scammer posing as windows support Number 1-425-553-2191

[Markfw]

If these guys call, once you see the number, just hang up. I didn't even let them get into their spiel, but Microsoft never calls you unless you call them first, and have support. After the 10th call, and 3 of them I told them the FTC was after them, they sill keep calling. I wish I could have them arrested.

 

[corkyg]

Noted. Thanks, Mark.

 

[WilliamM2]

If you really want to get rid of them, waste about 10 minutes of their time. It really annoys them, and you will not get a call from that scammer again.

 

[Markfw]

If you really want to get rid of them, waste about 10 minutes of their time. It really annoys them, and you will not get a call from that scammer again.

Its a room full of them, I can hear it while connected And its always someone different

 

[WilliamM2]

Its a room full of them, I can hear it while connected And its always someone different

I know. But they will remove your number, at least it has worked for me.

Or most modern phones also have a block caller feature if all else fails.

 

[Markfw]

I know. But they will remove your number, at least it has worked for me.

Or most modern phones also have a block caller feature if all else fails.

caller block is $3.50 a month. After the first time in 50 years to need it. I will find a way

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[Dee67]

Have had it here too.. definitely a call center sounding place. I've come to realize any call that sounds like a crowd isn't worth taking.

 

[PliotronX]

For a good time, messing with them is highly recommended. My coworker got a call from an Indian crew informing him that he had won thousands of dollars and they needed him to give them a steam wallet code off a $100 gift card and he sent them pictures of unscratched cards and went back and forth and played a fart soundboard while his phone was on speaker.. I had to leave the room as I about died laughing.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I strung one of those poor aholes along for over an hour acting like an idiot user. It was glorious. A lot of the times they get me at a bad time where I don't have time to mess around though. Been thinking of getting rid of my landline, I'm going to miss these guys.

 

[corkyg]

I still use a landline, but with Caller ID. If the call is from anyone I personally don't know, I simply press TALK and then OFF. All these calls are getting fewer and fewer. Now only one or two a day. I have an answering machine that says we do not accept calls from 800 numbers, cities, or towns, or no name. As for my smart phone, I only turn it on when I want to make a call. Basically, I hate talking on the phone.

 

[compcons]

I have messed with them at times for 10 to 15 minutes. Last month I had a 5 hour car ride when I got the call. I strung them along for about 45 minutes (first person set the hook then passed me to a second level tech). Eventually they got mad and told me me I was bad for wasting their time and hung up. I called back and they hung up on me pretty quickly after they figured out what I was doing.
So I called back 3 more times until I started going straight to a busy signal. They haven't call back in 3 weeks.

Waste their time and they should remove you from their list. Your cell phone should be able to block calls easily at no cost.

 

[XavierMace]

If you REALLY want to confuse them and have a suitable home lab, it's hilarious to get them onto a non-persistent VM. Every time they reboot everything is back the way it was. Just keep insisting you have no idea what's going on and you've never had that problem.

 

[PliotronX]

If you REALLY want to confuse them and have a suitable home lab, it's hilarious to get them onto a non-persistent VM. Every time they reboot everything is back the way it was. Just keep insisting you have no idea what's going on and you've never had that problem.

That's a good one! And I thought my WinME VM was perfect

 

[HutchinsonJC]

I've seen a good fair share of people hit with the scam and ended up researching it.

Pretty much always includes Windows Key + R, where they'll have you type something in so they can remote into your computer. And if they're remoted into you computer and you make them mad, it may include, if you don't realize what's going on or stop them before they can finish, your system being syskey'd with some random password.

Usually they do some tree command in a cmd prompt and string you along about how much stuff is broke with your pc. They'll do maybe a few legit scans on your computer (malwarebytes) and then want your debit card numbers or the like.

There's quite a few videos on youtube of people with virtual machines calling them just to mess with them; knowing that they can reset and be right where they were before they ever let the scammer take control of the machine. Some are less than comical or interesting, and some are very comical.

 

[crashtech]

My hat's off to anyone with the time, energy, and wit to screw with these lowlifes. They are a scourge on my small business. Commonly I can hear a little "blurp" sound right when answering the phone that is a dead giveaway that I've been contacted by telemarketers or scammers. I used to engage the bottom feeders, but now I unceremoniously hang up. They have cost me countless dollars/hours in lost time over the years.

