'Microsoft support centre' scam continues, and takes turn for worse

Originally posted by Extralien
I had two emails the other day..both from supposedly legitimate sources...both asking for my details.. both are scams..

sent to me two days apart, somebody somewhere knows i have a link between the two accounts.

One was supposedly from paypal, the other from my bank..

These may be automated messages sent out when links are established.. my computer is very safe.. but somewhere along the line, this info is being collected and a picture has been built..

be careful out there..

If you have just set up a new account between PayPal and your Bank then yes, you will see a few odd emails in which a few transactions (all under $1.00) will take place as the two banking institutions confirm the legitimacy of the account. If you are new to PayPal you'd be wise to familiarize yourself with their policies. If you are going to sell on eBay be aware that as a Seller you will have almost no rights; PayPal and eBay cowtow to the Buyer regardless of how untrue or ridiculous that Buyers claim may be. I learned the hard (expensive) way to pay for Tracking of every parcel I ship.

Originally posted by captiva
If you receive unsolicited mail addressed to "Mr John Smith" and not John Smith, dont open it. Send it back. ( Search "Freeman" online for an answer to why).

I don't think that search term was specific enough, I got:

"How to send your fan mail and autograph requests to Morgan Freeman" in the search results and other unrelated stuff.

The advice I heard was DON'T send it back, because sending it back only confirms to them they have a live e-mail address. Isn't it better to not respond?

Regarding the Microsoft scam, I pretty much assume that all phone calls and correspondence I receive from anyone I don't personally know may be a scam. I may miss out on a legitimate offer or two that way, but I've never been scammed that way.

Very interesting thanks for the info. seems a little strange when organizations ring you up "unknown" or "blocked" as well, what kind of tricks are they playing?

Originally posted by vivalarevolution
Microsofty does not exsist kthx.

Please elaborate...

reply to post by madscientistintraining

this is exactly why I usually use fake names, fake numbers, fake everything.

I occassionally get form letters that begin wtih "Dear Lord," Why? Because when asked for a name by corporations I routinely put "Lord" as a first name and "Bucket" as a last name.

Even in real life people don't ask questions. Try it sometime. Next time you go to a restaurant and they ask for a name to call when they're ready to seat you, give them your online handle. I've done this many times and I've never so much as been given a strange look. They simply write it down and call it when the table is ready.

Just go off on a tangent about jobs going over seas. They'll probably hang up lol.

reply to post by LordBucket


very nice attitude i must say. never tried the handle thing in a restaurant, i may well pull that one out when the opportunity comes around.
regards f

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


Thought I would include a new video of a guy that recorded the conversation between himself and the scammers. It is quite funny. The guy told the scammers a few times that he was on a virtual PC - and they still kept trying to access his computer.

reply to post by Truthandinfo


Oh I just love this vid and tape. Years ago I had someone try to pull the Nigerian 419 scam on me.....and I kept them going for about 2 weeeks...set up a bank account for them to wire it into with $1..00 :LOL then they started calling and asking me to send them money and I told them to take it out of the total. I recorded the calls and caller ID, the emails, a fax # they gave me and sent it all to the Secret Service IT was great stringing them aliong

I've had several calls from "Microsoft Tech Support" in India, at first I was polite and told them I'm not interested in your "support" thank you. But it got to a point when I was called a couple of times a day, I no longer respond politely, I ask them what it feels like ripping of people and causing problems on peoples computers, mix in a few curse words, they soon hang up and stop calling.

Reminds me of this

LOL

reply to post by Beegs


This is a very common scam in the UK, how it usually plays out, is they get you to install teamviewer, and hand over control to them to do some "tests".

They then navigate to your IE cache folder, and declare all the cached files to be viruses, and they need to determine the extent of the problem, and ask you to let them install a program to analyze your system. The program that they install IS the virus, for which they then tell you you need to buy their professional service, to remove the virus.

If you part with credit card info, they then remove the virus they just installed. If you don't, nothing happens till you reboot. Then your problems start. You usally end up calling them back on a number they gave you, and giving them the money anyway.

Moral is, impolitely tell them to go away when they ask you to log onto teamviewer.

People are idiots.

And as Ron White says, you cant fix stupid.