Just got a call from "Microsoft"

I just spent the last 30 minutes talking to a "Microsoft support" person. They called me out of the blue saying my computer is "totally infected with malicious software" and "showing" me how infected my PC was and telling me how my computer will implode if I don't do something about it. Then here's the kicker for just $299 they can renew my software warranty forever (on any PC and all future Windows platforms) and "help" me remove all these malicious files. So I said "$299; I would literally take a baseball bat to my computer before I pay $299 to Microsoft for this." Unfortunately they had another offer of $99 for 10 year coverage, which I declined then was promptly hung up on.

So was this actually MS support or just a phishing scam? I really hope it was not really Microsoft because if it really was them then they are doing some really shitty business.

Scam

Sounds like some hot bullshit to me.

You actually wasted 30 minutes talking with this person? Jesus.

Probably not microsoft, I saw a video on youtube of a guy that was cold called by them and kept them on the phone for quite a while. similar to this video...

It's a scam, like a nigerian prince or a swedish banker...

I am literally doing nothing else, I actually found the experience hilarious and made me laugh. Better 30 minutes than most sitcom shows.

It's a scam. There is no way Mircrosoft would be following your PC to know it's infected. Oh wait...

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/avoid-phone-scams.aspx

Yep, that's it. I should have recorded it. It was really funny.

Got the same call last week. They wanted my PC password so they could remove the spyware remotely they also wanted 200.00 from my credit card.

I spent a few minutes on the phone with them once. My company had recently set me up to work from home, so at first I thought it was part of some service contract they had with MS. It was when they mentioned wanting to charge for cleanup that I said no thanks.

computer is "totally infected with malicious software" and "showing" me how infected my PC was and telling me how my computer will implode if I don't do something about it.

This is a complete scam, especially if you have caller ID and the number is either blocked or doesn't exist. Sucks that you stuck with it that long. I amused the guy by questioning him and it forced him to hang up.

Its about as legit as all the emails I get telling me my Diablo 3 and WoW accounts will be banned if I dont respond to them.....even though I've never played either nor ever had a battle.net account.

I work in IT. We get at least two or three people a week who allowed access to their computer and ended up with a rogue antivirus. It's totally a scam.

@jay_ray: About a month ago I got a call very similar. They were insisting that my computer had been sending them errors. I was never able to fully get them to explain to me what they meant - was my computer part of some botnet that was destroying their network infrastructure, or was it that I had some software that was informing them my computer was dying a slow painful death.

After about the 30th time asking who they worked for they gave up. The best part was, every time I asked the guy (super hardcore thick indian accent) would yell "I TELL YOU WHO I WORK FOR, YOUR COMPUTER!"

Why wouldn't you agree to that. I mean, $299 seems like a reasonable price to "fix" your PC. Also, how would they even know if your computer is messed up anyways?

You screwed up. Imagine the fun and life lessons you could have had. You should have bought.

hahaha

Sounds like you missed a bargain there.

Those were my thoughts too. It might have been entertaining for five minutes, but a half-hour?

Do they just happen in the UK? Personally I found it hilarious and looked at some of the related videos from the one posted earlier.

Congrats. Now they know that the phone number is live and that you are none too bright. Expect to hear from an exiled Nigerian prince very soon, he has an interesting business proposition for you.

I'll be sure to tell my grandma about this so she doesn't fall for it.

With calls like this, I usually just say something like "Really? Yeah, I thought it was acting funny. Hold on a second... I've gotta find my wallet." Then I put the call on hold, go back to what I was doing, and wait and see how long it takes for the hold light on the phone to go out. So far the record is about twenty-eight minutes.

That was Australia.

His Kinect was next to his computer.

These computer scam calls get weirder and weirder. Had a guy calling me up saying he was from my ISP and that my internet was going to cut for 'Downloading malware/malcious software' I think were his words. That was 3 days ago and nothing has happened.

I hung up on him before he offered a 'Solution'.

But whatever will you do about all this caustic bacteria infesting your computing machine! D:

@jay_ray: With knowledge like that about your PC are you sure "microsoft" isnt really "the NSA"?

