I know why they want it.

After I found out it was a scam, I googled it, and was surprised to find out how common it is! I think of myself as somewhat in tune with this type stuff, but I had never heard of a PC phone scam even though 15% - 20% of PC users report having received one.

That explains the horrible English.