 

[UsandThem]

I've never had this particular scam happen yet, but I've had them contact me about an item I've had listed for sale, and sending me a fake PayPal payment confirmation to my email for more than the amount, and asking me to Western Union the difference back to them.

I strung them along for two days by finding a used Western Union code on a website, and changing 2-3 of the digits repeatedly. Then after 30 minutes after receiving the code, and going to their local Western Union office to collect it, they would send an email getting more angry about me giving them the wrong code. I acted like I was a senior, and played dumb about the "world wide web". I probably got them to stand in line at least a dozen times trying to collect before I got bored.

 

[Lanyap]

One time I told them I was Bill Gates illegitimate son and went on to tell him I wrote most of Windows XP. Had them on the line for 10 minutes before he laughed and hung up.

Another time I started talking in my Indian accent. Told him "Ajay, my brother, how are you doing. I haven't seen you in so long... " he hung up after I went on for a few minutes.

On a more serious encounter, my 91 year old neighbor who used email to communicate with his family received one of these calls. He believed them and gave him his credit card info for a $199 charge and they made him send an email to them stating that this charge was legitimate. They remoted in and mess up his PC. I had to fix it and told him to dispute the CC charge. Explained the scam and not let anyone do that again.

 

[corkyg]

Here's another wrinkle to consider . . .

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2017/no-talk-phone-scams.html

 

[UsandThem]

Here's another wrinkle to consider . . .

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2017/no-talk-phone-scams.html

I don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the number. In that case, they can leave a message, and if they don't, I Google the number and 99.9% of the time block it. I probably get about 10 spam calls a week, so this problem is growing for sure.

 

[PliotronX]

I don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the number. In that case, they can leave a message, and if they don't, I Google the number and 99.9% of the time block it. I probably get about 10 spam calls a week, so this problem is growing for sure.

Same! I have been kicking around getting this app

 

[Lanyap]

Same! I have been kicking around getting this app

I installed Robokiller on my phone recently and it catches some but not most of the calls. I get a lot of neighbor number spoofing calls and it does not pick them up and they don't have a generic mask you can use for your NPA-NNX. My phone number was transferred from a different state so I know not to answer it. You can try free for a week and then pay by the month or year. The FCC gave carriers the ok to install technology on their equipment to stop robocalls and spoofing but it is not mandatory. It needs to be mandatory and they need to do it soon. It's driving everyone crazy.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

i wound up buying a "white list" call screener. if a numbers on the ACCEPT list it rings through. if its not a number it recognizes it asks the caller to press zero (robocalls wont do that) to let it ring through (pressing zero also adds that number to the whitelist automatically at that point so they dont have to do it every call, just the 1st one). if zero is not pressed they can leave a message on the unit. if its on the REJECT list it just ignores the call.

made our lives much easier, we were easily getting half a dozen robocalls a day.

 

[Markfw]

i wound up buying a "white list" call screener. if a numbers on the ACCEPT list it rings through. if its not a number it recognizes it asks the caller to press zero (robocalls wont do that) to let it ring through (pressing zero also adds that number to the whitelist automatically at that point so they dont have to do it every call, just the 1st one). if zero is not pressed they can leave a message on the unit. if its on the REJECT list it just ignores the call.

made our lives much easier, we were easily getting half a dozen robocalls a day.

Can you link to the device you bought ? that sounds cool. For a home phone service I hope.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

Can you link to the device you bought ? that sounds cool. For a home phone service I hope.

yup its for home use, its this one:
https://www.amazon.com/SENTRY-Screener-blocking-solicitor-election/dp/B019ERMS90

had it a few days, still playing with its settings. doesnt play as well with Panasonic phones as well as others and, of course, mine is a Panasonic.

voice quality on the outgoing message is terrible. read the reviews and download the manual to get a feel for what it can do.

its decent but there are probably better ones. main drawback on this is the phone rings at least once to check the caller id number. supposed to be a way to make it not ring at all but i cant do it with my panasonic phone. but its still nice, we know as soon as there is a second ring its a whitelisted number.

i pre entered most of our friends, doctor offices, family numbers etc ahead of time, its very easy to do.