Bogus virus alert

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JamesAC

Senior Member
Location
London
I got a phone call today from a person saying that they were form some Internet organization, and they'd detected that I'd downloaded a virus onto my machine, and it was doing huge damage to my files and O/S. They very kindly offered to help me. I asked them what the IP address of my computer was: I assume that if they knew a damaging virus had been downloaded, they would know a bit about my machine. But they didn't. However, the chap pressed on, and asked me which version of Windows I was running. When I said I ran Linux, he rang off. This has happened to me twice in as many weeks.

However, a friend of mine's teenage daughter got a similar call last week. She, all distressed to think that she might have been somehow responsible for downloading a virus onto her mum's machine, followed the instructions given too her by the caller. She was directed to download Teamviewer, and the person at the other and of the phone took control of her machine, and turned it into a webbot host or whatever. My friend had to re-firmat her hard disk, and re-install the operating system.

These people are despicable. If you get a call, don't simply tell them to f off. Spin them along for as long as you can (but DON'T install any software or do anything to your machine that they suggest doing). Mumble into the phone; get called away to the door to see a man about your buggie's broken leg, get confused over the instructions that person is giving you. Every second you keep them ties up is one second less that some IT unaware person is not having their machine compromised by these b*stards.
 
This scam is going about a lot at the moment.
They call and say they have identified your machine but then do not know an IP address or the operating system that is running...which they would know if they had identified to be a problem.

Also, they should be able to identify which ISP you use, but they never can. Hang up.

Here is a write up: Bogus tech support call
 
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