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El Loro

A lot of us have received phone calls from supposedly Microsoft (and others) claiming they have identified viruses on our computers. There have been threads on here before about this pointing out that these are scammers trying to access your computer. This was on the BBC news today:

Warning over anti-virus cold calls to UK internet users

Internet users are being warned about cold callers who offer to fix viruses but then install software to steal personal information.

Campaign group Get Safe Online said a quarter of people it had questioned had received such calls, many suspected to have been from organised crime gangs.

Some gangs, employing up to 400 people, are known to set up their own call centres to target people en masse.

Internet users are also urged to be wary of pop-ups offering virus checks.

Earlier this year, search engine giant Google warned it had discovered massive amounts of malicious fake anti-virus software.

The UK warning on such software comes from Get Safe Online, which is backed by the government, police forces and major businesses with a stake in internet security.

It says it has charted a growth in two related scams designed to trick people into installing fake anti-virus software as a means of harvesting personal information such as credit card details.

Some of the scams involve pop-up windows claiming that the computer has been infected.

These "scareware" approaches encourage users to click through to a site hosting malicious or useless software that acts as a front for gathering personal information. Most of the time, the software appears almost identical to professional anti-virus products.

In other cases, gangs have set up call centres in eastern Europe or Asia and cold-call UK phone numbers attempting to find people to con.

In both cases, information gathered from the identity thefts can be used by gangs or sold on to other criminals through online market places.

To find out more you can look at the Get Safe Online site.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

CroctacusMember

Anyone that would be stupid enough to give out their information over the phone really shouldn't be let loose with a calculator let alone a computer.

11/15/101:09 AM

Former Member

Reference:

Anyone that would be stupid enough to give out their information over the phone really shouldn't be let loose with a calculator let alone a computer.

*nods*...

What Croc said.

11/15/101:12 AM

Soozy WooMember

I had a phone call a few months ago. It was so coincidental as I was having mega probs with my old PC at the time. I know it seems ridiculous but it was such a convincing call and I went along with it for a while.

It took me a while to catch on and I didn't give any info out on the phone.

I couldn't believe I was almost that stupid!

11/15/101:42 AM

AmythistMember 10 years

You might remember I had a call from a man with an asian accent who claimed he was from microsoft and wanted me to do some security checks etc,I refused.Well Ive had two more.The next one was telling me his bullsh*t and I laughed,he paused and then started shouting at me"why are you bloody laughing at me!!" I replied because your a con artist and he slammed down the phone.My caller ID shows a 0 as the no from these calls.

11/15/102:52 AM

AmythistMember 10 years

Since then,my computer has been infected with Trojan as one of my kids responded to the virus pop-up.Nothing to do with the phone calls inasmuch as the pc wasnt on when the calls were made and I gave the callers no info at all.

11/15/102:54 AM

Blizz'ardMember 10 years

My 80 year old aunt had a phone call, telling her about a virus on her computer, and handed them over something like £200.

11/15/103:30 AM

Former Member

Reference:

Anyone that would be stupid enough to give out their information over the phone really shouldn't be let loose with a calculator let alone a computer.

I couldn't agree more. My mother is 83 and after three years with a computer is still virtually clueless, but even she wouldn't fall for this scam. I've been getting a couple of calls a week from people offering various services for my computer, and they always sound completely incredulous when I tell them I don't have a computer

I find that gets rid of them quicker than arguing with them or telling them to piss off

11/15/103:45 AM

Dame_Ann_AverageMember VIP10 years

My mate is being plagued by phone calls from these people. Even though she's told them she knows it's a scam, they are constantly calling her and being downright rude when she won't pay up. She's tried blocking their number but for some reason she's had difficulty with her phone supplier to do this.

11/15/103:57 AM

El LoroMember VIP10 yearsModerator

I was visiting one of my clients when they had the hoax phone call saying they had found a virus on their computer. He then had great pleasure in telling them that as they didn't have internet access that the caller was trying to con him and rang off.

There is no way in which Microsoft are going to ring people telling them that they have found a virus on their computer for the simple reason that Microsoft are in the business of making money - why would they spend money on setting up an organisation checking up on people's computers, they've got better things to do. Also that would probably be in contravention of the data protection law.

Then there are the fake pop-up windows which claim that there is a virus on your pc. I get the from time to time and I know that they are fake as:
a) I have reliable anti-virus s/w and firewall protection which I keep up to date
and b) when I do get a genuine warning the message will say that it has detected a virus attack and has stopped it, and it will have the anti-virus providers' logo on it (that's my s/w, may be different for other s/w).

If you get one of these fake pop-up windows either click on the red cross at the top right corner of the message, and if that doesn't work - switch the computer off rather than closing down, wait a minute, then switch back on.

11/15/104:08 AM

El LoroMember VIP10 yearsModerator

Reference: Dame_Iva_Cracker

She's tried blocking their number but for some reason she's had difficulty with her phone supplier to do this.

The number they generally use is either witheld, out of area, international, or an impossible number like 0000000000.

11/15/104:11 AM

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