Sunday, September 8, 2013

The "Microsoft" Hoax (With Video)

I've been doing computer repair work for the better of 17 years as The Computer Guy and nothing upsets me more than people who write viruses and do malicious things to unsuspecting people.  Viruses went from being able to just open another person's CD Rom drive from a remote computer to scaring people and demanding ransom money.  This latest hoax, telemarketing to people (mostly older folks) telling them that their computer is messed up is beyond low.
 
Here's how it starts out.  The phone rings with a blocked or spoofed number and a person with a very thick foreign accent proclaims to be from Microsoft or Windows or some other outfit and they tell you that your computer is spewing viruses all over the Internet and they need to "check it out" as this is the only way it can be fixed.
 
I have seen what they have done from other techs who have done screenshots of the actions they take.  They use some "program" that shows bogus errors on your screen to convince you that they need to fix your computer AND charge you around $199 to do so.  They will take this payment as a DEBIT, so you have no recourse to get your money back.
 
As luck would have it, they called me.  This is the 3rd time they have and I happened to have my FlipCam in the car and decided to capture the conversation on that.  Naturally, play dumb to get them to give me more info, but after a while I bust them out and get hung up on.  The last time, I did this, they lost their foreign accent and really gave me every four-letter word they knew.
 
Click below to watch what I did -- all from my vehicle.

 
Enjoy the video!  Remember, don't trust the phone scammers.  I have the same remote tools as they do and I can FIX your issues, not create more of them.
 
For more tips, tricks and advice -- please become a FAN on Facebook.

http://www.Facebook.com/PatTheComputerGuy

BE SAFE OUT THERE!