Inside the shady world of antivirus telemarketing

[Roy]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934472/your-pc-may-be-infected-inside-the-shady-world-of-antivirus-telemarketing.html

[John Slade]

Post by Roy
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934472/your-pc-may-be-infected-inside-the-shady-world-of-antivirus-telemarketing.html

I actually got a call from a malware scammer. He claimed
my Windows computer was infected and he was calling me to help
fix things. I threw him for a loops when I asked him which one
of my systems was infected because I currently have three of
them running. I strung him along for a while before I told him I
knew it was a scam.

John

[Julian Macassey]

Post by John Slade

Post by Roy
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934472/your-pc-may-be-infected-inside-the-shady-world-of-antivirus-telemarketing.html

I actually got a call from a malware scammer. He claimed
my Windows computer was infected and he was calling me to help
fix things. I threw him for a loops when I asked him which one
of my systems was infected because I currently have three of
them running. I strung him along for a while before I told him I
knew it was a scam.

youtube is filled with videos of people trolling the scammers. I had
one a few weeks ago, I switched on the speakerphone and my wife and I both
had a giggle.

He couldn't understand why my computer didn't have a Windows key, and
had to put me on hold.

[John Slade]

Post by Julian Macassey

Post by John Slade

Post by Roy
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934472/your-pc-may-be-infected-inside-the-shady-world-of-antivirus-telemarketing.html

I actually got a call from a malware scammer. He claimed
my Windows computer was infected and he was calling me to help
fix things. I threw him for a loops when I asked him which one
of my systems was infected because I currently have three of
them running. I strung him along for a while before I told him I
knew it was a scam.

youtube is filled with videos of people trolling the scammers. I had
one a few weeks ago, I switched on the speakerphone and my wife and I both
had a giggle.

I've watched a few of those videos and had a few laughs.

Post by Julian Macassey
He couldn't understand why my computer didn't have a Windows key, and
had to put me on hold.

The guy that called me was also flustered when I asked
him what version of Windows I was running.

John

[Jeff Liebermann]

Post by John Slade
The guy that called me was also flustered when I asked
him what version of Windows I was running.
John

I've only had one of those "support" calls. Unfortunately, I didn't
have sufficient time to make it entertaining, so I simply asked why he
thought I was running Windoze when I was running Linux at the time. He
just hung up. I must admit that I lied, because I was running XP in a
virtual machine on the same computah.

One of my friends received a similar call and wanted to see exactly
what they did to his home computah. At the time, whether they
installed spyware, keyloggers, malware, viruses, etc was in doubt. So,
he let the called install some remote control program and let him look
at the Event Viewer. Much to his surprise, he did a credible job of
finding obsolete drivers, driver conflicts, unsigned versions, and
load failures. That's understandable because my friend writes drivers
and his home machine is stuffed full of drivers installed during long
forgotten projects. However, when the caller wanted $150 to fix these
problems and another $150 to look for others, my friend declined.
Afterwards, he couldn't find any changes other than the remote control
program and a few log files that had grown.

[John Slade]

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by John Slade
The guy that called me was also flustered when I asked
him what version of Windows I was running.
John

I've only had one of those "support" calls. Unfortunately, I didn't
have sufficient time to make it entertaining, so I simply asked why he
thought I was running Windoze when I was running Linux at the time. He
just hung up. I must admit that I lied, because I was running XP in a
virtual machine on the same computah.
One of my friends received a similar call and wanted to see exactly
what they did to his home computah. At the time, whether they
installed spyware, keyloggers, malware, viruses, etc was in doubt. So,
he let the called install some remote control program and let him look
at the Event Viewer. Much to his surprise, he did a credible job of
finding obsolete drivers, driver conflicts, unsigned versions, and
load failures. That's understandable because my friend writes drivers
and his home machine is stuffed full of drivers installed during long
forgotten projects. However, when the caller wanted $150 to fix these
problems and another $150 to look for others, my friend declined.
Afterwards, he couldn't find any changes other than the remote control
program and a few log files that had grown.

That's pretty funny. Maybe some of them are just guys who
want to help and didn't get hired by Geek Squad India.

John

[sms]

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by John Slade
The guy that called me was also flustered when I asked
him what version of Windows I was running.
John

I've only had one of those "support" calls. Unfortunately, I didn't
have sufficient time to make it entertaining, so I simply asked why he
thought I was running Windoze when I was running Linux at the time. He
just hung up. I must admit that I lied, because I was running XP in a
virtual machine on the same computah.

I played along with one of those callers. He got frustrated because I
told him that my keyboard had no "Windows" key. It's one of the old IBM
clicky keyboards.

[Jeff Liebermann]

Post by sms

Post by Jeff Liebermann

Post by John Slade
The guy that called me was also flustered when I asked
him what version of Windows I was running.
John

I've only had one of those "support" calls. Unfortunately, I didn't
have sufficient time to make it entertaining, so I simply asked why he
thought I was running Windoze when I was running Linux at the time. He
just hung up. I must admit that I lied, because I was running XP in a
virtual machine on the same computah.

I played along with one of those callers. He got frustrated because I
told him that my keyboard had no "Windows" key. It's one of the old IBM
clicky keyboards.

You should have told the caller that the IBM Model M keyboard has a
cult following and you will not deal with anyone who fails to
appreciate such a superior keyboard. That should raise the resell
value of your keyboard:
<http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/7/6882427/king-of-keys>
I hate to think of all the Model M keyboards that I've tossed because
I didn't like the clatter they made. Ebay has a bunch in the $40 to
$80 range:
<http://www.ebay.com/sch/ibm+model+m+keyboard>

[n***@sbcglobal.net]

Post by Roy
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2934472/your-pc-may-be-infected-inside-the-shady-world-of-antivirus-telemarketing.html

I got one of those too and yes I had no Windoze machine up just my Linux box. I knew it was a scam but made the guy mad enough to call me a "motherfucker" and hang up.

I always love to play with the minds of telemarketers like ask them for the password and if they want to speak with me have to apply for a password on my site. Of course there is no place on my site to apply for a password. Sometimes I make up a language. Sometimes I blow a whistle into the phone. But usually I just count three seconds and disconnect. I don't want to bother with clearing an empty voice message.

[David Kaye]

Post by n***@sbcglobal.net
I always love to play with the minds of telemarketers

Oh, I used to do that but the fun wore off quickly. When I get one of those
calls, I tell them just a minute while I turn the computer on. I then set
the phone down and see how long it will be before they hang up on me. One
guy was persistent and stayed on for 8 minutes!




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