Fun with "Windows Technical Support" scammers...

[SoundAndMotion]

Disclaimer: Yes, I know I'm weird. Yes, I may have too much time on my hands.

For whatever reason, we get several scam calls a month from "Windows Technical Support" telling me they have detected viruses on my computer. They have for a few years. My wife (the smart one of us) recognizes and ignores their calls. Sometimes I ignore, sometimes I answer. I often just hang up, but dozens of times I've yelled at them that they are a scam and they should quit calling, usually swearing, which seems to anger them. When they ask why I think they are a scam, I inform them we have no Windows computers. They still call.

I decided to have a little fun, and waste their time (yes, mine too). I created a "fake" Windows computer. It's a real computer, but it has no personal info on it. I created a fresh Windows-To-Go USB stick, and added a USB hard drive. I downloaded a large set of files, a corpus of files, to give them something to encrypt.

There is no real, personal info, and it connects to my guest wifi. Nothing else is connected to that network. I realize that Elliot Alderson or the NSA could easily hack anything and everything I have, but am I risking anything by letting these "tech support" scammers lock up my fake computer and then laughing at them?

 

[Doodski]

I just use a Voip.ms phone number for non critical stuff and that cuts down on weird calls.

 

[Wombat]

 

[SoundAndMotion]

I just use a Voip.ms phone number for none critical stuff and that cuts down on weird calls.

They call the land line we've had for 16 years... no plans to disconnect, since many people we know only have that number. Thanks for the idea though.

View attachment 47305

LOL. I guess you did find a personal file... one of my selfies!
My family loved that, but my wife is threatening to call me Alice.

 

[RayDunzl]

"We've detected virus on your PC!"
"Oh no!"
"Are you at your PC now?"
"Yes!"
"Is it turned on?"
"Can't you tell if it is turned on or not?"
"No."
"Then how do you know it is virus infected?"
--- click

 

[Soniclife]

We might need an army of time wasters of the scammers got hold of this.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/22/microsoft_support_database_leak/

If this allows the scammers to call people who have previously called Microsoft and talk about the previous issue more people will be taken in.

Let's hope they get hit with a massive GDPR fine.

 

[RayDunzl]

 

[Hipper]

In the UK we have a way of stopping cold calls on landlines called 'telephone preference service'. You just contact them to say you don't want cold calls and they stop them. Unfortunately they only stop calls from the UK - UK companies sign up to this system - so foreign calls can get in. A few years ago I changed my telephone number and that stopped all calls - until now anyway.

What I did with Windows cold call if I was in the mood was to pretend to be some doddery old git (not far from the truth!) and say my computer is in the other room. I need to turn it on - that takes time - then as they give me instructions pretend to keep going slowly back and forth. When I get fed up I just leave the phone off the hook.

 

[DonH56]

 

[milw50717]

You are giving them access to a computer within your home network, albeit a guest one. Make sure that you have client/wireless isolation set up. Also, whilst not common routers have been hacked via guest wi-fi. At a minimum they will will likely get your IP address, which will go into a database for other scams.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. YMMV.

 

[North_Sky]

When a Microsoft scammer calls you next time, just infect him with a virus (from the computer he's using in his own home). And infest a virus in his home phone line too.

Scam the scammers, find their email addresses and send them junk mail every single day till they die.

 

[Dimitri]

If I'm busy I tell them "that's funny, we haven't had a computer here for at least 2 years".
If I have a little time and they ask me for payment in order to clean it up, I switch it around a little bit and say things like: Ahh...Thanks for calling. Yes I can clean your computer as soon as you give me a credit card number.
They say "no I will clean your computer if you give me a credit card.
and In turn I say: "I don't understand you called to have your computer fixed and now you don't want to pay ? This makes no sense. May I please have your credit card number?"
Sometimes I even switch to my fake indian accent which is pRetty damn gUUd !

So far they haven't called at a convenient time so I can "do" whatever they ask me to do (without actually doing it) and have them go nuts that "it's not working".

What I always wondered is if the people that call believe this is a real job or if they know they are just calling random people.

 

[Doodski]

When a Microsoft scammer calls you next time, just infect him with a virus (from the computer he's using in his own home). And infest a virus in his home phone line too.

Scam the scammers, find their email addresses and send them junk mail every single day till they die.

The good old days of trojan/virus email attachments, war scripts and DDOS attacks are pretty much over >@^_*@< My security suite Bitdefender doesn't even allow me to install software to retrieve a email password from Windows Live Mail. All my old war scripts from IRC that I used to protect channels and kick baddies have been cleansed, quarantined and deleted. To have a secure PC these days means to not have any "stuff" on it. That's the price of a secure PC.

 

[North_Sky]

Good.
_____

Windows and Edge browser; an article I fully 100% disagree with ...
• https://amp.businessinsider.com/mic...reat-almost-identical-to-google-chrome-2020-1

Methinks it's a scam.

 

[Dimitri]

Good.
_____

Windows and Edge browser; an article I fully 100% disagree with ...
• https://amp.businessinsider.com/mic...reat-almost-identical-to-google-chrome-2020-1

Methinks it's a scam.

I once spend the weekend with my wife's sister and didn't realize until my wife came home and yelled at me and her sister.
Not a true story .

Who better to write ... "stories" than a History major? Perhaps Philosophy or Anthropolgy could give him a run for his money.

 

[North_Sky]

 

[g29]

I get one or 2 Apple/iCloud calls each week. I don't own any Apple computers. I go along with the call and sound seriously concerned that my iCloud account has been compromised. When they ask what Apple products I have, I tell them I have some McIntoshes and some Honeycrisps when in season.

 

[g29]

The best one I received was from the IRS threatening to arrest me if I didn't give them my CC# to pay my back taxes and fines. He said the police were on the way to my house to arrest me. When I asked specifically who I was talking to, the caller with the heavy East Indian accent answered "Officer Will Smith". I busted out laughing and gave him props for creativity. "Officer Will Smith", as in THE MEN IN BLACK ???

 

[nm4711]

A Late Night Show here in Germany made a video on this. They tried to steal as much time of the scammers as they could. Here is the video:

 

[MRC01]

https://jollyrogertelephone.com/