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March 5, 2012
Windows Support Scam -
I was called at home by someone who said they were windows support and my computer was sending them warnings and messages!
They asked me to open Eventvwr (Event Viewer) to look at the errors. I was to count the errors and warnings.
Then they wanted me to go to www.support.me (don't go there BTW) and a microsoft certified technician would log into my computer and help me fix the problems.
Obviously a scam
I persisted on asking what company they were:
First they said "Windows Operating System"
Then "Customer Care"
And finally
"Softnet Communications for Windows"
They said the phone number was 209-813-0133 (don't call this BTW) and they were in the United States of California
They never could explain what the warnings and messages were.
Someone needs to stop these guys
--- Update ---
August 8 2015
They called again and gave me the same basic pitch. This time a person with an Indian accent who called him self Kevin said that my computer was calling them because of a massive problem (infection by malware). His company was Technical Support for Windows users and that the R&D group at Microsoft had a program that notified him of the problem. After 5 min he wanted me to go to a web site (please do Not go here and click anything) www.121usahelp.com - which if you look at the web page source code will load TeamViewerQS.exe for windows or TeamViewerQS.bmg for Mac. Do Not Fall for this scam they want you to pay them money and they load software on your computer that is Bad.
Microsoft Please stop these types of scams - they are hurting less skilled users and older people with computers who don't know better.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hi,
Microsoft will not make unsolicited phone calls to help you with your computer. If you receive a phone call like this, hang up.
If you think you might be a victim of fraud, you can report it. For more information, see What to do if you've responded to a phishing scam.
**For your reference:**Don’t fall for phony phone tech support. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/securitytipstalk/archive/2010/03/09/don-t-fall-for-phony-phone-tech-support.aspx
Hope this information is helpful.
I had a call at 10:00 p.m. last night that my computer was "sending out error messages." The woman had a very foreign accent and told me she was from Windows Support. I immediately went ballistic as I was in bed and told her it was 10:00 P.M.! She said she knew it was late, but this was very, very important. I then told her to take my number out of their system and to not call again and she said quite forcefully that they would continue to call me about the "problem." I told her I was probably 10 times more intelligent than she was, I was very computer literate, there was nothing wrong with my computer, etc., etc., etc. When I asked her where she was at, she replied "Windows Support," but when I told her I wanted to know what country she was calling from, she hung up! I knew it was an obvious scam and called her quite a few choice names during the brief conversation. Probably should have put her on "terminal hold" for the rest of the night!
Hi,
This link is now available :
Report a technical support scam
Rob - SpiritX
Hi,
Email and web scams: How to help protect yourself (includes How to report scams)
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/phishing-scams.aspx
Hope this helps.
Rob Brown - Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Expert - Consumer : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.
@ climatechangeisreal
I have no idea why that link suddenly doesn't work anymore...
I've asked here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/feedback/forum/fdbk_commsite-feedback_other/why-is-official-msft-link-report-a-scam-broken/7c98c1f7-c788-4f53-8247-0d4b5e6815fb?tm=1423952532535 if somebody knows if it's a temporary glitch or something else...
Thanks for pointing it out :)
J
For the record, I am not the original sender of this, yet it looks like I am. I hit the wrong button? Sorry. I was trying to post under Vinod and to his response to the original sender...who ...nevermind. Pretty sure something funky is going on ...but I thought this might help someone:) ...regardless of the dates written.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Vinod...how about this one. Rather than an unsolicited phone call from Microsoft, in regards to computer hackers, viruses, etc.,. I had what appeared to be a total legitimate company come out to fix what was supposed to be probably an easy 1-2hr fix, I learned these guys now come to your house, and even though sought out in yellow pages, and were kind, knowledgeable...were actually like the phone solicitors....rather are in that they come out and act legit, seem so, but are a scam!
I couldn't believe this as I hadn't heard of this. They were able to be there the next day, a tech showed up; however, I am not that big of a bimbo, as I realized as it was going on 4hrs since he arrived (ha-ha and was now going to charge me like $300-$400, as the company had claimed he'd have it fixed don't worry for like $150) - ONLY HE DIDN'T FIX IT!! HE WAS SO RUDE I CRIED ...AND I NEVER AM A SISSY. It was horrible. He wouldn't listen to me when I told him exactly what he was dealing with - that was my first sign I let pass. Then he which I realize now was acting, but was getting very pissed and mad and calling a colleague ....I knew something was wrong, but hey....who am I. Long story short it was when he pretended to call Microsoft that I knew my gut was right - I never imagined this would happen. It was when he made me cry he showed a lil sympathy - said "you are a victim, and I just get so angry at these guys who do this. You are not the problem, it's these scums do this to people who I can't blame 100%, as you aren't educated." That moment my tears stopped and I say "excuse me?" I then took Microsoft's# he gave me - and I said so you can't fix it right?" He began in being a jerk again, told me not to click things, and I just said I will be right back. I went and called Microsoft who acted like "who is he...and told me it's a scam." I called his company ...no answer.
Then I said you know what 4hrs & I figured out more than you. I am not paying you for any hrs. KINDLY GATHER YOUR FALSE DISCS, ETC AND GET OUT OF MY HOME. YOU ARE A SCAM ARTIST. YOU ARE THE DISEASE YOU ARE THE DISEASE YOU JUST SPOKE OF. How dare you waste my time and tears and thx for doing what I am going to be calling the police for - as he had put it-**** me -the crime someone commits in eavesdropping etc. I know he left I called his company to say he was a fraud as were they. I am sorry to blabber, but if this saves one person from this kind of ****...yay. Thank you for the opportunity to maybe help someone b4 they become the prey too. U will yell to limit my msg length now. But if u r a comp. dude, sorry -expected:) Take care.
