I keep them talking for as long as I can. .that means they can't be phoning someone else for a while who may be less PC savvy..

I've strung them along with all sorts of rubbish . .usually ends up with them calling me some rude name . .I just laugh at them

When I got a similar call some time ago I was able to keep them talking for about 30 minutes, just to stop them ringing someone else up.

The same number rang me again a few minutes ago. Each time it's someone with probably an Indian accent pretending to have an English name. This time I asked them to say which of my computers as I have more than one (that's true, my old one which I still use sometimes, and my new one). Needless to say the phone went dead as they don't really have a report that there's a problem with my computer so they can't give me an answer.

I spent ages talking about windows with them once. .doubled glazed windows. .they hadn't a clue that when I said I had opened a window I was talking about a real one. .didn't actually open it but I answered every question as if it was to do with my double glazing 

That bloke was really angry when he cottoned on to what I as doing.  he threatened to do all sorts to me involving his manhood .. I just made him even more mad by suggesting his manhood wasn't up to the job

I love it I'm going to try the * which computer * trick ....may even ask for the serial number  

Or ask them for the IP address of the computer, that will puzzle them.

Yes  

You say.

"That's my husbands/wife's computer - just wait and I go and get them"

 ... and put the phone down - on loudspeaker - for as long as you want

speak in a made up foreign language

for ages

always drives people mad

and sometimes i do it to cold callers aswell

How about....*shock/surprise* A computer....I've got a computer.... Where?

Pretty please 

I'm watching her doing ambulance chaser claims now 

I liked the bullshit.com thing too 

I must admit I enjoy stringing them along when I can be bothered 

I can't be harassed. I just put the phone down. That's if I answer it, cos I don't answer unknowns 

its fun until they start swearing at you 

LOL! Do you not swear back? 

I was out this morning and the same outfit rang 3 times this morning. They rang again this afternoon and this time I decided to play along and kept it going for 25 minutes before I rang off. They rang back several times after I rang off and have just rung again. So there is little doubt that this is the most persistent criminal outfit I have encountered with this type of scam.

Firstly they got me to run the Windows Event Manager, got me to look at various reports which had yellow and red warnings by lots of entries. Every computer will have these and they mean very little and are nothing to be concerned about (unless you are experiencing serious Windows problems).

Secondly they got me to run MSCONFIG and look at the services page. This lists many applications and some are running and some are stopped. The outfit who rang me said that this was another sigh of problems on my computer. That's rubbish as applications only run when they are needed.

Thirdly they wanted me to go onto a website so that I could get the software I needed to rectrify the problem. Although I made a note of the website, I didn't go on to it as that is almost certainly how they either take over your computer and hold the files to ransom or it's full of viruses and malware. A search on the name of the website merely shows that it's a registered domain name which is what I would expect if it's set up by criminals.

Fourthly, to try to convince me that they were genuine, they asked me to go into the MS-DOS screen and type in ASSOC. That produces a long list of stuff but right at the end is the serial number of my computer. It was rather alarming when they were able to quote me that number. However I have now found out that it is not the serial number but a number which Microsoft uses and is the same number on most Vista and Windows 7 computers. The number starts with 888DCA6D and ends with 7D062. So when the scammers quote that number which you think is your serial number, they are lying - they have no information about your computer.

So I told them that I would have a word with my computer shop which is close to where I live and rang off.

I've gone to some length with this post so that people who get this type of phone call are not fooled by them and just because they might have information as to serial number doesn't mean that they are genuine. The fact is that Microsoft do not ring people out of the blue.

So why did you go through all those steps with them if you knew they were bogus?

Saint, because I wanted to see what they would ask me to do. I knew that at some point they would pass me over to a more senior person to go through this and it might make them realise that they were wasting their time in repeatedly ringimg me. Also it meant that I was able to post here and eleswhere what they said.

I see  -  scary

And conversely, Microsoft don't take calls either, well unless they see a marketing opportunity at which point you may get to speak to them.

Although they had gone quiet for a few days, they've started again today with 3 calls so far. (same phone number as above).

As a result I've reported them to www.actionfraud.police.uk as although I have not lost any money I have been able to provide them with details.

Although it looks like a Glasgow number, the number is probably false. They could be anywhere in the world, most likely in India - the Guardian has done articles about these scammers in the past.