AMMYY Scam

On 2013SEP21, I received two calls from 425 668 9652. On the second one, when I picked up the background noise sounded like it was a robotic call so I just whistled into the phone to check it without triggering voice detection.  A man answered.  He spoke not very good English with a very heavy Indian or possibly Pakistani accent.  He informed me he is calling from some computer security place/center; it might have been the Windows Company but he rather slurred over it.  According to his speech, my computer is sending them messages about something important (hacking? errors?  I forget that specific detail).  At this point, it was laughably and pathetically obvious the call is a scam of some sort.  (Of note, there was also someone with the same accent speaking very loudly in the background.  The effect was to make it sound like a bullpen/sales boiler room.)  Seeking amusement, I thought I would play along a bit.  He asked me if my computer was on?  Yes.  Is it all the way on?  Yes.  Then do you see the flag key in the bottom left-hand corner of the keyboard?  Yes.  Would you press both the flag and the r keys together?  Yes.  (That brings up the Windows run command/program prompt.)  Have you done that?  Yes. (I did not do that.)  Do you see anything in the window?  No.  (I did but was not going to tell him that.)  OK, now type www.ammyy.com. Please read me what you typed.  (I did not type the web site name they gave me but I did read it back to him as if I had.)  At this point I informed him I knew he was running a scam, and not to call back again.  He immediately began protesting.  I overrode him, repeating my instruction to him not to call back again.  I hung up and then blocked all calls from that number.  (If they call back from some other number, to tell me they are sending their agents in 10 minutes to take my computer away as I have seen in other posts, my response will be "Bring it on!"  Reminds me of scenes in the Matrix.  On the other hand, maybe for fun I will pretend to cower to play along a bit further.)  I checked the registration of the web site domain ammyy.com.  It is registered through a domain name registration company with an address in Panama.  The registered owner's name is blocked.  Those two facts may be coincidental to the scam. A quick check on the internet shows scores if not hundreds of similar reports, many against this same phone number 425 668 9652.  Just want to add my report of my experience to the body of knowledge pertaining to this scam.  Hopefully someone will benefit.  Thanks Microsoft for keeping up with it and providing status and recommendations with such clarity.

Andy

Ashburn VA

I was experiencing problems with my computer this Wednesday and again yesterday, to the point that I could not start up anymore...

5 minutes later I had a call from an Indian sounding man saying he was calling from Microsoft and that he had seen I had a problem.....He wanted me to visit ammyy etc. which I did not do of course...

I checked the number he phoned from and this was invalid....

Scary thought that someone can see if I have problems/or create problems for me....or just pure coincidence???

What can I do to protect me better?

Bard

Same happened to me today ... though I had heard about this scam before. I used the simple solution of asking for their name and a phone number to call back on. I said I would call them back when it was conveinient for me. They refused to give me a number ... so I laughed and told them to stick their scam up their **** and hung up lol ... needless to say I have not heard from them since.