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Regulators Smash Global Phone Tech Support Scam Operation

Posted by Soulskill on from the grarrr-ftc-smash dept.

SternisheFan sends this excerpt from ZDNet: "Regulators from five countries joined together in an operation to crack down on a series of companies orchestrating one of the most widespread Internet scams of the decade. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other international regulatory authorities today said they shut down a global criminal network that bilked tens of thousands of consumers by pretending to be tech support providers. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, speaking during a press conference with a Microsoft executive and regulators from Australia and Canada, said 14 companies and 17 individuals were targeted in the investigation. In the course of the crackdown, U.S. authorities already have frozen $188,000 in assets, but Leibowitz said that would increase over time thanks to international efforts."

110 comments

  1. Heh, I remember them by jawtheshark · · Score: 2

    I got them on the phone once, and I let them loose on a VM. If I had a bit more time, I'm sure I could have had much more fun with them. I know someone who fell for it, and I asked them (the victim) one question: "Why in the world would Microsoft call you? They already have your money, they don't care from that point on." It baffles me totally that anyone would fall for it.

    --
    Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    1. Re:Heh, I remember them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Why in the world would Microsoft call you?"

      So what OS does all the malware run on?

    2. Re:Heh, I remember them by Spottywot · · Score: 5, Funny

      I've had them on the phone on more than occasion, the funniest time was was probably the third time they called, it was an asian sounding woman who told me my computer was sending them messages that it was infected. I asked which one as I have three, she said I could go to any one, anyway I humoured her to find out what the scam was. She took me to a remote access site (which in itself seemed perfectly legitimate), anyway at this point I'd seen enough and called her out as a scammer, her response made me laugh, 'Hey you!' She said, 'Stick the phone up your ass!' and then she hung up on me. Awesome customer service :) Glad they've been caught.

      --
      In a cybernetic fit of rage she pissed off to another age...
    3. Re:Heh, I remember them by r1348 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Stick the phone up your ass? I see you went for Premium Service...

    4. Re:Heh, I remember them by dwywit · · Score: 2

      Ditto - I had an indian-sounding fellow that I took for a ride. I asked him which computer, as I have many, and he said all of them...., then I asked which which IP address, 'cos he sure didn't have the internal network address, again he said any of them...
       
      I strung him along for about 5 minutes, and he got more and more upset, finally calling me a f#cking arsehole then hanging up.

      --
      They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
    5. Re:Heh, I remember them by pcgc1xn · · Score: 1

      Bah, 5 minutes, you are a lightweight. Remember you are running an infected vista machine. They do not boot in under 10 minutes, and when you tell them that your machine has been running slowly, they are eager to wait for you. Then another 10 minutes to "download" the file they want you to install - again my computer has been running slowly. Remember the tearing your hair out pain when trying to trouble shoot your mother in laws computer over the phone? Comes in useful, give it back to them, they will lap it up and think they are going to get somewhere.
      To add to the amusement while you are "waiting" for your computer to boot, ask them where they are based. I got told my suburb, and when I pressed them on it they picked an area which was actually commercial.
      All good fun if you have some time to kill.
      The best part is when you tell them that you are running ubuntu, and they realised that the last hour they had through various was a waste of their time.

      --
      Zapsavings: Simply calculate how much energy efficient bulb
    6. Re:Heh, I remember them by NotSanguine · · Score: 1

      I've had them on the phone on more than occasion, the funniest time was was probably the third time they called, it was an asian sounding woman who told me my computer was sending them messages that it was infected. I asked which one as I have three, she said I could go to any one, anyway I humoured her to find out what the scam was. She took me to a remote access site (which in itself seemed perfectly legitimate), anyway at this point I'd seen enough and called her out as a scammer, her response made me laugh, 'Hey you!' She said, 'Stick the phone up your ass!' and then she hung up on me. Awesome customer service :) Glad they've been caught.

      I got the "your computer was infected" call a couple of times, but now it's all "Lower my credit card interest rates" and "We want to give you a free cruise." Regardless, I string them along a bit (if I have the time) and then drop the "you're a slimy scammer!" and (for the male callers) "Next time I'm over at your house f***ing your wife, I'll wait 'til you come home so I can smack you!" or (for the "ladies") "Why don't you go back to turning tricks? It's more honest work." The callers are generally nonplussed, but I enjoy it. Good times. :)

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    7. Re:Heh, I remember them by dwywit · · Score: 1

      Well, I managed to fit a lot into that 5 minutes "- which computer?", "OK, will this one do?", "yes, sir, is it booting up yet?", "yes, it's already running", "please click the start button", "what start button, this is linux", and so on until he started to get upset - actually called me a liar. Had to stifle a laugh at that one.