I get e-mails from "Paypal" saying theyve "charged" 50€ from my account. You think I should click on their "link" to inquire about this?

It's an Indian company, they have different periods throughout the year in which they call American homes, British homes and Australian homes.

God I'd love this.

I want them to call me. Please

These are pretty common in the UK at the moment. You can usually throw them off pretty quickly by saying you use MacOS/Linux, which will cause them to accept defeat and hang up instantly, even though their ruse is built on the supposed foreknowledge that you have a Windows machine.

Ended up humouring one last year: http://musingsandmisanthropy.com/2012/08/14/how-those-tech-calls-go/

Also pretty common right now are calls from the "Visa/Mastercard Payments Service". After thinking out loud that those would be separate companies, the agent simply said "fuck you, motherfucker" and hung up on me.

What is this 1990 or something? Scam callers? How did they get your number? I know landline numbers are public but who the fuck still uses a landline phone anyway?

Yeah its a scam, as said above. Uk gets them all the time.

Always an Indian person and they start off with "We have looked through our records and found that your computer is infected. We must help you clean it." Then go onto telling you to download a program and let in to do all its nasty stuff. So its scrubbing your comp for details and then they ask for you to pay a license for them to scrub your comp.

My dad just has fun with them nowadays.

"I am calling to say our record show your windows is infected."

"Why windows are fine! I am looking out them right now...they are fine."

"No you need to look at the windows on your computer"

and carries on pretending to talk about Windows like that.

Also he has said "Computer? I dont have one." and they still insist. "no no! our records show your computer is infected!"

Scam my friend a pure scam.

i love scams they are so easy to see though. i dont know how many billions i have won in my lifetime, and how many dead relatives that i diddent know i had, who also for some reason knew who i was and left me a shit load of money.
uh and how i owe canadaia (guessing its Canada) pharmaceutical some money for some embarrassing drugs i ordered. and i should pay the bill of 40$ or else it would go to court. so i aparently ordered some pills from a pharmaceutical that is illegal to send out side of the contry, cant be bought without a doctors recite 6.2k km away from me.
uh also the one where i can make millions at home if i just follow these few steps, or pay x amount to invest in a risk free business.
and on my secondary account i have also gotten a mail from a beautiful russian lady who apparently liked my picture and found my email. and wanted to see me in person, unfortunally she did not have enough for the ticket so if i was willing to send the money for a ticket she would really love to come visit me.
i could go on

THEY'RE ALWAYS LISTENING MAN.

I used to get this all the time and I swear it's the same guy in the youtube video. After about 5 times I told him to fuck off and hung up on him and he phoned me straight back and told me I was very rude and that he was trying to help me and I shouldn't be such a bad man.

My mother got a call and said she didn't have a computer and they told her she does. They must be legit because how would they know she was lying.

Well, according to the US Census Bureau, 75.6% of people in the US have a computer and internet access. The number is even higher in Europe. So, really they have a good chance at making a random guess that someone owns a computer.

You guys are all crazy. I paid the $300 charge and Microsoft has never phoned me back. Coincidently, someone had stolen my credit card information and I had to cancel the card. Typical Microsoft being a day late and a dollar short....

I could fix this for you for a measly sum of 9.99$!!!! Act now and you will receive a free pen! I have a Diploma in Computing so you know I am smart :) now if only employers would feel the same... :(

I live in a condo where I need a landline to allow people to enter my building, with that I also get access to a free landline via my internet/TV service so I have that for grandparents to call me long distance.

I knew it was a scam from the beginning so I played the idiot (while throwing in some french since I'm Canadian) and just giddily enjoyed the 20-30 min. distraction knowing I saved at least one person from getting the call and possibly falling for it.

What is...phone...

Funny, a co-worker recently told me about a very similar phone call that he got recently, also from "Microsoft" regarding a virus on his computer. This must be the new hotness in scamming. You'd think in 2013 scammers could do better.

@jay_ray: super scam Microsoft has a policy to never call you out of the blue ignore it.

Microsoft will never call you for anything, only trust their direct number calling THEM or customer service chat.

It's a scam.

Whenever I get one of these, I just pretend to be a computer illiterate dumb ass and they eventually give up.