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Thread ID: 118996 2011-06-30 04:08:00 Live scam phonecall - suggestions? Erayd (23) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1213521 2011-06-30 06:47:00 I've had another three virus calls recently, but haven't had the time to play. One hung up on me when I got a bit forthright with him, another didn't like the questions I was asking and hung up on me, and I told the third one he was clairvoyant because I hadn't even bought a computer yet. He dropped the line too!

Next call was one of those ones you answer and hear their phone ringing as if you had called them. It was a foreigh-accented woman trying to sell me an adjustable bed (no deposit, time payment etc) but had all the hallmarks of a scam and it was the second such call I've had on that subject.

I got the distinct feeling that she was heading toward asking for a refundable deposit "for security" etc so I told her I slept in a fully adjustable hammock and hung up.

Anybody else had that one before?

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1213522 2011-06-30 07:35:00 I did that... it didn't work; they shifted from 'scamming me' mode to 'trying to convince me it's not a scam' mode. I hung up on them at 2:34.

I was working at the same time through most of that; they didn't require much input from me - simply trying to figure out KDE was confusing enough for them :devil.
I'm interested as to how you opened up your system without giving them too much leeway or was it them trying to understand KDE from what you said.
By the way please don't educate them too much on Linux.
mikebartnz (21)
1213523 2011-06-30 07:51:00 I just say to them "Ah yes I've been waiting for your call - the police tell me not to talk to you".

That usually does it!
Chris Randal (521)
1213524 2011-06-30 07:59:00 I replied,you want to buy my 2 PC's

Instant hang up


Bahahahahahahhaha :thumbs:
--Wolf-- (128)
1213525 2011-06-30 09:05:00 If this was at work, do you have an audio recording of the call? somebody (208)
1213526 2011-06-30 10:24:00 I'm interested as to how you opened up your system without giving them too much leeway or was it them trying to understand KDE from what you said.I ran their remote program from inside Wine, with no additional mounts mapped (which means no direct filesystem access to anything outside of the Wine sandbox), and watched the session. I had every intention of intervening and putting them on a separate user account if necessary, but they were so utterly clueless it wasn't even worth bothering - they struggled to even figure out what to change (it didn't help that my standard desktop doesn't have *anything* displayed on it - I don't use a typical taskbar). The impression I got was that they thought I was running some kind of skin on top of Windows, but then kept getting confused when it behaved in unexpected ways, or didn't provide them with the options they were looking for.

Admittedly I did feed them a lot of bullshit prior to them actually getting a remote connection, so until they saw the display they thought they were getting a bog-standard, generic, three-year-old XP system.


If this was at work, do you have an audio recording of the call?Unfortunately not - I would have recorded it if I knew they were going to call me, but they weren't kind enough to warn me.

Interestingly the incoming caller ID reckons the call came from +641103, and then +641122 (they called me back after the call was dropped at the two-hour mark by the PBX). That kind of caller ID usually indicates a Skype call, but the quality of the call was much better than Skype usually seems to be.
Erayd (23)
1213527 2011-06-30 10:31:00 all i can say is well done for dragging them out for so long:clap:clap:clap GameJunkie (72)
1213528 2011-06-30 10:41:00 I am yet to receive one of these calls offering to fix my computer. Most disappointing.:groan:

I did get a call the other day. This young man said that, "My boss has told me that I was to ring around and offer free two weeks gym membership, isn't that exciting".:clap

I replied, "Get lost, I am too old for that type of rubbish." :horrified
Bobh (5192)
1213529 2011-06-30 11:38:00 I ran their remote program from inside Wine, with no additional mounts mapped (which means no direct filesystem access to anything outside of the Wine sandbox), and watched the session. I had every intention of intervening and putting them on a separate user account if necessary, but they were so utterly clueless it wasn't even worth bothering - they struggled to even figure out what to change (it didn't help that my standard desktop doesn't have *anything* displayed on it - I don't use a typical taskbar). The impression I got was that they thought I was running some kind of skin on top of Windows, but then kept getting confused when it behaved in unexpected ways, or didn't provide them with the options they were looking for.
Well done. I'm glad you didn't educate them too much about Linux.
mikebartnz (21)
1213530 2011-06-30 11:40:00 I am yet to receive one of these calls offering to fix my computer. Most disappointing.:groan:

I did get a call the other day. This young man said that, "My boss has told me that I was to ring around and offer free two weeks gym membership, isn't that exciting".:clap

I replied, "Get lost, I am too old for that type of rubbish." :horrified

Bob, you have all the excitement. I don't get any such calls. Could be because my home line is with my ISP and isn't the usual Telecom number.

On the other hand, I'm really not complaining :D
WalOne (4202)
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