      --
      They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
    8. Re:Heh, I remember them by rtfa-troll · · Score: 1

      To this you should add that the computer is always connected in a room next door (between each instruction take a five minute break with them listening to some music - you have to keep it sounding like they are connected though). Fun would be to have your computer in a different language. When they say "start menu" take ten minutes to eventually work out that it's "demarrer" (look up "vista francaise" in Google images for inspiration if you speak just a little French). Make every standard stupid support mistake "it says 'any key' but I can't find that one". Remember they are used to dealing with total IT idiots; in fact these are their most important customers. Every time you make them hang up by being "too computer stupid" (this always takes us over an hour) you have saved five other people's grannies from one of these guys.

      --
      =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
    9. Re:Heh, I remember them by Stiletto · · Score: 1

      Who the hell is so stupid that they would just do what a random person calling them tells them to do?

    10. Re:Heh, I remember them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ur mom

    11. Re:Heh, I remember them by DogPhilosopher · · Score: 1

      ur mom

      my mom

      no, seriously, my mom

    12. Re:Heh, I remember them by tehcyder · · Score: 5, Funny

      My dear old mum got them once and had them on the phone for about an hour (she was bored).

      They finally hung up when she told them she had made a mistake, and the screen she was looking at was not actually a computer monitor, just the TV.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    13. Re:Heh, I remember them by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Who the hell is so stupid that they would just do what a random person calling them tells them to do?

      You don't really understand how conmen work do you? With the huge increase in the number of people with computers, there will inevitably be a lot of people with almos zero IT knowledge. If you tell them plausibly enough you are ringing from "Microsoft Techinical Support" some people will fall for it.

      Everyone is stupid at something. They work different cons with people who are inexperienced with credit cards, car mechanics, investing in shares, women, or whatever.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    14. Re:Heh, I remember them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I told them - "I don't really understand this computer stuff - I will hand you over to my kid who does it for me" passed it to my 5 year old daughter whispered in her other ear to say "I always use linux it is safer" - he wished her a good day and hung up

    15. Re:Heh, I remember them by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Not to mention if they actually NEEDED tech support, why not just contact someone locally, where they could meet them face to face? Hell if they have Win 7 most of us little shops will be happy to set up a time and do a remote session so they don't have to bring the unit in, its actually one of my more popular services with the older folks as they don't want to have to unhook everything. I just sit there on the phone with them and walk them through starting a remote session and then while I'm in control of their desktop they can tell me what the problem is and even take over the mouse and show me what its doing. Things like realigning printer heads and running test pages, some website they like isn't loading, browser troubles, sound issues, I can do it all from my nice comfy chair and they don't have to deal with a tear down and dragging it to the shop, its a win/win.

      I never did understand why someone would trust their computer, with all their pics and docs and private stuff, to some guy halfway across the planet. I'm personally quite proud of the fact i have no damned clue what is in my customers docs folders, its not my job to snoop, its my job to fix the problem and hand it back. I always looked at repair like being a plumber, its my job to fix the sink not go through their underwear drawers, but the fact that someone will just hand control to somebody they've never met halfway across the planet is just insane. Hell I don't care if the guy really WAS from MSFT or Google or fricking Tigerdirect, if I can't see the guy in person I'm sure as hell not gonna trust him with my computer.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    16. Re:Heh, I remember them by Larryish · · Score: 1

      Your mum is my favourite person for this week.

    17. Re:Heh, I remember them by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      Who the hell is so stupid that they would just do what a random person calling them tells them to do?

      Apparently an alarming number of fast food restaurant managers.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    18. Re:Heh, I remember them by colesw · · Score: 1

      I never did understand why someone would trust their computer, with all their pics and docs and private stuff, to some guy halfway across the planet.

      And on that note I use to have a co-worker with a strong Indian accent, even though he had lived here in Canada for about 20 years, and he would have people hang up on him because they didn't want to speak to someone in India.

    19. Re:Heh, I remember them by Cinder6 · · Score: 1

      I spoke with them on two occasions. Both times, I got them quickly off the line by saying I run Macs, not Windows PCs (this was actually very confusing for them). I had actually hoped they would call them again, because I wanted to string them along as long as possible by acting as the nightmare customer of all tech support folk: Basically, by acting like an idiot. I'd planned on getting confused by common terms (what's a mouse? left click, right click, huh?) and just doing everything as slowly as possible.

      Alas, it was not to be.

      --
      If you can't convince them, convict them.
    20. Re:Heh, I remember them by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      That's funny, I used to have this little bitty Indian gal that worked at the same shop as me and I LOVED when we'd need an RMA and they'd try giving us the "Have you tried a reboot?" Indian tech support as I'd just pass her the phone and say 'Indian tech support" and she would just go OFF on their ass. I used to love to watch her get into a huff and be telling them things like NO! You did NOT just tell me to reboot, I've been building and programming computers since before your little butt was born so you do NOT tell me to reboot the stupid thing!" followed by a long string of words in Hindi I'm sure were very naughty...damned shame I never knew what those words were, i'm sure I'd have been laughing even harder.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  2. Clever... by bobthesungeek76036 · · Score: 1

    I have to give the perps credit it was a clever idea. Sad that this sorta thing goes on...

