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65,000 Complaints Later, Microsoft Files Suit Against Tech Support Scammers
MojoKid (1002251) writes Tech support scammers have been around for a long time and are familiar to most Slashdot readers. But last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had issued lawsuits against several culprits responsible for tech support scams. Now Microsoft has announced that it too is going after tech support scammers. According to the company, more than 65,000 complaints have been made about tech support scams since May of this year alone. Bogus technicians, pretending to represent Microsoft, call the house offering fake tech support and trick people into paying hundreds of dollars to solve a non-existent issue. If successful in their ruse, the scammer then gains access to a person's computer, which lets them steal personal and financial information and even install malware.
I managed to keep one of these guys on the phone for about 20 minutes while I stumbled through his directions, over and over, "rebooting," pretending to be using Windows, etc; the next one caught on more quickly. Have they called you? If so, how did the call go?
Maybe the complaint system only support 2^16 entries?
If I have the time I like to keep these people on the phone. My record so far is an hour and fifty minutes. I have a honeypot system ready to go and it's fun and informative to see how they operate. Keeping them busy means they have less time to prey on somebody else less compueter savvy. I see it as a public service.
he has mild Alzheimer's, but enjoys talking on the phone with anyone. he knows nothing about computers.
before I got bored. He, and his "supervisor of tech support" was already spitting mad so when I thanked him for playing the fool and provide me with some laughs it pushed him over the edge. My shtick is to pretend to be an elderly man, who off course has trouble hearing so they have to s p e l l r e a l s l o w l y and i still mess it up, have them explain the internet (isn't it that cable thingy that I plug in the wall? You want me to disconnect it?) all while obviously being vey very worried about them virus things. I've seen them talk about it on TV. Is it like Ebola? I don't want to get that.Of course none of his instructions worked because I don't use Windows.
The trick is to appear complaint while being confused and incompetent. The couple of times he doubted my old age gimmick I thanked him and joked the ladies tell me that as well.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
was the magic number 65536?
That's enough complaints for anybody.
All the trademarks. Middle of the day, thick Indian accent, said he was from Microsoft support, said there was a problem.
He really was. He was calling me about a ticket I had opened with Azure support. Go figure.
The person who called me didn't get far because I told him right away that I know it's a scam.
Then he threatened to kill me and my family. That was a little unsettling.
A friend and I had some fun at the Jehovah's Witnesses' expense about 30 years ago. I was over at his place, and there was a knock at the door. He peeked outside and said "Dude, it's the Jehovah's Witnesses, come here!" He threw his arm around me and answered the door in a very lispy voice, and they were mostly speechless. He then looked at me and said, "Well hun, I don't guess they have anything to say, so let's go back to bed!" and shut the door on them. He never got another knock again.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Looks like he accidentally his post.
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!