315-407-4060 Microsoft “tech support” scam from win33.us:
I received a call today from “Gwen Stacey” asking me to give her control of my computer so she could clear out the “viruses” (which she proved existed by showing me the warnings and errors in Event Viewer but couldn’t identify which ones were viruses, let alone which “viruses” they were). After clicking on random things on my computer and intentionally misunderstanding her instructions for ten minutes, I asked to speak with her supervisor, and another person with a thick accent came on the line and identified himself as “Peter.”
When asked how to get my name and number off their list, he said all I had to do was pay him $200. I told him they had a sad way of cheating gullible people out of their money and I felt sorry for anyone who fell for their scheme. His response was literally (direct quote!) “tell me something I don’t know.”
I also told him that “Gwen” has considerable patience and good call control and could have a future in legitimate technical support. He asked me if I had anything else I wanted to talk about before wishing me a good day and hanging up.
I know otherwise intelligent people who have lost time, sleep, and too much money to scammers who lock users out and charge ~$200 to let you back in (to your own computer!). Bottom line: No one, especially Microsoft, will ever call you out of the blue to tell you there’s a problem with your computer.
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