    --
    Karma: Bad
    1. Re:Clever... by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      I used to be angry at them, but in the end it was $$$ for me. Getting rid of scareware etc was a job for me too.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
    2. Re:Clever... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I used to be angry at them, but in the end it was $$$ for me. Getting rid of scareware etc was a job for me too.

      Cool, so really they were just one big privately run job creation scheme that cost no one anything and contributed to the growth of the economy. Oh, wait...

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    3. Re:Clever... by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      Yeah exactly. I wasn't looking forward to jobs like that as most of the time they are hard to remove and sometimes the removal process damages core files requiring user data backup, reformat and reinstall. Pain in the arse that takes up hours + the inevitable forced MS updates. Vista is particularly bad at that as it requires SP1 to fully automate updates. You can never get paid enough to do that job.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  3. A Horse of a Different Color by CanHasDIY · · Score: 5, Funny

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other international regulatory authorities today said they shut down a global criminal network that bilked tens of thousands of consumers by pretending to be tech support providers.

    ... When asked if the FTC had any intention of going after the other international crime ring, responsible for bilking the world's population for trillions, the FTC officials simply replied, "Are you kidding? Those bank guys throw hella parties for us, why would we want to discourage that???"

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  4. Where were they getting the phone numbers? by 2phar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I would like to hear more about how these guys got their phone number lists.. they seemed to have unlisted numbers together with correct names. In Ireland particularly, I only ever seemed to hear about this from people who were customers of a certain large ISP.

    1. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would like to hear more about how these guys got their phone number lists..

      Ever reply to those "Free iPad!" spam emails? No? ...Me neither.

      The same gullible people that give out their personal information to random strangers on the internet are the ones who get hit with this stuff.

      The only reason I know this is because the shitty company that I work for does business with companies that purchase these spam-generated phone lists.

    2. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by houghi · · Score: 3, Informative

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_dialing

      Do you really think they care or take trying anything else?

      It still amazes me that people here think that cyber criminals are some sort of super efficient people who want to try to have a hit each and every time.

      People like this are like spammers. They are not interested in how many say no, as long as enough say yes. They will just start dialing and get as many as possible.

      If they get many from a large ISP that is more likely because they are a large ISP and not anything else. People who are with the smaller ISPs are smart enough to just hang up.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    3. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Rudisaurus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In Canada, anyway, they simply scooped the entire national DNC list and used that. Nice, eh? At least the FTC charged them with unfair and deceptive trade practices under the FTCA in addition to DNC list violations. The former probably has more teeth. Enforcement may be a bit more of a problem, however.

      --
      licet differant, aequabitur
    4. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But how does one get personal information (name, address, etc.) from war dialing?

    5. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by snemarch · · Score: 1

      I don't think "war dialing" is appropriate here - they didn't just dial random numbers, they had lists of phone numbers with matching names.

      --
      Coffee-driven development.
    6. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Online you can find valid area codes and exchanges. See http://cnac.ca if you'd like. Then start dialing 0001, 0002, etc. Private numbers are not safe from these types of attacks. A tracking random number generator or phone book attack is also possible. The fact is, if you're Crooked enough to run a scam like this, you're Crooked enough to target everyone by taking a shotgun approach. As long as enough people pay for their crapware at stupid prices, and pay call center employees peanuts (ie: on par with outsourced American company call centers) then the extra cost for failed calls is likely worth it for them. I always demanded they help me with my Linux computer because they traced it to MY computer, and they should be able to help me because they were able to trace the issue to my computer and phone number. If everyone wasted 15 minutes of time with these people, and kill the workers' call times, it would eat profits and result in employee turnover.

    7. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

      buy a calling list.

    8. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 0

      I would like to hear more about how these guys got their phone number lists..

      Pick up your phone and dial a random number in a valid exchange. You will only have to do this a few times before you reach someone who is having problems with a Windows computer.

      This is why Apple is the most valuable corporation on the planet right now.

    9. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Informative? Right. Because randomly dialing numbers to find modems (as if anyone's on dial-up these days) is totally the same as calling and asking for a person by name.

      Did you even read any one of the article, the post you're replying to or the article you linked to?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    10. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

      They use ancient technology, based on dead trees. I believe it's called "phone books", especially the "white pages" variant.

      --

      I'm not repeating myself
      I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
    11. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      The story I heard was that some of them are frontline call centre people from country x. They have all the equipment already set up and they just use what's available. No big mystery.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
    12. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Earache65 · · Score: 1

      After reading this CBC article (http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/10/03/crtc-action.html) it wasn't apparent that the CRTC actually had any issue with the obvious fraud that was occurring, only that they had broken the Do-Not-Call List rules. Good to know the CRTC has our back.

