The Microsoft Windows Technical Support scam -

[AmPaTerry]

Have you got this call?
They work to get you to grant them access to your computer, then they steal your passwords and/or plant a virus which they will later charge you to remove -
Having tried several ways of getting rid of them, today I tried something different.
I kept talking kind of slow, and telling him I did not understand -
As he repeated and embellished his story, I picked up my 9mm and quietly walked out onto the back porch.
I kept sounding more and more distressed, and he kept getting more and more pushy about how we have to fix this!
Finally, with voice trembling, I said "I am so sorry I have caused all this damage!

I can not live with this -
BLAM!!!
I put one round into my backstop, holding the Glock near the phone.
I then dropped the phone on the wooden porch floor and tiptoed back inside the house, quietly closed the doors behind me -
And Judy and I laughed ourselves silly - -

[dralarms]

Omg, perfect.

[Ski]

55 minutes ago, AmPaTerry said:

I can not live with this -
BLAM!!!
I put one round into my backstop, holding the Glock near the phone.
I then dropped the phone on the wooden porch floor and tiptoed back inside the house, quietly closed the doors behind me -
And Judy and I laughed ourselves silly - -

Nice...but I take it you weren't talking on an expensive smart phone.  :-)

[AmPaTerry]

Land line - we live out where cell phones are a mere hope for the future -

 

 

[peejman]

My parents get those calls all the time. They've asked me about it a few times. They doggedly refuse to drop the landline because soooo many of their friends have the number (they have cell phones too) and they also refuse to just not answer the damn phone when they don't recognize the caller ID.  Mom gets so mad and yells at them... I ask, why did you answer it?  All you're doing is confirming that it's a valid number and ensuring they continue to call. 

I like your solution. 

[bubbadavis]

I usually just slowly reel them in... After about 10 minutes of asking 'how do I do that?", etc. I tell them I only have Macintosh machines and Linux servers in the house. They usually hang up on me then!

I also tell the credit card people I need to get a new card ASAP; because my bankruptcy hasn't closed yet. I've had them tell me they couldn't help me...

[n0rlf]

I always try to sell them Amway. Hello,.  Wait before you get going I have something great happening right now. I have a wonderful product I am selling from Amway and I am sure you will.....hello....

 

[Jeb48]

Love it.  

If I have time I usually try to lead them on for awhile, ask questions to see if I can get them to start over and finally when I get boredred I tell them to try and steal control of someone else computer and hang up. I am an all Mac household with zero MicroSoft software in the house. They call my 89 year old Mother all the time and she tries to explain she does not own a computer and they argue with her that she does. My son is in IT and he likes to pretend he is doing what they say and telling them bogus info that is showing up on the screen and they get very frustrated that what they are telling him to do doesn't work.

[mhmd]

Hmm. I have been doing this all wrong. I say hello, they start talking, I hang up and walk off. 

APT your way is much funnier. 

[analog_kidd]

15 hours ago, peejman said:

My parents get those calls all the time. They've asked me about it a few times. They doggedly refuse to drop the landline because soooo many of their friends have the number (they have cell phones too) and they also refuse to just not answer the damn phone when they don't recognize the caller ID.  Mom gets so mad and yells at them... I ask, why did you answer it?  All you're doing is confirming that it's a valid number and ensuring they continue to call. 

I like your solution. 

Help them get a Google voice account. You can port their land line to GV, and then point the old number to their cell phones. This will allow the old number to stay active but it will ring their cell phones. And then they can cancel the land line, and GV is free.

You can set the number to ring one or both cells at the same time, and the call will route to whoever answers first. Annoying numbers can be easily blocked. A message can be set up before transferring the call. For instance the message could say "make note of our cell number".

I think you can't directly transfer a land line to GV, only cell numbers, but you can transfer one to a cheap prepaid, and then transfer that to GV.

[peejman]

1 hour ago, analog_kidd said:

Help them get a Google voice account. You can port their land line to GV, and then point the old number to their cell phones. This will allow the old number to stay active but it will ring their cell phones. And then they can cancel the land line, and GV is free.

You can set the number to ring one or both cells at the same time, and the call will route to whoever answers first. Annoying numbers can be easily blocked. A message can be set up before transferring the call. For instance the message could say "make note of our cell number".

I think you can't directly transfer a land line to GV, only cell numbers, but you can transfer one to a cheap prepaid, and then transfer that to GV.

That's an idea, but way too high tech for my parents.  

[Dustbuster]

Old scam when they tell you
harro i am weeet micosoft security....
tell the caller salam alechem
and after everything they say, say allah achbar over and over.
dont reference camels,camel dongs or bad language. they will only call over and over. i had a lit of fun heckling these guys to the point where its now boring.
they read from scripts and only want a credit card number. ive given them silly names, phone number for adult book stores and even 3 wayed them w other telemarketers....which is funny as hell.
bottom line its a scam weather ms or irs or court system. have fun w them or hang up. if u have time, keep em on the phone forever asking real nice questions then hang up. this way their boss will beat them senseless for not closing the deal/scam lol enjoy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, its either this or smoke signals!

[AmPaTerry]

It has been two weeks since my suicide, and I have not received this call during that period.  We were getting it almost every day before, so I think I can say that this worked.

Now I am going to do the same thing with the IRS scam -