Strange computer scam

[J Diddy]

I maintain an old coworkers computer and she called me today with a rather strange problem. Whenever she is on her computer she gets a phone call from someone offering to fix an issue that is on it. The caller ID comes up as "UNKNOWN" and when she asks for the person's name and company he says them both really fast so that they cannot be understood. She doesn't do what he tells her to do and she is not computer savvy enough to tell me what he wants her to do.

I told her to change her email and bank passwords ASAP. I also told her to report this to her ISP (SHAW) just incase it has been reported before. I'm sure they won't help her but who knows. She plans to just leave the PC off until I can get over to her house.

I can't get over to her place until Thursday and my googling isn't turning up any results. Anyone ever heard of this obvious scam?

EDIT: Doh! Better google search criteria came up with this:
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2011/01/04/...-going-strong/

[Swayze11]

My mother got this call maybe a month or two ago with something similar. The call started off with "Hello my name is (somename) from (some company), we have detected you have something wrong with your windows 7 computer" my mother is the last person to know what OS she is running so she told the guy she would just wait for me to come home and fix it but the guy kept saying it was really easy to fix and he would walk her through it.

Thankfully she clued in that something wasnt right and just hung up on the guy.

My guess is they just assume a lot of people have Windows 7 and get the user to go to some website that will "fix the problem" and give them banking information.

[GreenLantern]

Link is safe?

I have to admit that clicking a link in a thread called computer scam makes me nervous...

[J Diddy]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Link is safe?

I have to admit that clicking a link in a thread called computer scam makes me nervous...

LOL...yeah it is safe.

[Bobblehead]

That has been happening for a few years. They get people to install some sort of remoting software (like logmein) then get on and try to recover passwords and financial information. A social hack, you might say.

[ken0042]

Any chance the computer has a dial up modem attached? I could see a variant of the dialer malware that was big 10 years ago; if it can cause your computer to dial out the company would have your phone number.

[J Diddy]

No modem attached.

I just got more info from her. Apparently the person has called her 5 times but she can only remember being on the computer 2 of those 5 times. So I don't think there is anything on her PC telling them when she is using it. I'll go and check it out anyway but I think it is just coincidence and paranoia.

I hate going over there because one small fix turns into a million other fixes...I then end up being there for 3 hours and get some cookies for my assistance.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by J Diddy

No modem attached.

I just got more info from her. Apparently the person has called her 5 times but she can only remember being on the computer 2 of those 5 times. So I don't think there is anything on her PC telling them when she is using it. I'll go and check it out anyway but I think it is just coincidence and paranoia.

I hate going over there because one small fix turns into a million other fixes...I then end up being there for 3 hours and get some cookies for my assistance.

that's why my caveat for helping any family with computer issues is that i get to wipe it and do a fresh Windows install and lock it down as necessary. even better if they want to buy a new PC and they just give me the money to build one. i used to get a call from my brother and his wife about once every week or two for some issue with their HP POS, but when the motherboard died on it and i built them one from Memory Express, i haven't gotten a troubleshooting call since

[Bobblehead]

Here is a description from one of the type of scams being done...

The scam always starts the same way: the phone rings at someone's home, and the caller – usually with an Indian accent – asks for the householder, quoting their name and address before saying "I'm calling for Microsoft. We've had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer."

Dire forecasts are made that if the problem is not solved, the computer will become unusable.

The puzzled owner is then directed to their computer, and asked to open a program called "Windows Event Viewer". Its contents are, to the average user, worrying: they look like a long list of errors, some labelled "critical". "Yes, that's it," says the caller. "Now let me guide you through the steps to fixing it."

The computer owner is directed to a website and told to download a program that hands over remote control of the computer, and the caller "installs" various "fixes" for the problem. And then it's time to pay a fee: £185 for a "subscription" to the "preventative service".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...a-call-centres

[J Diddy]

I'm surprised I haven't heard of this scam before. It looks like it has been around for a while. I have been in IT for over 10 years and this may be one of the more clever ones I have seen. I know a lot of people that would fall for this. Unfortunately, a few of them are my family members.

I got a phone call from these guys. The caller ID says 123-456-7890. Same MO... asked for me by name and asked me if my computer was on and if I was nearby it. I told him I don't own a computer.

[llama64]

My mother got called by someone representing "Computer Tech Support Inc". They wanted her to let them remote in to her machine and run some of their "specialized malware removal software". I didn't she fell for it... but I told her to take her machine into a Memory Express just to be safe. I've stopped doing tech support for my family on the claim that I know nothing about Windows anymore (moved to mac.. hehehe). One of the biggest reasons I flipped - just didn't want to deal with the malware crap anymore, at least not on my work machine.

Anyways, NEVER trust tech support over the phone. Take it to an actual store - one that you can confirm exists and can sue into oblivion if they try to scam you.

[ComixZone]

Yep, this is still going strong. Someone from my office had their wife get stung by this. From what I could tell, they did nothing but look around for passwords etc.

I got another call yesterday and told them I didn't have a computer and hung up.

They called again today and after faking my "dumb blonde" routine for 15 minutes and pretending to do what he asked I told him he was a fraud and a scam artist and to take me off his calling list and to never call me back. I then hung up on him.

He called back 1 minute later and said " you are very educated ma'am... Know if you would let me..." and that's when I screamed at him I was calling the police and repeated that he never call again.

He hasn't called back again yet.

[IliketoPuck]

My Fiancee just received an interesting call from "tech-optimizers," asking about her HP computer that runs windows vista.

The man said his name was Brad Johnson, yet had a thick Indian accent. He told my fiancee that she had an undetectable virus on her computer, and kept asking her to log onto it so that he could help walk her through the steps to clear the virus.

She didn't log onto her computer, and the guy was very pushy, asking her to log on and when she didn't he asked if he could have a time that she would be logging on so that he could call back and walk her through the process.

I called scam as soon as I heard this, thoughts?

[Northendzone]

wonder how brad new she had an "undectable" virus........i suppose that she could have had some fun with this guy by mocking his name, making him hold while she booted up her pc for an hour etc.......

seems like a scam.........

[Barnes]

Scam. There's a thread on this somewhere in the tech forum. They will walk you through downloading malicious software under the guise of fixing it.

[kirant]

Tell them you're running Windows 7 and see if they correct you.

But seriously, it's a scam.

[Nammer403]

its a scam for sure, i had a similar call one time saying its my internet provider along with my computer is a threat of being attacked by viruses etc. they wouldnt answer which company my provider is

[GoinAllTheWay]

I'd tell the guy I'm running a quantum computer and I'm back tracing his a$$. Oh man, consequences would NEVER be the same.