    13. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by rsxaeon · · Score: 1

      Randomly dialing numbers to find modems is sufficiently similar to randomly dialing numbers to find idiots to at least consider he might be making an analogy.

    14. Re:Where were they getting the phone numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They weren't getting the numbers from a list. They're numbers. You just run through a sequence picked from a known range using an autodialer. When it gets an answer it forwards the call to a headset in a call centre.

  5. I got a couple calls from them... by Vylen · · Score: 2

    Which I found amusing at first, especially since I run a Mac ;)

    The first time they called, I hung up immediately since I had better things to do. The second time, though, I got fairly annoyed at the guy who sounded like he was on the other side of the world in a shack somewhere. I wanted to probe him and ask questions - he claimed to be calling on behalf of my ISP, but did not disclose a name. He wouldn't answer any of my queries and kept on talking and talking - until silence and hung up.

    And here I was planning on setting up a Virtual Machine and let them tinker with it to see what they did if they ever called me again - guess that ain't going to happen any more!

    1. Re:I got a couple calls from them... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They called here two nights ago. We're an Apple-only household, so I just said "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number and hung up."

    2. Re:I got a couple calls from them... by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      Did you get a call later pushing Judy Garland DVDs, poodle grooming services or buttplugs?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:I got a couple calls from them... by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      They called here two nights ago. We're an Apple-only household, so I just said "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number and hung up."

      You threw a double 6 and cast the Spell of Smugness. Congratulations.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  6. About time! I was getting calls from them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    At least once a week - one time, I let them go thru all their b.s. (especially the .inf file part, made me laugh when he said "they slow you down", lol - the scammer asked why I was laughing too).

    I stayed on the phone with them though - just so I could get their host-domain or url they wanted me to go to so I could block it in my custom hosts file (got it too).

    I told them "THANKS!" at that part, & he asked why - I told him... lol, he hung up!

    Funniest part is, later? They tried it again... lol!

    * One time, I told them I was an agent of law enforcement, & they hung up... FAST!

    APK

    P.S.=> They were persistent little scumbags...

    ...apk

  7. Today by AG+the+other · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They must have missed some. My aunt got a call this afternoon from them.

    --
    Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro
    1. Re:Today by lurker1997 · · Score: 2

      I just heard about this on the radio driving home. I am in Canada. Our equivalent of the FTC fined two companies, one 500K, one 18K. They also asked that the companies respect our do not cole registry from now on. My understanding is that in Canada at least, they can still call, just not if you chose to give your number to the DNC registry. Seems a bit light of a punishment.

    2. Re:Today by thogard · · Score: 1

      I was called yesterday. I expect this will never go away since it works well enough.

      This scam was unique in its early days since it used legitimate call centers to make the outbound calls which pre-screened the suckers. The call center would get paid when they handed off the call to the real scammers.

      There are counter scripts floating around for people who want to waste their time.

    3. Re:Today by bigbird · · Score: 1

      Got a call from them yesterday here in Australia. About the 12th call.

      --
      Great Windows SFTP Server!
  8. Please Please Please by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 1

    Tell me it was that god damn MyFuckingCleanPC (a.k.a. MySlowPieceOfShitPC) company that got busted...

    PULLEEEZZZZEE!

    --
    -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
    1. Re:Please Please Please by SternisheFan · · Score: 4, Informative

      Tell me it was that god damn MyFuckingCleanPC (a.k.a. MySlowPieceOfShitPC) company that got busted...

      PULLEEEZZZZEE!

      "The fake 'scareware' programs included WinFixer, WinAntiVirus, PopupGuard, WinFirewall, InternetAntiSpy, ComputerShield, PC SuperCharger and ErrorSafe," http://www.esecurityplanet.com/malware/ftc-wins-163-million-judgment-against-scareware-marketer.html

    2. Re:Please Please Please by Stiletto · · Score: 1

      WhyDoTheyAllUseCamelCase?

    3. Re:Please Please Please by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Tell me it was that god damn MyFuckingCleanPC (a.k.a. MySlowPieceOfShitPC) company that got busted...

      PULLEEEZZZZEE!

      LOL I haven't seen the MyFuckingCleanPC shill/troll recently on here. I found some of his tales quite heartwarming, although he did tend to spoil the endings by rattling on about Windows crapware.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    4. Re:Please Please Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      BecauseAllTheFakePCMaintenanceToolsInTheWorldCan'tFixABustedSpaceBar.

  9. Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with. by west · · Score: 2

    Interestingly enough, when I smelled scam a year ago and asked for particulars (company name and address) I was given them! The company was a pronounced like Symantec but spelled differently. I Googled them after hanging up and found about 40 want ads from them looking for tech support people in India... Even the scammers use the internet to recruit.

    I've received about 30 of these calls over the last year. The last time (yesterday) I lambasted the salesman for working for fraudsters, I was told "Well, don't blame me when your computer breaks down". *sigh*

    What I want to know is how or why their credit card privileges weren't terminated a year ago.

