We have been getting phone calls, unknown number, sometimes more than one a day from people who say they are from the “Technical Division of Windows” telling us, me, that they have been receiving error reports from my computer that indicate we have a very dangerous virus on our computer. Once they explain that they have this information they want to turn me over to a technician who will be able to fix it all up. If your warranty is out they will even set you up with a “lifetime warranty” for only $299….
I only went as far as talking to one of the technicians, a Kevin Johnson, who for some reason did not understand that I thought it was strange that I was not getting a call from Microsoft… He said, “no, we not work for Microsoft. We are Windows”. I mentioned that he did not sound like a Johnson but more like someone calling from New Delhi. His response was to repeat that he was Kevin Johnson, and to ask me who said they were calling from New Delhi…
After a few calls such as this I explained to the man, this one used a different name, that I was not going to fall for this routine, and that they should put us on their “don’t waste time” list, he said OK..
I did some google searches and found that this seems to have been going on at least back to 2010. If you fall for it they will try to get you to let them have control of your computer, or at least get you to open the Windows Even Viewer to show you all of the errors that indicate your computer is infected, or they might even have you open the pre-fetch folder and tell you that all of the listed programs, in that folder, are put there by a virus which they can remove for you… Oh.. did I mention the “lifetime warranty“? By this time, if you go that far, they will try to get you to pay for the warranty by way of PayPal which they will kindly direct you computer to so you can pay them…. One reviewer, having set up a virtual machine for them to play with, said that when he stalled on the payment the guy got upset and, using the remote connection, tried to delete as many files from the computer as he could, including the driver for his network access.
Don’t fall for this.. There are a number of obvious clues that this is a scam. The unknown, or blocked number, the fact the Technician don’t seem to understand the connection of Microsoft and Windows, or the fact that their technicians sound like they are calling from India and then there is the idea that, even if the call was from Microsoft, and they knew which computer was sending out S.O.S. messages the idea that they could fix it is laughable.
Thanks,
That Joe Guy
That Joe Guy 