"Microsoft Support Call Scam"(Event Viewer)

Anonymous

I received a phone call today from a private caller with an Indian accent saying he was from Microsoft Support.

He told me my computer was constantly sending windows errors to Microsooft and we needed to fix it.

He went on to ask me how many computers I have in my home and said all of them had to be fixed.

He had me go on my computer, type: EVENTVEWR in the box and look in options,all of this sounded strange as he kept asking me what i was seeing on my screen at the time.

I went on to ask him to hold and googled "Microsoft Support Call Event Viewer" in which I found a blog with lots of people having the same thing happen to them(http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-security/phone-call-scam-received-call-from-a-technician/6ed2b99c-20ff-468b-a69b-aec78b93f287?page=22&tm=1407939072026 )

I then hung up the phone and he kept calling back(4 times)and this time it was a local number(15129633287), of which I googled immediately, bringing up a list of local numbers on a list with a foreign language as the titles.

I then decided to call Microsoft Support directly to confirm it was a scam and was informed that Microsoft never makes calls without a customer request and that Microsoft has its own set of programs it uses to fix computers instead of "event viewer".

I was told I could submit a post on here to let Microsoft know of the Incident, which is the purpose of this post..in addition to help anyone else from having to go through the experience many people have had with this issue.

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.

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Anonymous

2017-11-14T08:41:32+00:00

I have had a call from an Indian man today by the name of ALEX, who said that I there was a problem with the computer I was using.

I had just done a bank transfer so was a little worried! However knowing that our internet is usually safe and that the pc was up to date with all security updates and anti virus software and that they are run regularly I took a deep breath and continued to play along.

He said he was from the technical department and was to do with OPENREACH... had I heard of them?

He asked me to go on my computer and press the windows key and the R key together, and asked what was on the screen, then to type in EVENTVWR, I was aware of this scam so asked for his number so that I could call him back as I had to get the children ready for school. Of course he wasn't able to give me a number. I asked him lots of questions about who he worked for and what company and he wasn't forthcoming with any of it.

I then told him he'd wasted enough of my time with his scam and then he said that too many people were saying it was a scam and that OPENREACH don't scam people and many computers are faulty because people keep thinking it is a scam. After a few choice words I put the phone down on him.

When is this going to end!!! This is not the first time that this has happened.
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Anonymous

2017-12-04T19:12:09+00:00

OMG, I got this call too! They kept on calling me from 315-653-4526 and when I finally picked up, I followed all their instructions like the Event Viewer where they read to me the numbers that they said only I have and they have because my computer was sending something to their servers. These Indian guys almost got me too until they wanted to control my computer and when I refused, he gave it to his "supervisor", another Indian guy. When I still refused, he hung up on me. The next day he calls me back and says "Hi, I'm the computer guy", and I said "Yea, you're the one that hung up on me yesterday right?". Then he just hung up. I was worried so I did the upgrade to Windows 10 right away.
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Anonymous

2017-12-04T19:17:54+00:00

Those guys even knew my home address and read some number off my computer that he said only I know and only they know because they are Microsoft and my information is sent to their servers.
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Anonymous

2017-12-04T20:27:04+00:00

I have been saying all along that I believe these people work for Dell or Microsoft indirectly, possibly through outsourcing jobs as I stated earlier this year.

d0gknees replied on

ME>And how is it so clear to you Sir that the Dell's outsourcing has nothing to do with it?

Occams razor.

mr. dogknees>The scammers don't need anything more than a phone directory to carry out their scam. What makes you think they need information that only Dell has?

Maybe now dogknees can understand what I was trying to say.
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Anonymous

2017-12-04T23:07:02+00:00

I have been saying all along that I believe these people work for Dell or Microsoft indirectly, possibly through outsourcing jobs as I stated earlier this year.

d0gknees replied on

ME>And how is it so clear to you Sir that the Dell's outsourcing has nothing to do with it?

Occams razor.

mr. dogknees>The scammers don't need anything more than a phone directory to carry out their scam. What makes you think they need information that only Dell has?

Maybe now dogknees can understand what I was trying to say.

In its simplest form, Occam's Razor is expressed as "Entities are not to be multiplied without necessity." In common parlance, this means, roughly, that when searching for the solution to a problem, the simplest answer that addresses all of the available evidence is probably the correct answer. You have multiplied entities without need, and perhaps ironically, d0gknees' answer is a better "Occam" candidate. The problem is more simply solved without involving Dell and Microsoft.
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