  10. Wait a second I never heard of this by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are they saying Tech Support calls you?

    This must be some kind of joke

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Wait a second I never heard of this by mordred99 · · Score: 5, Funny

      To quote a typical slashdot meme ... "Must be Russia"

    2. Re:Wait a second I never heard of this by benzaholic · · Score: 1

      oh god i wish i had mod points to give you today

      "Must be Russia," he says.
      You're killing me.

    3. Re:Wait a second I never heard of this by Ed+Avis · · Score: 1

      Yes I got a call from 'Microsoft' or something like that. This was after, for the first time in my life, I had bought a new computer and sent off the warranty registration. So I thought heck, maybe the OEM does employ people to phone you once you register your new $2000 computer. (That's not what I paid for it, but the list price a couple of years ago.) The woman at the other end asked me to bring up Event Viewer, which I did, but became annoyed and testy when I pointed out that 'error' messages in the log are entirely normal and counting the number of them is not a useful activity. "If you are so clever", she asked, "can you tell me what an application is?". I declined to answer, so she filled me in: "an application is what unifies your hardware with your software". I guess this was in the script if any mark asks the question about what these event viewer log entries are. Of course I didn't proceed to the remote access website she then wanted me to visit so a 'technician' could take control of my PC. With hindsight it was silly to even stay on the phone, but I was so chuffed with the idea that buying a new PC might even include some customer support, in this day and age, that I was ready to believe these were people acting for Panasonic who had helpfully decided to call their new customer. Duh....

      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  11. hi my name peggy by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    You have viruses, spyware. and for $50 we can fix ok?

  12. I assisted the AFP on one call by Centurix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They've rang us a number of times but the last time it came through with a caller ID, which was surprising. I've had a fair bit to do with VoIP here with Optus and I recognised that the number had a block ID which was reserved to Optus, so I used their block allocation lookup and found it allocated to a specific company with an ABN (Australian Business Number) and then rang my sales guy there to see what could be done to track them down. He was surprised and said he would pass it on to their internal scam monitoring department and within half and hour I received a call from them asking me about the call and asking if I would be prepared to talk to the Australian Federal Police, who then rang me 10 minutes after that and grilled me about the call too. Didn't hear anything more about it.

    --
    Task Mangler
    1. Re:I assisted the AFP on one call by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2

      ...within half and hour I received a call from them asking me about the call and asking if I would be prepared to talk to the Australian Federal Police, who then rang me 10 minutes after that and grilled me about the call too.

      Is anybody else bothered by the fact that this is the last post Centurix has ever made?

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    2. Re:I assisted the AFP on one call by Centurix · · Score: 1

      Yes. Wait, there's someone at the door...

      --
      Task Mangler
    3. Re:I assisted the AFP on one call by Macgrrl · · Score: 3, Funny

      You joke, my husband used to do L2 corporate internet support and was on the phone to a customer on time when the police raided the premises - from memory he put it on speaker so the rest of his team could hear it.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
  13. 7 billion people on earth ....what 20K affected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    180K in assets ? NO really wow big stop there...i wonder how corporate scamming compares

  14. Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with by Wolfling1 · · Score: 2

    I've received two calls in the last week so I'm not sure how the USFTC can claim to have 'shut them down'.

    My strategy these days is to ask them to hang on 'for just a minute' and then go and leave my phone under a cushion for 20 minutes. I figure that wasting their time is the most effective way to fight back.

  15. Stubborn can beat them too by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I helped a guy who got scammed by these guys but it turned out that he was so stubborn that he just wouldn't do what they wanted and just argued with them that they were wrong. So about all that got hurt was the home page on his browser.

    Personally I just wasted their time and would thank them for calling and say my computer was acting up and all slow. I would tell them it was booting but to be patient as it would take a few minutes. Then I would say oh something says it installed something and I need to reboot again. I would do this over and over until they hung up. Didn't take my time as they were on speaker phone and I would only talk to them during compiles.

    Also the phone conversational radio show Wiretap by CBC seemed to keep them on the line for a long while.

    1. Re:Stubborn can beat them too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You may like http://barrystaes.nl/scambait/

  16. This scam was still going?! by dohzer · · Score: 1

    They finally got them.
    And $188,000..., sounds like everyone will get their money back!

    1. Re:This scam was still going?! by SternisheFan · · Score: 1

      That's a typo, should be $163 million plus. http://www.esecurityplanet.com/malware/ftc-wins-163-million-judgment-against-scareware-marketer.html

  17. ESecurity FTC Scareware Story Link by SternisheFan · · Score: 2

    Link to ESecurity's scareware story... http://www.esecurityplanet.com/malware/ftc-wins-163-million-judgment-against-scareware-marketer.html

  18. Recorded the conversation. by Barryke · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They called me once, i recorded the conversation and trolled the guy. http://barrystaes.nl/scambait/

    I always assumed they where in Indonesia and used compromised voip exit servers in their victims country..

    --
    Hivemind harvest in progress..
  19. About fscking time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's about time these bastards were caught.

    They conned $50 out of my sister by pretending to be from Microsoft and they wanted to help her uninstall a virus, carefully stepping her through various setting screens on her Mac for half an hour.

  20. Another story on this (plus, a trick they pull) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://www.itnews.com.au/News/317816,us-authorities-bust-microsoft-support-scam.aspx

    More importantly - here's 1 of the "tricks" they try pull that I noted:

    http://www.itnews.com.au/News/257822,how-the-microsoftlogmein-support-scam-works.aspx

    * They TRIED to pull the EventLog one too that THIS article notes, & I was like "wait a second - are you REALLY trained in this? Those are merely eventlog entries, not errors of a serious nature!" - guy was quick too, & asked IF there were any "warning" ones (there aren't ANY here... almost never, that is).

    That's when he "moved on" to the .inf file one I noted in the 2nd link...

    LMAO, & I just "played along" UNTIL they wanted ME to go to (I won't spell it 'unified' so nobody gets burnt here by it) w w w . a m m y y . c o m ...)

    APK

    P.S.=> I put that into my custom hosts file, & that was that... blocked off, for good (they called again & I told them I was an agent of law enforcement - they hung up then, instantly!)...

    ... apk/b

    1. Re:Another story on this (plus, a trick they pull) by bmo · · Score: 5, Informative

      That's legitimate software, as is Teamviewer, a related remote access and desktop sharing tool.

      http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

      Remote tools like this are used every day by remote sysadmins. The scam was to get you to install it yourself so they could connect from their end, take your banking information, and clean out your accounts. It looks like the reason why they picked Amyy was because the license fee for "unlimited simultaneous connections" is relatively cheap ($99 for top tier) compared to Teamviewer's rather expensive license for unlimited connections - $1499.

      And then through the remote tool, they would make your machine unbootable when everything was done. There have been people who have let these guys run loose in a VM to find nothing, only to watch them start disabling services and delete system files.

      Teamviewer, Amyy, other remote access/desktop sharing tools are third parties to all of this and aren't part of the scam.

      --
      BMO

    2. Re:Another story on this (plus, a trick they pull) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I let them play in a VM. They didn't do anything harmful. All the dicking about in event viewer was to convince me that there was a problem with my computer. They then tried to convince me to purchase some software (for £40) to fix the "problem". That was the scam: to persuade me to buy some worthless software. Beyond that there was no damage.

    3. Re:Another story on this (plus, a trick they pull) by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      That was the scam: to persuade me to buy some worthless software. Beyond that there was no damage.

      And the reason for that is that selling the software isn't in itself a crime. It doesn't do any good, but like the tiger-repelling rock in the Simpsons, you never get bothered by whatever it was it was supposed to clean up.

      But remotely accessing a computer and destroying information/causing damage is certainly a crime in many places in the world.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  21. Ahhh, these pricks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, I've gotten a few calls from people claiming to be "Microsoft support". It's a lot of fun to run them around in circles and waste their time. By the end of one call I had the guy screaming that I was an asshole and he was 'revoking my Windows license'. Always good for a laugh if you're bored.

  22. Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with by west · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, given the arrests, if I get another call, I'll be seriously attempted to answer something like..

    Scammer: I'm calling from Microsoft and ....

    Me: Wait a moment, its all over Google News in the last hour. They're raiding 23 workplaces all over India for you guys... Oh, right. Google India is probably blocking it until they're finished the raids... Wait... There, I've got it up here on my screen. OH MY GOD!

    They've updated. The police have found bodies! OH MY GOD. Lots of bodies. Why? Why? Oh Jesus. [Reading] Police suspect the criminals decided to eliminate all witnesses who could testify against them. Oh My God. Jesus. 48 men and 6 women in 3 locations? Dear God, what sort of psychos are you working for? Look it up. Look it up on American Google, if you can get through.

    Oh God. I'm so sorry. Oh God. This is crazy! They used machetes in one location! I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this. I'm so sorry.

    Click.

    Actually, I don't think I'd have the guts to pull that off. But oh boy, am I tempted.

  23. It's too bad... by slick7 · · Score: 1

    It's too bad these "regulators" haven't smashed the banksters financial scam of fiat (ie. worthless) currency. $3 ttttrillion (and counting) in taxpayer losses and not one person in prison.

    --
    The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
  24. Re:A pic of the goatse guy when you need it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would have created a Vm with the goatse guy in the background and let him have and listen to his or her reaction upon seeing it. I would then go on claiming that was the last guy who called here. Want to be next?

  25. Called me three times in 3 months by hackertarget · · Score: 2

    Yes I received calls, 3 in about 3 months, they did not stay on the phone long.

    1st time - Caller: "You have a problem with your Microsoft Windows".
    Me: "I run Linux"
    Caller: Hangs up

    2nd time - Caller: "You have a problem with your Computer".
    Me: "How do you know which one, I have 6"
    Caller: Hangs up

    3rd time - Caller: "Your computer...."
    Me: Hangs up

    It is good they have been taken down, after working on helpdesks in the past I imagine many non-technical users would fall for a scam such as this.

  26. Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with by daremonai · · Score: 1

    I got one of those calls once. It was a woman with a very strong Indian accent, and for no particular reason I decided to pretend it was phone sex ("I have viruses? Oh my God, that's so hot!"). This just confused her for a little bit - I don't think she really followed what I was saying - and she kept on trying to continue with her script. Finally, I said she really needed to find a better job, and she cursed and hung up.

  27. How did they pay? by spud1955 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I assume that the people who were scammed had to pay via creditcard. Why didn't they just block that? Worked against wilileaks Sorry if this is a dumb question

  28. I've had 4 calls from them in the last few days by beanpoppa · · Score: 2

    I tried to keep them on the phone, as keeping them busy is the worst thing you can do to annoy them. I spent the entire 45 min ride home from my daughter's gymnastics on with them yesterday. She was amused by the conversations. The funny thing is, I don't know how these guys can make any money. I spend much of my day working with people with Indian accents, and I'm pretty good at understanding them. But these guys are inaudible. I have a sense of what they are trying to tell me to do, and I still can't figure it out! "Press the 4-flagged windows key on the lower left quadrant of your keyboard". Forget about when the guy was trying to tell me what URL to go to. I wanted to know what service they were using, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what URL he was trying to tell me to get to!

  29. I'm just GLAD I didn't go there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OR to any remote desktop service (I've used them before @ work, but not THAT one), so they could get into my system.

    * Their b.s. on EventLogs &/or .inf files was enough for me to KNOW they were full of it!

    APK

    P.S.=> I wonder why they just didn't opt to use RDP native to Windows? It'd do the job for them I'd think @ least! apk

    1. Re:I'm just GLAD I didn't go there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason is that port forwarding would have to be enabled on the upstream router...also, it probably can circumvent many firewalls because it probably uses traffic tunneled over 443

  30. Grandma's on Ubuntu... Confusion ensued... by goodgod43 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I switched my elderly mother to Ubuntu a few years back and she recieved one of these calls. Acording to her it went something like this.

    Caller: This is *** from *** we noticed that there is somthing wrong with your computer and we are calling to help you fix it.
    Her: Okay, let me get on my computer. What's wrong with it?
    Caller: We have recieved notification from your computer that it has spyware on it. It has notified us and we are calling to help.
    Her: Okay, I'm in front of my computer. What do I do?
    Caller: First, click on the start button.
    Her: I don't have a start button.
    Caller: It's the icon on the lower left that says start.
    Her: I don't have one of those. I have Yoobunto, Ewebantoo, I don't know, my son put it on here...
    Caller: Please just click the button that says "Start".
    Her: But I don't have one of those.

    This apparently went on for several minutes. Finally she hung up and called me. If she was running Windows, she probably would have gone along with the scam. This is not to say that the problem is with Windows, but rather that, as long as MOST people use Windows, there will always be an idiot to be found and these scams will occur.

    But imagine the problems these callers would have if Debian, (or Debian based), systems were the norm...

    Caller: Okay, which desktop do you have installed?
    Her: Desktop? What do you mean?
    Caller: What does your screen look like?
    Her: Flowers. I found I nice picture of lilacs.
    Caller: Umm... Can you open a terminal?
    Her: What's a terminal?

    I don't think these scammers would even gotten started.

    --
    "On the Internet, nobody can hear you being subtle." -Linus Torvalds
    1. Re:Grandma's on Ubuntu... Confusion ensued... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      If there were enough technically ignorant people using Linux, it would happen in the same way. The whole point of this scam is that is social engineering, it's not like writing a system-specific virus.

      It's like phishing attacks, it really makes no difference which bank or software you use, if you're prepared to reveal your account details and login information to a stranger on the phone/by email, you're fucked anyway.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    2. Re:Grandma's on Ubuntu... Confusion ensued... by goodgod43 · · Score: 1

      But this is where the Linux desktop confusion and social enginering breaks down. KDE, Gnome, LXDE, XFCE, Unity, Enlightenment, and on and on and on... There would not be a 'one size fits most' way of perpetuating this scam. Even if the user could be led to a website to download something, would it be .deb, .rpm, .tar.bz? Idiot users wouldn't know, and idiot scammers wouldn't be able to make money doing this sort of thing. As far as Phishing goes, Grandma has no idea that I update her computer remotely every week. Go ahead and ask her what SSH is, she couldn't tell you. Nor could she tell you her 'root' password. All she knows is that she is a nice old lady who is trying to help and her machine 'just works'.

