Scam phone call

I'm not sure that this is the right forum to post this issue but I feel I should share it anyway.

Yesterday I had a phone call from a lady stating that she was from a company called World PC Tech and that they had received a report that I had downloaded some polymorphic viruses which Norton could not detect and she wanted to help me fix the problem. She said the report had been received via the Microsoft Error reports that occur when there is a software problem. She proceeded to ask me to run some software on my computer but I refused. She was unable to tell me which version of Windows I was running. She gave me a phone number to call her back on, 03 9008 4298 which is a Victorian number (Australia). She said her name was Shawn Davis.

I know this was some kind of scam but how can they get away with it when they give a valid phone number? I rang the number and sure enough someone answered  "World PC Tech". I just hung up.

 

Richo 

Anybody can get a telephone.  Phone scams have been around since it was invented.  I have had two of the same kind of phone calls.  It is a great way to get access to a machine and deposit a keylogger.  You were smart to be suspicious.

Hi Richo,

 

It is almost unbelievable the kind of scams people can come up with to try and get someone to part with their money. I was recently told by another Guru that he and his wife stayed at some hotel and were called presumably by the front desk stating there was some problem with the credit card on file. Fortunately he played it cautiously and told the caller they would stop at the front desk in person and straighten it out.

 

When they stopped at the front desk, all the employees were confused at first - that is until they suddenly realized the call had actually come from the outside somewhere and they were going to have security look into it.

 

The moral of course is to never believe anything you are told and to independently verify it before taking action. Never click on a link in an email unless you absolutely know the sender and are expecting the email. Never take anyone's word on the phone and take action unless you can independently verify their identity and that they were indeed the one who made the call....

 

Scammers and other criminal elements are getting more and more creative and they will stop at nothing to get their hooks into us.

 

Best wishes.

Allen

Hi Richo

                 Richo wrote.......

                                   I rang the number and sure enough someone answered  "World PC Tech". I just hung up.


 Good move ony our part! These people are becoming more blatant in the levels they will go to in order to achieve their goal of gaining access to personal data ! 

Sadly ..the telephone has become a very popular approach method lately ! The "autodialler approach with the " silence on pickup " is also  common of late !

The autodialler rings the numbers in their database ...and monitors for "pickup " .If it rings repeatedly during normal working hours for most people .... ( 9 to 5 ) ........without your answering...................................................................................................

You can then almost guarantee an evening call from a "live agent " around early evening ...just  as you are winding down !

 

I give these pests no opportunity to waste my time ...but on the odd occasion ...I take pleasure in wasting theirs...:smileymad:

 

As soon as they mention " Running scans to check for threats"  of any kind ......I waffle about and ask them to hold whilst I get a pen or pencil...(thirty seconds of shuffling and scrabbling on my part )

I then do a bit of various shuffling and riffling of pages of a nearby book or magazine ! (another thirty or forty seconds)

Then when they finally start the "spiel " ..I ask them to repeat everything due to my being " hard of hearing....or a poor reception on the landline etc:!!

The normal script they then  follow  , will then go along the lines of how they can "Fix" my machine...Yeah...right .....!

Playing the "compliant and  " wavering potential customer .....really gets them interested ...The absolute inaccurate and totally useless jargon they then pour out is amazing !

 

I don't resort to verbal abuse..but its' really hard not to I guess ! But a bit of  " techno - babble " with a few choice "made up " phrases like " Do you use Cloud based heuristic viability and polymorphic wild virus mutantional generative scanning ?"brings the converstion to a temporary pause whilst they try and figure it out !

Nope..I don't know what it means either :smileywink:! ....But it sure throws them off the scripts that they work from !! 

 

When I repeatedly ask if their scanning will sort the "Polymorphic wild virus mutants " They usually hang up double quick !

 

As a pointer to just how far these people will go ..I even had one guy trying to answer the above "nonsense query "!!

I don't make a habit of this type of response to these pests..but it sure makes you feel as though you've struck back and wasted a bit of their time for a change  !

Way to go bleeper24!  I love it!  I must have got your dialler the other night.  She told me that I had an undetected  polymorphic infection on my machine.  At least they can learn new words. :smileyvery-happy:

Hi Delphinium..............

                                          Delph wrote..............................................................................................................................................................

                                                                   I must have got your dialler the other night.  She told me that I had an undetected  polymorphic infection on my machine.  At least they can learn new words.:smileyvery-happy: ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Perhaps they don't even know what "Polymorphic " really means Delph......for all they may know...it could refer to a "Parrot on painkillers" :smileyindifferent:!!   Seriously though...the levels that these pests are going to  , are fast becoming a pain in the butt !!

