Windows Phone Scam

Just had one of those scam phone calls from an Indian chap named ‘Brian from Microsoft’. My dad has had several of these in the past and he managed to keep them on the phone for for 2 hours before they caught on that he was just wasting their time and running up their phone bill. What's the best way to make these scams backfire on them? Is it just a matter of wasting their time like my dad does or is there anything else I could do?

My conversation went something like this...

Brian – Sir you have problem with your computings. It says so on out servers.
Me – Which "computings", we have more than one?
Brian – All of them.
Me – What’s my IP address?
Brian. 192.168.1 and I am unable to give out the last 3 digits due to confidentiality.
Me – That's not it, and it’s a private IP address so you wouldn’t have that anyway. What’s my public IP address?
Brian – No I am right, I am Microsoft Certified I know better than you.
Me – I’ve got it on my screen now and you’re wrong (It was actually 192.16.0...). I am Microsoft Certified as well actually. (Actually true)
Brian – Ok prove it. How do you get to event viewer?
Me – Right-click on Computer, click Manage, then Event Viewer on the left hand side.
Brian – What’s it used for?
Me – You can view event logs, and they’re categorized as Information, Error, or something else which I can’t remember.
Brian – Ha! I caught you out!
Me – Just because I can’t remember everything about Event Viewer it doesn’t mean I’m not Microsoft certified. Ok, what exams have you taken?
Brian - All of them.
Me - MCTS? MCITP? MCSE?
Brian - I don't have to tell you, I don't need to prove it.
Me - So you ring me up telling me I've got a problem with my computer, I want to make sure that you're suitably qualified to fix it, but you "don't have to", yet you want me to prove to you that I know what Event Viewer is?

And it went on like that for ages until eventually he got fed up and then hung up. I've also got a whistle next to phone that we used on prank callers once, didn't think to use it this time though. Next time... :-D

 

DavidGP, please post your mobile number so this can be "properly tested?"

:-D

Thanks so much for the chart!

 

Bummer was hoping you'd post your number.. I know how to avoid being traced :-D

 

I keep my conversations with telemarketing scammers much lighter.

Usually, I just tell them they sound cute and ask them for a date. It's even funnier if they're the same sex you are. :-D

 

Here is my conversation with telemarketers.

Me: "Hello?"
Them: *Silence* then "Hello my..."
Me: *CLICK*


As soon as I hear the pause, they are lucky to get a word out before I disconnect the call. Them saving money with VoIP is also why they lose calls (with me anyway).

 

Or you could put yourself on the Do Not Call list. It's free, and since we've been on it (about 11 years now) I can count on one hand the number of telemarketers who call the house.

 

Count yourself lucky. I've added myself and others to that list regularly and it doesn't help much.

 

Really? I put the house phone and my cell phone on it at the same time, and of the very few telemarketing calls I get on either one, only once has someone called again after the first time I told them I was on it. But I truly have had maybe 4-5 telemarketing calls in over a decade.

 

I'm on the do not call list here in Canada and we're still getting calls through. These telemarketers routinely change their tel #'s and when they call from another country Canada is unable to go after them.

Got a whistle alongside the phone, have used it twice but mostly I just don't pick up the phone any longer if I don't recognize the tel. #. I used to be polite and asked them to remove our tel # from their calling list but to no avail.

Never received a call from India or wherever, pretending to be Microsoft or *Windows*. Pity!

PS: Sometimes I type these tel #'s in google and see that lots of people complain about them telemarketers.

 

Yep, being on 'Do not call" list made no difference over here, either. Usually, they are operating on an anonymous V.O.I.P. from Asia or India, anyway. Some are just using pirated phone lines.
The problem with being 'clever' and wasting the criminal's time is that you are also wasting YOUR time rolleyes.
For me, either the No. gets barred, if it is a real No., (usually domestic scammers), or the call gets immediately disconnected if either they, don't answer after me saying "Hello" and waiting a few seconds, start asking for "Mr. or Mr's So-and-So when they obviously don't know who they're ringing, or start talking B.S. and start asking "how I am, etc.", since I know no stranger would give a flying toss as to my state of wellness, etc. rolleyes. Also the ones that ring me out of the blue and start demanding my name. Seriously, if you are a complete stranger ringing me up, IDENTIFY YOURSELF and state what you want, or get lost!

P.S.:- I got interrupted making this post, by another looser that rings daily for years and gets auto-blocked.:foolish

 

DNC list does not work any more it is use less these people find ways around this option every time.Just get your self caller ID if it comes up as a blank name or odd name that you do not recognize just don't pick it up.They will stop calling i don't pick up any number i do not recognize.Either that or just keep the phone next to you and turn the ringer off and just watch it for the light up this is what i do mostly.

 

Personal experience says it does, in fact, still work.

 

If I have some spare time my way is similar, male or female

Them: Hello, I'm from .........
Me: (In my best imitation of a sexy voice) What are you wearing ?
Them: Sorry, I don't understand
Me: What are you wearing ?

If they bother to go on then it gets really hot in here :-D

 

DNC is worthless to me as well, still get calls

 

I've been told the same thing by others, DNC lists DoNotWork

I am a little confused by this thread, as I dont answer my phone unless I know the number...Calls that the CallerID says variants of "UNKNOWN" are something I havent picked up since caller ID first came out

It's true, in 1988 I didnt answer an UNKNOWN a call from Elin Nordegren, but otherwise I have ways to reach me: email/text/ESP.

 

you guys all amazed me, trying to get his phone number to call him, etc

am I the only person who still sits out in front of someones home, waiting for them to go to their car and follow them?


David; those plates are about to expire...just a heads up:cool

 

For your future scamming needs: In the UK licence plates (or as we call them "registration plates" or more commonly "number plates") are assigned to one vehicle and stay with it through sales etc (unless they are custom plates). The Road Fund Licence ("tax disc") is a small paper disc that is purchased yearly or six-monthly from the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) which sits in a holder in the lower-right of the car windscreen. This is the equivalent of Americans getting the small year sticker on the licence plate (or whatever )

Custom number plates, however, are the property of the owner and can be transferred between vehicles, as long as you tell the DVLA when you transfer them.

This way of using number plates has the advantages that the letters and numbers are assigned based on a pattern. On the current numberplate style the first two digits are always letters and they signify the region the car was originally registered in. The next two digits are always numbers and signify the six-months of registration, with 0 numbers being for the first six months of the year and the 5 code being used for the second six months of the year. The last three digits are always letters and are a random identification code.

An example is the numberplate VE02 WBW, which is a car registered in the first half of 2002 in Worcester, in the Severn Valley.

UK cars are required to carry a white numberplate on the front of the car and a yellow one on the rear. These must be of reflex reflective material with black lettering with spacing, typeface and font size confirming to British Standard BS AU 145d.

Now, you won't make this mistake again, will you? If you do, I have much more boring information to force you to read...

 

Anyway, to pull this topic back on thread, have a look at youtube where some videos have been posted by different people who all had a similar idea: allow the scammers to connect to a virtual machine or spare computer they can trash. These guys cooperated with them as they had nothing to loose, even fooling them in one video to continue working for a number of days before being paid as the guy convinced them that his bank was having problems. He obviously called them out once they deleted some of his critical windows files which caused his computer not to boot.

Surprisingly they called him again a few months later thinking he was a new customer. When he called them out again after allowing them to work on a virtual machine again they "retaliated" by using his VM to browse to porn sites, and looked for personal files.

 

MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah

I had no idea you had this title here although I know your job required a high degree of pc lore.
Peter N