      --
      "On the Internet, nobody can hear you being subtle." -Linus Torvalds
  31. Was on TV news troubleshooter by jtara · · Score: 1

    This was on the local TV news troubleshooter segment ("Turko Files") in San Diego a couple months ago.

    An elderly woman had called because somebody called her to tell her that her computer had a virus, and he was with Microsoft and could help her remove it. But first she had to "renew" her anti-virus subscription.

    As Turko says:

          "It's a scam!"

    1. Re:Was on TV news troubleshooter by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      And how is a non-technical user supposed to differentiate between this scam and the warnings from the McAfee/Norton anti-virus bollocksware that came with a 1 month's trial subscription on their shiny new computer?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  32. Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Look, I can help you.

    They're going to try to seize your funds. I can shelter them in my escrow account, but you'll have to wire them quick...no wait, use western union, it should be easy.

    I'll set up plane tickets to get you out of there. Be at the airport tomorrow by 8 am, the agent will have the tickets for you. I'm pretty sure my travel agent can get them by then, but if not, keep checking back.

    We can get through this.

  33. Only $188,000? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why did FTC wait until after Bain Capital sold off the assets?

  34. Why did it take so long ? by dargaud · · Score: 1

    I get scam phone calls or SMS every once in a while. Why can't you just report their phone number to your own phone provider, and after a few complaints they get automatically disconnected if they are on the same phone network, banned if they are on a different one and reported to the authorities and fined whenever possible ? It's much easier to fight than spam since you have their phone number in most cases, like the SMS 'You have a message - call back this insanely overtaxed number'

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:Why did it take so long ? by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      because the phone carriers get a cut of those scams. 900 numbers cost a lot to operate

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  35. Operating in Belgium too by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Got a call from them last week. Odd think was I had got a few of those "Application X has crashed" a few days previously. Normally I don't bother sending the reports (it's not like they'll actually fix anything) but it's possible I'd hit the wrong button once or twice.

    Almost had me convinced for a second, but I was pretty sure I'd never given Mickeysoft my phone number. But had it got to the point where they were asking me to install random stuff, well...

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  36. Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with by CrashandDie · · Score: 1

    At least they were honest:

    "Semen Tech. Confidence in a fucked up world."

  37. 6 more shut down since Tuesday by SternisheFan · · Score: 2
    From TGDaily: FTC nabs more scareware scammers Posted on October 4, 2012 -05:30 by Emma Woollacott Flushed with success from successfully closing a 'scareware' case on Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission has succeeded in getting six more such outfits closed down.

    "The FTC has been aggressive –and successful –in its pursuit of tech support scams," says FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz. "And the tech support scam artists we are talking about today have taken scareware to a whole other level of virtual mayhem." The six operations were mainly based in India, but their victims spanned the globe: most lived in the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. Five used telemarketing boiler rooms to call consumers, while the sixth placed ads with Google which appeared when consumers searched for their computer company’s tech support telephone number. The scammers then pretended to be working for legitimate companies such as Dell, Microsoft, McAfee and Norton, before claiming they'd found a threat on the user's computer that could cost as much as $450 to fix.

    The six organizations concerned have been named as Pecon Software, Finmaestros, Zeal IT Solutions, Virtual PC Solutions, Lakshmi Infosoul Services and PCCare247. The FTC is pushing for compensation.

    http://m.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/66620-ftc-nabs-more-scareware-scammers

  38. I've gotten a couple of calls by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

    I got a call awhile ago, late at night. I was half asleep and couldn't understand their accent, but I heard something about my computer. I hung up, and later woke up enough to realize that it was a scam attempt.

    A few days ago, I got a similar message on my answering machine, and I couldn't understand them much better when I was awake. But I suppose it was believable; real helpdesk people are just as hard to understand.

    --
    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  39. wonder how much repeat business they get? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    scammers - total idiots are our best customers

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  40. Good possible point: Here's another? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A direct connection would allow someone to pinpoint WHERE they were coming from - these "remote logon services" though? I don't *think* they do, @ least not directly & not without speaking to (and probably needing a court order for) the remote logon services themselves.

    These services act more-or-less, like a proxy...

    * I've used "GoToMyPC" in the past on these jobs (iirc, that was what we used, but not sure anyone it was so many years back, around 2007) & it went thru a service, was logged, etc./et al...

    The LOGGING part would be possibly incriminating, from some of what I've read here that others saw (for instance, folks here told of "letting them run wild in a VM" & seeing them start to turn off critical services &/or deleting critical system files...)

    APK

    P.S.=> Personally, I think they were VERY STUPID trying to pull this stunt off... look where it got them in the end, after all!

    ... apk

  41. So this would mean ... by Rambo+Tribble · · Score: 1

    ... only company authorized personnel can pretend to provide tech support?

  42. Caught in the act! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a screen capture video of likely these exact scammers - http://veribook.wordpress.com/