 

I used to think the Nigerian email scans that begged for help in allowing them to access my bank account to deposit a fortune were an annoyance...but these scammers are just as prolific lately !

 

OO'ps ...must go and sharpen my pencils ...and get my stack of magazines ready ..It will soon be time for the phone to ring ...and the "Polymorphic....heuristic.....supercallifragillistic...Scan for virus....Oh hell...!! ....Here we go again :smileyvery-happy:

I'll repost here something that I have posted elsewhere since it's a great example of social engineering ...

 


 

Here's one not even the best security software can protect you from!

 

We just ran into a very clever attempted Phone Scam while spending a weekend in a hotel ....

 

We'd checked in the previous afternoon. Late the next morning the phone rang in the room and my wife answered; all I could hear was her saying "We will be going out shortly so we'll stop by the front desk and sort it out" a couple of times and then she hung up.

 

"Front desk called to say they had a problem verifying the credit card we used to check in .... I said we'd call by and deal with it".

 

Didn't strike me as abnormal especially since I'd had a renewed card not long ago -- certainly since we'd last stayed there.

 

So we stopped by the front desk ..... and got a blank stare from the receptionist when we asked what the problem was. He queried the other two and checked our account on the computer -- nothing wrong.

 

Then he said quietly -- "There's someone calling in from outside doing this; we'll tell our security so they can try to trace the call back -- thanks for telling us quickly"

 

Phew!

 

I said to my wife that I was glad she'd taken the call since I was reasonably certain I would have regarded it as not at all unusual and, since it was my credit card and in my wallet at the time, answered any questions like repeating the number on the card and I probably would have given the security code on the back when asked for it -- after all it's something once gets used to filling in on some mail order sites so why shouldn't the hotel ask?

 

Clever Social Engineering .....

 

So be careful if you get a call in your hotel room -- don't assume anything any more than if someone called you at home and asked .......


 

Feel free to repost this especially if you are active in travel forums!

One would think that people that clever could get a real job but it probably doesn't pay nearly as well. :smileymad:

HI bleeper24,

 

That was a GOOD one! Ha, I loved that one!! Sometimes I like to "play around" with them a bit too but I usually get too impatient to go as far as you did, but I LOVE it! :smileyvery-happy: (Why do they always call at the worst possible time when I have no time to PLAY with them?)  I have to admit for me I tend to give them a few "choice" words before hanging up on them in mid-sentence! I'll have to try yours on them sometime. :smileyhappy:

 

Hugh, I mentioned your example of the hotel scam above but I paraphrased quite a bit. :smileywink:

 

Best wishes.

Allen

Hi Allen

              AllenM wrote

                                     [ I have to admit for me I tend to give them a few "choice" words before hanging up on them in mid-sentence! I'll have to try yours on them sometime. ]

 

Feel free Allen .....you're welcome  !  :smileyhappy:.......Like you...I used to give em' a bit of blasphemy:  :smileymad: ...but it shut them down too quickly !

I got so sick of em' ..I decided to "play around " for a while as it gave a bit more satisfaction in the knowlege that you were "getting your own back " ! 

As you rightly say ...there isn't always the time ...but I found after a few more calls ...the " dangling em' on a line " method ...resulted in a total stoppage of the annoyance !

Sad thing is ...they just probably move on to some other poor individual ...and on it goes !

Must admit though ..the "warm glow of satisfaction " after wasting their time certainly makes up for the "aggro" they've given me over time :smileywink:



Glad you passed it on -- someone elsewhere says it's not new and to check Snopes which does have a page on it:

 

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/phishing/hotel.asp 

 

Old or not, it's well thought out as a scam and what Snopes say about how hotels try to stop it explains some occasions when I've tried to get through on the phone to someone in a room that I've been asked for the name when I've just given the room number.

Hi Hugh

                 Thanks for the "heads up " on this "Hotel " scam scenario .....Well worth knowing about all the devious ploys of the scammers ..It's one I wasn' t at all familiar with ...so thanks for that !

Just shows....there's always room for any tips on keeping ahead of these pests !

My " closest encounter " with being caught out ....was whilst I had too many thoughts whizzing round at the same time ...and I nearly ended up by "clicking in the wrong place at the wrong time " !

Forewarned is Forearmed ...So thanks again for the info Hugh :smileywink: