*Windows* called me

Finally got one of these scams yesterday. I told him that I don't have a computer and he answered ... yes you do ma'am. :-D .. silence and I hung up. Buggers!

I had rehearsed in my mind what I would say and since it came so unexpectedly I forgot the scenario. In short, next time I will start talking about that I have double glazed windows and that they're clean.

 

Heh-heh, I received one of those calls as well. The caller said I am having trouble with my Windows PC. I don't run Windows. I hung up on the caller in mid sentence. :-D

 

LOL I hope they call me!

Along with the theme of your plan, one year I seemed to get a gazillion sale calls from some outfit that sold actual house windows. I finally decided asking them to stop calling was a wash, so the next time they called I had a plan like yours. It was a women this time, and after she gave me her the pitch I said something along the lines of: "Miss, I don't have any windows. I don't believe in them."

There was a long pause, and she finally asked, "You don't have any at all? You live in a house right? You said you owned the house?"

"Yep, sure do own it. Big house. No windows though. I like it nice and dark." Then, I lowered my voice and said, "Hey, you want to know what I like to do in the dark?"

She hung up on me! :-D

I gotta come up with a spiel for a phishing call about windows . . .

 

>> Finally got one of these scams yesterday. I told him that I don't have a computer and he answered ... yes you do ma'am. .. silence and I hung up. Buggers! <<

I don't even bother to answer the telephone anymore and instead just let all of the calls go directly to my answering machine and/or voicemail. A long time ago I saw an interview on CNN with a former telemarketer who said that when they make "cold calls" to any telephone number; they always make a special note whether the person they are calling actually picks up (or not).

If someone does pick up the phone and take the call directly their phone number goes on that "sucker list" which is consequently sold to other telemarketing companies. Whether or not you actually buy anything is just as important as knowing for sure that you actually will pick up the phone (and perhaps buy something in the future). This very important for them to know in advance of calling you up.

Bottom line is that it is much harder to sell you something from your answering machine or voicemail! That's why telemarketers usually hang up at that point.

Good Luck -- COMP​

 

It was my hubby who took the call first (he didn't say anything) and I asked him to give the phone to me. Don't know what the caller told him. I am usually the one picking up the phone after looking at the call display prior to picking up the phone or not to see who's calling and it was this time our area code that showed up. After he said *yes you do ma'am* I told him: NO, you don't! Then silence after that from his end.

This scam is going on for many years and I read a lot about it.

@Spad: LOL, yes I had hoped for many years that they would call me.
@hitest: How long ago did you get that call?
@compuable: when I don't recognize the tel # I just don't pick up the phone and if no message is left I google the tel # and most of them are telemarketers eventhough I am on the DNC list.

 

I received the call relatively recently, I think it was 1-2 months ago. I resent the fact that the criminals target elderly people. The jerks called my Dad (he is 88) and he thankfully did not fall for their BS.
Cyber criminals are inventive and tenacious.

 

Kudos to your dad! I'm 71 years old and realized immediately when he said *Windows* that it was a scam. The reason I was asking you when you received the call is that this scam has been going on for years and much written about. That's why I am surprised that it's still ongoing. We know that Microsoft/Windows NEVER calls their customers.

 

Hey oma, I got one of these calls from "Microsoft" wink, when there was a bit of a lull at work so I thought I would have some fun. I let them take me to the event viewer and they pointed out serious problems indicated by all the errors (there is always errors) which they said they would help me to fix for free. I agreed and they wanted me to disable the UAC (win 7) and then start remote desktop. I said that I had done this (but really I hadn't) and then I gave them an access code which I made up (hehehe) and everytime they said they couldn't see any connection I kept saying that something is happening because the windows hourglass is being displayed. I acted like I didn't know much about computers so they kept talking me through it but it wasn't working. Then they said they would send me an email with a file to run that would eliminate the problems we were having. Then I told them when they sent the email that Outlook was taking forever to download the file but of course I didn't tell them I had given them an email address from another company so it wouldn't bounce. After a while of supposedly waiting for the email to download I asked did they think all the errors they discovered were causing the problem and they said probably. I then said we have another five computers on the network and maybe we should check those. I managed to get them to check two more computers before they were a bit suspicious.
In fact I never left my workstation and when I transferred the call on our PABX I just transferred it to myself and in between telling the big boss. At one stage the big boss came in to see me and he was in on the scam so I put him on the phone and he thanked them for helping us identify a future problem. They kept trying for just over one hour and we finished up that they must have a problem at their end as our internet was working fine although they still kept on asking if I had done everything they said because it should be working. At least that was an hour they were not bothering other people roflmao roflmao roflmao roflmao roflmao

FYI When I transferred the call to myself the first time I asked the big boss to call our telco and trace the call but they said it was untraceable somewhere in Pakistan

It was good fun wasting their time for a change

 

I've had 3-4 now. On the last one I started started talking to the woman making her think she was hooking me then in the middle of the conversation I just said-

"Do you not feel bad about scamming people?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you not feel bad making a living scamming vulnerable people?"

"Blah blah blah insult insult insult." Hung up.

These people don't care about anyone else.

 

Anti-Scammer Device™ (also works against tele-marketers):

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3258/3176741761_5d5f94502e.jpg

One good long blow usually does the trick.

:major

 

Oh yes Caliban, I have one of those and it's laying right beside the phone. Used it a few times though in some years as I usually look on the call display first before picking up the phone, or if not sure let the answering machine kick in. If a genuine phone call I can always pick it up then.

@joffa: LOL
@Kestrel13: Just like you I wished that *Windows* would phone me. Had it all prepared in my mind in what I would say but when it finally happened I forgot the script. Bummer.

 

I have a program on my cell phone that answers their calls with a fax signal.

 

Wow, talk about something that could be interpreted in more than one way :-D

 

Hehehe now that is clever
When we were getting a lot of cold calls at home around tea time I swapped the connections of the fax in my home office with the house phone LOL
The cold calls stopped after a few days

Adry your trick is so much cooler coz you don't have to climb under the desk and fight your way through the tangle of cables and power cords :cool

 

lol pretty funny that this thread shows up again out of no where.:-D

This is way i have caller ID lol.

 

Oma started the thread the day before yesterday; that's "showing up again out of nowhere"?

 

I had considered setting my answer machine message to the dial-up modem buzz sounds...http://www.dialupsound.com/

What would be nice if your phone number was a premium rate number, as reported here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23869462

 

I think i saw another thread like this a while ago.

 

HA!

Pun intended!

 

I just get the lady, (who is also the Receptionist), to handle it. 90% gets filtered out before even reaching us, the rest lasts about 2 secs., tops before they are disconnected.
Otherwise the Tel-Co Answering Service can handle it. They don't last long, but like a disease, they keep coming back in some other Loser's form
I'd kick all the unknowns, but since some will be customers, I guess not, just yet.:major

 

We need a comedian to make the prank calls to these places.HEHE:-D

This is way caller ID was invented so that you don't get scammed or have to deal with them annoying telemarketers.

Just play loud music in there ears.Some kinda screaming metal band haha.