Muzman on 21/3/2011 at 10:06
Hah. This is classic. I just got off the phone from one of these guys. Pretty hilarious. It seemed like your usual attempt to sell me mobile phones or holidays from some sub-continental chap for a few moments. Having failed to hang up in time I started to give the usual bs that I'm not me and me isn't here and can he leave a message for me and no I can't make any descisions about my holiday plans and phone service as I'm a broke heroin addict convalesing in my brothers house and the doctors say I shouldn't have money and things, but then the bullshit starts in earnest.
He starts telling me he's from some company in california who works for microsoft and they log all these errors from every time my computer gets malicious software copying itself on there. They've been trying desperately to get in touch with me (who isn't home) so they can fix these problems. But luckily I'm home to help save my dad's computer from these malicious files before he get's back.
I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here this is a load of crap. Anyone claiming to have remote insight into your machine from California should be setting off alarm bells right away.
So anyway, he sits me down in front of my machine and tells me all about what I've been doing on it that dad doesn't know about. How my virus software is up to date and they know that, but these things aren't viruses. I get all scared and say "I don't know if we do have anti-virus! What's it called?". He's like "huh?", "What's my anti virus called so I can check it? I don't know where to look." I stay on that for a couple of minutes and he's just going " nonoonono, don't worry about that" and forging on.
Eventually they make you load up the event log in the the run dialogue with magic secret commands, which if typed into google take you straight to sites explaining this particular nonsense.
He tells me for a while about the errors in the log viewer and how they're evidence of malicious software that they know all about and so on and how I shouldn't touch it. Then he says to go back to the run dialogue and type in (
www.logmein123.com) and press return. I faff around for a bit while I read up on it some more pretending I don't know where to type it. He explains it several times where then run box should be. I say "Oh I typed into google by mistake...what does it mean by "logmein123 scam"?", "Nonono, the box down the bottom", ""No but it says 'logmein123 scam' in google, what does that mean?", "That is our technical support website, they will help you with malicious software scams like the errors I was talking about before".
Completely undetered, despite being obviously rumbled at this point (unless he is that dumb). They even put you on hold at a few points in the call for added veritae.
Anyway, I didn't have the time to see just how far it goes. I wish I did, but I just left him there talking to himself. I've always heard of these Nigerian gold scams and so on and never got one, so now I feel all special.
(
http://www.digitaltoast.co.uk/supportonclick-systemrecure-scam) Some people really making them work for their scam dollar
Sg3 on 21/3/2011 at 15:07
Heh-heh, wasting these baddies' time is delightfully ironic.
Kolya on 21/3/2011 at 15:52
Posting the link to the scam site is also kinda ironic. I guess that was the forum auto-linking it though.
Volitions Advocate on 21/3/2011 at 15:55
The Hamachi guys must be really annoyed about this.
Muzman on 21/3/2011 at 17:11
Quote Posted by Kolya
Posting the link to the scam site is also kinda ironic. I guess that was the forum auto-linking it though.
The logmein vpn thing is harmless by itself. It seems they are walking you through connecting one of their guys to your machine using the system. To what end, I don't know. I can't find anyone who has taken it to the conclusion yet. I wish I was one of those OS guys who just has readily abusable boxes lying around.
I wonder how cognisant some of these callers are that this is a con. I've heard things about boiler rooms and so on where it can actually take a while to realise you're selling BS stock in stuff that doesn't exist or is traded in Al's basement in the Bronx rather than on Wall Street. It's just get in there and sell, here's your script etc. Everything else about the place seems legit at first glance.
I wonder if that's true here (in some cases anyway). It's the never give up attitiude that really makes me want to know. I mean I was throwing stuff at him that should have twigged him that I was far more literate than I was making out and tryng to trip him up. But he just kept on going. You'd think the time would be better spent on someone else.
Aja on 21/3/2011 at 17:19
Quote Posted by Muzman
I say "Oh I typed into google by mistake...what does it mean by "logmein123 scam"?", "Nonono, the box down the bottom", ""No but it says 'logmein123 scam' in google, what does that mean?", "That is our technical support website, they will help you with malicious software scams like the errors I was talking about before".
bahaha I wish you'd recorded this part.
There were calls going around here last year—you answer and they tell you that your car insurance is about to expire or something, and that if you act now you won't incur any penalties (of course acting now involves giving them your credit card). I'm not the best actor so when they called me all I could think of on the spot was to be Wild Man Fischer and so I screamed something like DID YOU KILL MARY-ANNE?? IT WASN'T ME I SWEAR IT WASN'T MEEEEE and the funny thing is they don't actually hang up afterwards, but just calmly continue. Needless to say I gave them my card number and now I'm living in an alley.
theBlackman on 21/3/2011 at 17:42
I amuse myself with these calls by interrupting them constantly and putting them on hold to see how long I can keep them on the hook.
"Ooops. There's some on at the door. Hang on please" (Go on HOLD 2 to 3 minutes)
"Ok I'm back where were we?"
"Sorry my other line is ringing" (Hold...) and so on until they fade or I get bored.
As most make money on commission and even with auto dial they can only make about 15 or 20 calls an hour, it ruins their performance factor and cuts into their income.
A select few friends (yeah, I do have a few :) ) have the number. So I usually answer "You have reached 1-800-HOLY COW. God is busy at the moment. This is Gabriel. How can I help you?"
My friends expect this and the conversation continues. The sales and scammers usually hang up before I finish the line.
june gloom on 21/3/2011 at 20:29
When we first moved into this house we had a lot of telemarketers calling us all hours of the day, nonstop. This was well before the Do Not Call list. They were aggressive, rude, and honestly downright threatening at times. And if you hung up, they'd call back. Every time my dialup would disconnect (which it often seemed to do when the upstairs neighbors were having loud fake sex, but that's a separate story) the phone would ring, and ring, and ring, and I'd have to wait for a chance for it to stop ringing and for assholes to stop leaving messages before I could try reconnecting.
We had managed to get most of them to stop calling, either because they gave up, or because we would answer and blow air horns into the telephone. But one guy was persistent, and he would not give up until he'd sold us some shitty magazine. Airhorns were ineffective. Telling him 'fuck off' didn't work. Having the phone company block his number didn't work- apparently his telemarketing firm had several numbers.
So I devised a plan.
I got hold of a long loop of a dog barking and I put that on, as loud I could without it sounding fuzzy. And I waited.
I didn't have to wait long. Sure enough, he called. I put the barking dog loop on, answered the phone, and he started giving me his schpiel. I let him go on for a few minutes, before saying "hold on- SHUT UP! SHUT THAT DAMN DOG UP! Sorry, go ahead." Repeat every minute or so until the fourth time when I said "hold on- SHUT THE FUCK UP! BILLY RAAAAY! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHUT YOUR FUCKING DOG UP!" I put the phone down on the kitchen counter, walked into the other room, turned off the speakers, grabbed my old Louisville slugger, and started pounding it against the floor, screaming profanities loud enough for the phone to hear me in the next room. "SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR DAMN DOG UP? NOW YOU GOTTA BUY A NEW ONE!" Walk back into the kitchen, pick up the phone- "Sorry about that, I'm back. Hello? Hello?"
The guy'd hung up.
He never called back.
fett on 21/3/2011 at 22:23
Thanks, dethy - I needed that. Lol'd even. :laff:
Sulphur on 21/3/2011 at 22:23
'Spiel.'
