hi i recived a phone call this morning dont know how they got my number basically they were insisting i had a virus so i put phone down since i have an antivirus he calls back saying sir why you hang up this is a very serious matter and i told him not to call back but he still calls back until i left phone off the hook alot of other people have from xbox forums also and i never gave my landline to microsoft/xbox so ms hasnt been compromised
This scam has been quietly doing the rounds in the UK and Ireland since at least 2009 but it appears to be on the rise. The scam goes like this; Householders receive an unsolicited phone call from someone claiming to be from ‘Microsoft’ and they are told that there is a serious virus problem with their computer and the caller offers to help to fix the problem. The householder will get the hard sell from the caller regarding all sorts of bad things that will happen to their computer if they do not sort out the problem immediately. To try to gain the unwitting householders trust, the caller will direct them to the Event Viewer in Windows which shows details about various hardware and Windows software issues. This Event Viewer is always full of messages, even on a healthy computer, but the caller will convince them that these are the warning signs of the impending disaster. When the caller has their trust, they ask the householder to go to a website and download a remote control program that will help them fix the problem. After downloading this, the caller will take control of the computer, the householder will see their mouse pointer move around while various programs and folders are opened. The caller will claim that they know exactly what the problem is and how to fix it. Then they will ask for credit card details for a piece of software that will supposedly remove the ‘virus’. Customers should hopefully already have alarm bells ringing at the mention of credit card details and end the conversation. The software that they sell to fix the computer will do nothing except tell you every now and then that everything is fine, all viruses have been removed. But in reality, it could be downloading all sorts of malware to your computer.However, part of the scam’s damage may already have been done when the customer downloaded the remote control software. This software could well have the capability to sit in the background for months or years, stealing personal information from the computer like bank login details and other personal details that could be used for identity theft purposes. These callers could also be using this software to infect your computer with real viruses and malware.Quote from Microsoft: “Microsoft takes the privacy and security of our customers and partners personal information very seriously. We are advising customers to treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism and not to provide any personal information to anyone over the phone or online. Anyone who receives an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft should hang up. We can assure you Microsoft does not make these kinds of calls.”“For more information on this scam and how to protect yourself against this, please click here: Fraudulent Emails and Credit Card Scam Tips | Microsoft Security”
I have had calls like this from a company in India before, they insisted my computer had a virus and they were Microsoft certified and would fix it. As this was not the first time they had called i played along The call went something like this: Me: "how do you know my pc is infected" Him: "I'm from Microsoft I can tell" Me: "oh so your hacking me now?" Him: "no we just get alerts when pc's get infected" Me: "nah i know my pc is fine" Him: "is your computer going slow" Me: "no its super fast" Him "You will have hidden viruses, if you type in services.msc you will see a lot of entries, they are viruses" Knowing all the services running on my pc were legit i just played along here. Here i played along and he basically wanted me to download some .exe from a random website, then install Team Viewer. At that point i told him where to go. This was last summer, although we have had another call from them recently as it happens so i guess they are trying to scam more people again.
Lol they just called me and im messing with them big time, they are telling me my computer is downloading harmful files and there are errors being sent to them .I went along with it and they directed me to this website with remote desktop software. I asked if they were microsoft and they said nope and are from some windows server company. Phone number that called. 1-325-625-4189 and reports from 800notes.com http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-325-625-4189 Ammyy Admin - Free Zero-Config Remote Desktop Software, Remote Desktop Connection and Remote Access Software