WARNING!!!

[Grok]

Dodged a bullet today.....

Was trying to access map quest when a message popped up on my screen, claiming that my. computer was infected with spy ware. I was shocked. There were instructions to call a phone number, so I did.

Step 1, shock the victim.

Someone claiming to work for Apple said that I was a victim of identity theft, that at 3 AM somebody accessed my checking account and sent $29,000 to a child pornography site in China. Supposedly, I was at risk for procsecution

Step 2, scare the victim.

So, steps 1 and 2 should cloud the judgement of the victim.

No mention was made concerning dealing with the alleged spy ware. Instead, this person right away started asking about financial matters.

[Grok]

Dodged a bullet today.....

Was trying to access map quest when a message popped up on my screen, claiming that my. computer was infected with spy ware. I was shocked. There were instructions to call a phone number, so I did.

Step 1, shock the victim.

Someone claiming to work for Apple said that I was a victim of identity theft, that at 3 AM somebody accessed my checking account and sent $29,000 to a child pornography site in China. Supposedly, I was at risk for procsecution

Step 2, scare the victim.

So, steps 1 and 2 should cloud the judgement of the victim.

Nothing was mentioned about dealing with the alleged spy ware.

Step 3. Instead, this person right away started asking about financial matters. (No, I didn't reveal account numbers, passwords, etc).

Step 4. Tell the victim to keep all this secret. Other people are suspect. Actually, the scammer doesn't want you talking to someone clear headed.

Step 5. The scammer told me to go to the nearest bank branch and withdraw $29,000 in cash. This supposedly would have cancelled out the alleged 3
AM withdrawal. Actually, cash would be harder to trace than other means.

If asked why I was withdrawing so much in cash, I was to say that I was buying a car.

I did indeed go to the bank branch. I figured that, face to face, it would be clear that the person was indeed working for the bank, as opposed to an anonymous voice on the phone. Talked to a teller, asked him if indeed there was a withdrawal at 3 AM. He said no. So a crucial lie was discredited. Told the teller about the events of that afternoon, and he said that they see a lot of scams like that.

[Barleymower]

Grok I had a similar experience when I recieved a call from sky telling me my Internet needed to be reconfigured.
It wasn't from sky of course they wanted to take control of my home PC

[Faldaguy]

If I don't recognize the number AND the name on the caller ID screen, I don't touch the phone. It took some time to have my wife, who believes in the good of people more than I do, on the same page.

Hey there Beachlion -- almost didn't recognize your name it's been so long since I've seen a post from you...glad you are about and hopefully well. Good precaution re scams; and if you do pick up a stray call, complete silence with any data. Salud, from Ticolandia

[Faldaguy]

If I don't recognize the number AND the name on the caller ID screen, I don't touch the phone. It took some time to have my wife, who believes in the good of people more than I do, on the same page.

Hey there Beachlion -- almost didn't recognize your name it's been so long since I've seen a post from you...glad you are about and hopefully well. Good precaution re scams; and if you do pick up a stray call, complete silence with any data. Salud, from Ticolandia

OOPS, missed the date and was forgetting the history, my apologies.

[Raakone]

I've gotten some scam calls where they clearly didn't do their homework. Where someone from either "Windows" or "Norton" would call, saying I have a virus. A couple of times I answered "thank you, I have all the information I need!" and hung up.

More annoying are robo-calls. I've gotten robocalls claiming that the cops are coming to arrest me. However, they messed up. They know I'm in Canada. They said that if I don't call the number they're giving and pay up, then the federal court will prosecute me. ACTUALLY, in Canada, the "Federal Court" is only for certain civil cases involving federal matters, but anything CRIMINAL goes through either the provincial court or provincial superior court (depending how severe the most severe accusation is) Oh, I work for a lawyer and a notary, and have been to paralegal school. Or they may say I owe money because of my social insurance number being misused. Or I haven't paid enough taxes. If the tax agency REALLY needs something from you, they generally don't contact through automatic calls.

I've also received a couple of robocalls from the Canada Revenue Agency....that Caller ID said were from Delaware. IF you're going to scam someone, try to make things believable!

