Off-Topic OT - Scam reminder/warning

[AsSweetAsSugar]

Originally Posted by Cher

I have also gotten these calls and I've heard that Microsoft will not call anyone so I didn't fall for it. I LOVE that you asked him which computer had the problem!

Originally Posted by ddj

My FIL got one of those calls and he told the guy he was too late, the computer crashed yesterday.

Hahaha!! That is a good one!

[Paine]

I'm sorry that happened to your FIL.

[LAC]

gmfreund, I'm sorry that happened to your FIL

Last week I received an email that at first glance seemed to come from a dear friend. It said she was on a trip to another country, a thief had stolen her purse with her credit cards and plane ticket, she now didn't have money to pay her hotel bill and so her passport was being confiscated. It asked me to wire her $2,000 so she could cover her expenses and said she'd pay me back as soon as she was home. Since this particular friend is highly educated and the email contained several grammatical errors, I was suspicious. I looked more closely at the email address and realized that although it was very similar to hers, it was not exactly the same. I hit the delete button without responding.

I also get the calls from the scummy scammers claiming to be from Microsoft. However, I've never even owned a Windows based computer - I've been a devoted Mac user since 1989. I usually tell them to #$%^ off before I hang up on them. Not very classy I suppose, but then neither are they!

[gmfreund]

If you google "grandparent scam" it turns out it's a timeworn scam. These scammers went right by the book.

I'm pondering ways to avoid being fooled that I could share with my relatives and my congregation. It's easy to just say, "don't be fooled," but it's harder when you think there's a chance that a loved one really is in trouble. Of course, the first thing you *should* do is make a few phone calls, even though the scammers tell you not to. But if you're really not willing to do that, or too afraid to hang up, you could ask the person, "tell me something that only you and I would know." That way you wouldn't be feeding the con artist with info.

Blech. I'm tired of bad guys! I've had too many experiences with them the last couple of months.

Thanks for your kind words!

Gwynn

[raeven]

Ok I have to share this. My hubby has an awesome sense of humor. One day he gets one of these calls from some so called computer blah blah place. Well my husband is a programmer on a security team, so he knows a thing or two, and he knows immediately this is a scam call. So he decides to mess with them. They tell him to go to such and such website, and download something and on and on right. The entire time he is pretending to know absolutely nothing about computers, having them hold his hand step by step, how to type everything in, having them repeat stuff a million times. Of course he wasn't actually going to download or do anything..but he drug it out like 20 mins. I forget how it ended, if he called them out or what, but it was so hilarious...I was dying as he told me the story.

Never ever give anybody info and certainly never download anything unless you are sure where it is coming from is legit! So sad how many people get caught in these scams!

[FitBoop]

This kind of thing makes my blood boil. Taking advantage of the elderly is horrible, and unfortunately, it happens a lot. I always tell the children of elderly relatives to take measures to protect their parents, such as going joint on all bank accounts, and in some cases, taking full control of the accounts.

[pcdoctor01]

Originally Posted by Pam

Thanks for the laughs pcdoctor1! Can I use your idea on nx sales call?

Gwynn,
I'm sorry that happened to your FIL. I wish there was a way to track the person down.

Pam,
Just for some relief I'm really going to do that on the next telemarketer or scammer. The "Do Not Call List" is a joke.

All,
I know you aren't supposed to respond to those scam emails. I would only reply using a junk email account and would never of course click on any links in the email. This lady said she was very ill and wanted to give me her million dollar plus inheritance. I replied on purpose to have some fun using a junk email account. I responded to the person and said, "If you are so sick, who do you care what happens to your money? Give it to the church" Anyone really sick probably give not give two cents about money while really ill. She responded back, "My attorney says blah, blah. I should have said, "Give it to your attorney."

Fake Microsoft support call on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a_edowfgl8

What happens if you play along with a Microsoft 'tech support' scam?
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/...1/malwarebytes

[bzar]

Originally Posted by BunnyHop

The call began with a vague sort of greeting, as though I ought to know who they were.

When I asked, 'Who's calling, please?'

they said: "You don't recognize my voice?"

I hung up on them.

I can see how an unsuspecting person might fall for such a thing.

A friendly voice calls, seems familiar, but doesn't mention their own name until after they've persuaded you to make assumptions about who they are? Creepy, and kind of scary.

i got a crank call back in the 80s, before caller ID was widely available. it was meant to be sexual harrassment - the male voice was saying things he "liked" trying to turn the victim on. for each sentence he said to me, i said "so?" "so?" "so?"

the punk couldn't handle it, so HE hung up.

[sherry7899]

Gywnn, I am so very sorry this happened.

Our son who has my husband's twisted sense of humor did this When we got a marketing phone call, he just kept saying in response to the caller "what, I can't hear you" about seven times until the caller got frustrated and hung up on my son!

Sherry

[athompson10]

Gwynn, that's awful. I hope your FIL can go easy on himself.

I can relate to the stress: I have an 82-year-old dad who's very sharp and on the ball but is a total sucker for junk phone calls and email. I keep telling him that those calls and emails are the same as junk mail in the mailbox and his response should be the same - ignore/delete/throw out/hang up. But he gets drawn in and engages with these people. So far his damage has been minimal - he got pulled in by one of those "Microsoft" calls and authorized so much crap downloaded onto his computer, it became inoperable, then had to take it into Best Buy to get it all un-installed.