[QUOTE=Count Blucher]
Supposedly the best thing you can do is to say that you don’t have a computer.
[/QUOTE]
I ask them which computer is giving them a problem - I have 120 computers here.
I do that. I kept a guy on the phone for forty-five minutes once. It was great fun.
I also do what Kzbre5m mentions – since at any given moment, I have multiple computers going.
Next time, don’t forget the Whoosh!
I get these calls and I don’t even have a computer. Last time I strung the guy along for about 10 minutes. Told him I had Linux and asked if they had a Linux expert. Asked him if he liked his job, did it pay well, how long he’d been with company. He said he was calling from New South Wales, Australia. So I asked him to state his pay in US dollars 'cause I couldn’t understand Australian dollars. He answered all my questions but kept trying to steer the conversation back to my MS Windows problem. Finally gave up and told me to have a nice day.
I also always ask which computer. And I’m very patient – they’ll say “the Windows computer”, and I’ll say “they all have Windows”. Sometimes they’ll guess, and say “the laptop”, or something like that, and I’ll (of course) say “which laptop? I have several.”
You should assume that he downloaded a virus. Once he had access to your computer, he could do whatever he wanted. He can even set it up so that he can reconnect at anytime without your knowledge.
To be safe, you should consider reinstalling the computer with a clean hard drive.
Hang on a minute, I’m 75 years old, and I get 2-3 calls a month which I hang up on after some loud abuse. Nice to hear that people are waiting for me to “die off” to solve this problem. With people living longer nowadays maybe we can introduce a culling program for over 75 year olds. I mean, we must be such a bloody nuisance to young folk, taking up all that bandwidth, slowing down the porn downloads, and filling the net with sites devoted to joint pains and weak bladders. The only difference between you and old people is we got there first. Your turn will come.
[SIZE=“1”]Just pulling your leg, have a nice day[/SIZE]
Is anyone familiar with Interchat? It is originally in French. they insist I give them my MSN password to enter, but when I don’t I don’t I get in anyway. But how scary would it be if I did give “Sign in with my actual MSN password?”
Sure, but by that time there’ll be a whole new level of technology and a whole new set of scams stemming from it, and we won’t be confident with that stuff for the same reason that our parents aren’t as confident with this generation of technology and the associated scams.
We’ve gotten a half dozen of these over the last week (they seem to have stopped for the moment, thank goodness). I note that they never say they are from “Microsoft”, they say they are from “Windows” – is that a scheme to lessen their liability if they get caught?
Anyway, we’ve done some things to mess with them - profanity-laden rants, a piercing whistle, and, probably the best, my wife pretending not to speak English, responding to their script with a mixture of Klingon, Dothraki, and gibberish. The guy kept trying to read from his script, restarting from the beginning a few times, and ultimately hung up. Very satisfying.
I just don’t answer my phone anymore if it’s not from a number I recognize. 90% of those calls aren’t anything I’m interested in anyway, and the ones that are legitimate will leave a message.
I think in general we need to learn that the telephone is not a trusted medium. If someone calls you up and says they’re with your bank, or your ISP, or whatever, you need to go online and find the number and call them up and then you have a trusted conversation where both parties are identified.
It would be better if our various institutions didn’t actually do this. I get calls from my credit card company about fraud alerts, and they start asking me questions like my account number and mother’s maiden name and PIN and I’m like “Hold on. You called me at the number in my account. You already know who I am, I need to verify you.” and they’re confused. The script should be: “We need to talk to you about your account. Please call the number on the back of your card and ask to speak to <department>”
No valar morghulis?
I had one of these the other day - the conversation went like this:
Scammer: Hello, I’m calling from the Department of Windows. We have detected a problem with your computer
Me: No you haven’t
Scammer: Yes, the Department of Windows who have detected a problem…
Me: No. You’re a scammer
Scammer: Who told you that?
Me: Everybody knows it. You’re a scammer. You’re going to scam me into installing some crap on my computer
Scammer: No I’m not, I think maybe you are a scammer!
Me: Does your mother know you are a criminal?
Scammer: You’re a scammer!
Me: I said: Does your mother know you are a scammer and a criminal?
Scammer: Scammer Scammer Scammer Scammer!
<caller hangs up>
This.
This is one reason I keep a landline, it filters out the junk calls. If I don’t recognize the caller - let it go to voicemail. 99% never leave a message. The ones that do are actual real live things I need to know.
Not only we still have a landline but recently purchased a new phone system for it, one which has a base unit capable of blocking calls on its own. “Windows” calls that rely on hidden numbers are easy to block, pretty much any modern phone can block such anonymous calls. The very last “Windows” call we got did display a number on the ID but was missing a digit, possibly by design so the phone company couldn’t block it. Missing digits are no problem for our phone, added it to the block list and there haven’t been any calls since.
I did get them to hang up first, though. I wouldn’t go by the drone’s script so he got his supervisor. I asked the supervisor exactly which Windows computers she was talking about. “All of them,” she said.
“Even the ones with Windows 98?”
“Yes.”
“That have not been connected to the Internet in five years?”
“… … sorry for bothering you.” :click:
i tell them my VIC 20 works just fine.
“That sounds serious. Thanks for calling. I’m having trouble with this line, please call my other line”
Give them non emergency number to local police department.
:bows reverently before the uber-geekness of BrotherCadfael’s wife:
Regards,
Shodan
I can only read this in Monty Python voices. 
You sick, twisted, bastard!
Makes mental note to remember to use this next time.
The ones who had been calling us are lucky that I didn’t land that job in the US Department of Justice.
:imagine devil smiley here:
I’m proud of my mom. She got the call from “Microsoft”, knew something was wrong, and told them off. They called her a cunt, hung up, and never bothered her again.