[phathack]

My phone is configured to only ring on numbers in my contact list, on all other calls the phone lights up but does not make any sound. It's nothing unusual to see several missed calls on my phone.

[Stu]

A couple of years ago, I received a phone call from a guy with a strong Indian accent who told me that if I had any calls claiming to be from "Windows" and that there was a problem with my computer and that he would tell me how to fix it. He went on to say that I should not do as the caller said and that I should put the phone. Then he put the phone down. No idea who he was, but I guessed he was warning me about some kind of scam that was going on at the time.

[Midas]

This kind of junk call is a regular feature. If I answer the phone to a number I don’t know and am met by an Indian or other foreign voice I simply disconnect.

[pelmut]

A friend of mine played along with the "Windows" scam (she has a Mac G3, which is virtually virus-proof) until they asked her to go to their website.  At that point she said "O.K., but I'll have to put the 'phone down first because I'm on a dial-up line".

[JohnH]

I answer the phone for unknown numbers by announcing my name, and "Please state your business". Usually the caller hangs up. However, if the caller doesn't say anything, then I say, "Please hang up". If the caller stays on the line I say "You could make more money as a lot lizard at truck stops, providing pleasure and companionship to lonely truck drivers". Then the caller is sure to hang up.

[Fred in Skirts]

My phone was purchased in Colorado by my daughter as a present to me.
So my number is from Colorado. On average I get about 7 calls a month from numbers in Colorado that are fraud calls. I probably get a lot more than that as as soon as I get a new Colorado number I put it in my blocked calls list. I answered one of them once and the person on the other end asked me if I owned my home. I told him no I am in the home owned by Texas known as the Texas state prison system. He hung up fast. I blocked the number.

I have answered the old land line phone with the following:
Sgt Johnson Homicide, Who are you and how do you know the deceased This is usually enough to start the caller stuttering and claiming they don't know me and were trying to sell me something. They then hang up fast.

[JohnH]

Fred, that's a great idea. As a bass I could speak to sound like Sgt. Friday of Dragnet. That would be sure to.freak out the caller.

Follow-up:

I pretend that I'm a female receptionist: "Please tell me why you're calling.

(pause)

With my Joe Friday voice: " This is Sgt. Hudelson of Homicide. Please tell me who you are and which deceased victim you want to talk about?

John

[Grok]

The other day I received an e-mail-supposedly from AOL-claiming that my old iMac has been spamming out malware, and this was the last warning before my e-mail account would be closed.

The alleged deadline for closure? Supposedly the deadline was scheduled to expire before I received the suspect e-mail. To test the claimed closure, I dispatched an e-mail addressed to myself. This self addressed e-mail came back, showed up on my screen just fine.

Decided to not respond to suspect e-mail. Called a friend, asked him to please find a phone number for the local brick & motor store. I called the store, an Apple store that I had gone to before. Set up an appointment to bring the computer in to be vetted.*

Store employee checked out my computer, it was fine. No virus/malware found.

Store employee strongly emphasized that if you receive a suspect item do not click on a link. This is opening a crack that allows infiltration.

Note-at a brick & motar store it is obvious that the people working there are authentic employees. Far more trust worthy than an anonymous e-mail, or an anonymous voice on a phone.

Can't emphasize this too much. Considering the tricks being used, it is not enough to be careful. You must be paranoid



*It was a pain in the butt to physically move a heavy, bulky machine. But that was vastly preferable to falling for a scam.

[Barleymower]

Can't emphasize this too much. Considering the tricks being used, it is not enough to be careful. You must be paranoid



*It was a pain in the butt to physically move a heavy, bulky machine. But that was vastly preferable to falling for a scam.

These scams are increasingly sophisticated. I receive regular reminders of the risks and tactics employed by the scammers. Despite that i nearly got caught out when i noticed an odd transaction, followed by a call from the bank.
It turned out that i had just forgotten what I had spent and that just happened to coinside with the scammers. I took the usual precations and they failed but it was a close one.