Looks like I will have to leave this forum

[graduate_owner]

Reason - well I had a telephone call from a 'non-English' gentleman a few days ago. He told me he was from British Telecom and that my internet connection would be disconnected in a few days, for several months at least. The reason for this is that my security had been compromised and my computer was now at risk from viruses.

Then he asked me to switch on my computer to allow him to do what was needed to prevent the need for disconnection. That's when I called him a piece of sh*t and hung up.

So either this was another scam, or else I will have no internet and will have to say goodbye to all you helpful people.

Seriously though, spread the word that threatening to disconnect your internet access is a new slant on an old scam.

K

 

[Richards123]

Thanks for the heads up
I wonder how long they will wait before they call me ? Last time they tried I strung along for half an hour the, whilst painting a shed right up to the point where they told me that I was wasting their time , when I asked them how was I wasting their time as they had called me they just hung up on me.
Perhaps even I should have mentioned to them at the start of the call that I work in Internet security, so was fully aware of their scam but never mind if they are talking to me they are not trying it on to someone else

 

[NazNomad]

Don't worry if they disconnect your internet.

If you kindly please mail the message you wish to post to me at:

Abegunde Ibukun Opeyemi
10 Celestial Avenue
Lagos Nigeria 23401

I will be happy to post it on your behalf.

Please remember to include your full bank details so I can deposit $275 into your account each time.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

The sad thing is, people must still be falling for it because the scam goes on and on. Makes you wonder just who would be so silly as to believe what they say without doing any checking.

 

[Jonzjob]

I had an incident on the old scam where I was told of all sorts of problems with my Windoze whatever it was. I was all worried and asked him what I had to do.

Switch on, etc, etc and do this and that. so that's what I did (told him) and he asked for access which of course I granted (I also regularly ride my bike up the centre of the river Severn) and after about 20 mins he told me that his access wasn't working. That's when I told him that my Mac was on and seemed to be OK and he must have fixed the problem? He said something about my dear old Mum being a sport and realised that I worked behind a bar and rang off. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[graduate_owner]

Our next door neighbour was caught some years ago, responding to a problem with her veendows. Then of course her computer wouldn't start up, and the scammer wanted £250 to fix it. Instead she took the computer to the local IT shop and they sorted it for about £15.
I'm sure people are still getting caught else we would not get these calls all the time.

Turds.


K

 

[timbo614]

Thanks for the heads up
I wonder how long they will wait before they call me ? Last time they tried I strung along for half an hour the, whilst painting a shed right up to the point where they told me that I was wasting their time , when I asked them how was I wasting their time as they had called me they just hung up on me.
Perhaps even I should have mentioned to them at the start of the call that I work in Internet security, so was fully aware of their scam but never mind if they are talking to me they are not trying it on to someone else

That's precisely what I did the last time they called me - kept winding them up for ages. Eventually I said look they are MOSTLY ALL on and running fine... He "all? How many have you got" I said "well, nine I think and five are on". They actaully had the gall to call again and ask why I had spun them along so long and I gave them the same reason you did with expletives mixed in.

I have BT call guardian on teh home line now, doesn't cost much and after the initail pain works brilliantly.

 

[MikeJhn]

The one that always winds me up is when they ask to speak to me, when I answer the phone I say my name and they asking to speak to me proves it was a computer dial up, I then tell them they have reached my hotline and ask what they want to buy, they always say "I don't wish to buy anything" I reply "Nor do I" and hang up, they never seem to phone back, how rude.

Mike

 

[sunnybob]

My 70 year old sister was completely taken in by the internet scam. she not only did what they told her, she was on the way to the bank to get the details they needed when a chance phone call from her son saved her and her accounts.
Coincidently, her son owns a computer supply and fix company. He went to her house, disconnected and threw her computer away, and after a very stern lecture, installed another one for her with a different email address.

 

[Homerjh]

Coincidently, her son owns a computer supply and fix company. He went to her house, disconnected and threw her computer away, and after a very stern lecture, installed another one for her with a different email address.

Bit extreme just to change an email address, i just delete the account and add a new one :lol:

I had the microsoft call the other year saying my pc had uploaded an error report to them via the internet, call lasted ages, pretended i was unsure, asked him to repeat things, replied with things like :

him - whats on your desktop, can you find the my computer icon.
me - oooh, sheep
him - sheep?
me - yes, i took a lovely picture of a sheep, its on my desktop as a picture..

and then went into a long ramble on how i like taking pictures of sheep, and that one was taken x weeks go, had he been to the lake district, lots of sheep there...you get the drift, slightly odd person who isnt that computer savvy.

then asking for my IP address, "whats the long number", started to give the MAC address, "no not that one, is there something that says IP address", whats that for, where did that come from? whats an eye-pee address for?

and when he tried to connect to my pc (ya as if) then commented that how can he, i don't have the internet. he then asked again, then went into another ramble about how it is full of horrible things, like pictures and p*rn, and never had it.

when asked what do i use my computer for, well, i replied, i like writing letters, lots of them and printing them, and looking at pictures of sheep.

10 minutes later i got another call from his 'supervisor' asking about my internet and am i sure i don't have it, and she got the sheep story too.

never had a call since.

Just a shame i didnt have any of my work virtual machines up and running at the time that he could have 'fixed'....

 

[sunnybob]

My sister had spent over 20 minutes on the phone, pressing whatever buttons the speaker asked her to. there was no telling what she had downloaded.
junk it. saves time and future money.

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Local school had very single file encrypted and a ransom charged. Took a week to clear out and restore the previous back up.

Hearing that made me go home and backup my computer!!

 

[whiskywill]

My wife, who is probably right, says that my hearing is deteriorating so I applied on line for some information from a hearing aid supplier. A couple of weeks later I got a follow up call. It was the best fun I'd had in ages.

"Sorry, I'm a bit hard of hearing. Can you speak a little louder?"
"No, sorry I didn't get that. Can you try again"

This went on and on and he ended up shouting down the telephone.

 

[Wuffles]

My sister had spent over 20 minutes on the phone, pressing whatever buttons the speaker asked her to. there was no telling what she had downloaded.
junk it. saves time and future money.

He must be running a very successful business if that's his repair model - provided it's other people's hardware he's junking and he's charging them for the service...ker-ching!

 

[sunnybob]

yep, he's good, barely 40 years old, flies around the world installing and fixing computers for large companys and richer than I could ever hope to be.