klmama Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I just got a call from some guy claiming to represent a company that would help me get rid of the viruses I had accidentally downloaded into my computer. If I would just let him guide me over the phone to give him access to my computer to fix the problems... at which point I hung up on him. I can totally see a confused older person falling for this. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenKitty Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Calls like that are so annoying. I can see people falling for all kinds of scams, sometimes they are so believable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Dh has gotten a few calls like that - but they're even more unbelievable. They claim to know that we've downloaded a virus. What, you're monitoring our internet and know what we download, you creeps? Are you the NSA? And you're calling us on the phone to tell us this? And now you want me to grant you access past our firewall so you can "fix" it? Yeah, right. How many things are wrong with that story? But I could totally see some older people especially falling for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 These are hysterical. My dh played along with one, getting his hopes up and then crushing him. But, yeah, I worry about older people getting the same sort of calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norah Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 I had one of these calls too. He claimed that he could tell I'd downloaded a virus because of my IP address. I kept saying "Uh huh..." and let him go on for a bit. He said the word virus over 6 times in under a minute, and threw in mal-ware for fun. This is the kind of thing I worry about my dad falling for. I think I'll go call my parents now, if this is becoming a common thing. Let my mom know it's a scam and to mention it to my dad a few times so he remembers not to tell them anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 My friend just got a call like this last week. I'm hoping they call me so I can mess with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabella Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 This scam has been going around for at least five years in Australia. I know at least five people that have been sucked in by it. Most were older but one lady was barely sixty, which I don't class as old these days!! This particular lady was told that now that she had received the advice it would cost her a certain amount. She was annoyed but since it wasn't too much she agreed to pay it and gave her credit card details. After she hung up the phone she realized that it might have not been legit so she called the bank to put a stop on her card. They'd already withdrawn $900 if I remember correctly. The next day the same people called back and said that they needed her bank details again as they realized they took too much and needed to refund her!! Thankfully she didn't fall for it that time. She was kicking herself so hard for being sucked in by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHomeschoolDad Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Was he, per chance, my lost uncle from Nigeria? He owes me money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Dh has gotten a few calls like that - but they're even more unbelievable. They claim to know that we've downloaded a virus. What, you're monitoring our internet and know what we download, you creeps? Are you the NSA? And you're calling us on the phone to tell us this? And now you want me to grant you access past our firewall so you can "fix" it? Yeah, right. How many things are wrong with that story? But I could totally see some older people especially falling for this. You know, I think that may be what he said. I was distracted between trying to understand his broken English and trying to decide how long I should let him talk before I hung up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 They call our area in Canada also. The first time, I asked him for a phone number to call him back to verify he was really from "Macrosoft". The second one, I informed them that the police had taken out an ad in the newspaper telling people about this scam. Later that day they called my father in law and told him the same thing, his computer was infected. They asked him to go to his computer and he asked them to tell him were it was in his house because he could find the darn thing. At this point I was puzzled and said to him "You don't even have a computer!" My FIL laughed and replied, "Well, I figured if they could make a virus appear out of thin air, maybe they could make a new computer for you appear like magic also." I love my FIL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.