"Microsoft Support Call Scam"(Event Viewer)

Anonymous
2014-08-13T14:31:05+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-21T20:53:55+00:00

    I have contacted Microsoft who claims to not" share customer information".

    If they don't, is it an inside job? Maybe"CLASS ACTION SUIT" may get Microsofts attention!

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-21T21:39:57+00:00

    THIS IS A SCAM. BLOCK YOUR NUMBER and call and ask them where are they located. The Indian accent guy that I encountered stated Florida and I asked him what was Florida's zip code and he stated that he can not give out that info. So I told him that I will have the police contact him and he asked me wh I called the police and hung up on me. SCAM

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-09-21T22:45:57+00:00

    Hi,

    We don't work for Microsoft; we are mainly volunteers here.

    It is a Scam.

    We all have errors and warnings in our event viewer

    These so-called "Microsoft" Tech Companies either want to sell you worthless software, or gain Remote Access to your Computer to try and steal your Banking and Credit Card details and to also carry out an Indentity Theft on you.

    You are the only one who knows if you have given them Remote Access.

    If you have given them Remote Access and if you do Internet Banking, contact your Bank, explain it to them and change Passwords.

    If you use your Credit Card online, cancel it and get a new one issued to you.

    And the only way that you willl know that you are free of them is to save your Data and do a clean install of your Operating System.

    @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

    And Microsoft does not contact you, unless YOU have made prior arrangements with them to do so.

    There is a section in the link I am supplying you about this at the end of it

    Read this Microsoft Information:

    "Avoid tech support phone scams"

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

    Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information.

    Here are some of the organizations that cybercriminals claim to be from:

    • Windows Helpdesk
    • Windows Service Center
    • Microsoft Tech Support
    • Microsoft Support
    • Windows Technical Department Support Group
    • Microsoft Research and Development Team (Microsoft R & D Team)

    Report phone scams

    Cheers.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-10-31T00:39:42+00:00

    Happened to me too. When I went to block the number it apparently sent a message to a local number.

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-11-03T20:38:44+00:00

    This happened today to my 81 year old mother. Fortunately she got suspicious after they got to the event viewer screen and before she allowed access to the computer. 

    But they did have her open a command prompt on her upgraded Winows 10 machine and type what she thinks was the command assoc. it brought up a ZFSendToTarget=CLSID line that might have had her user account name in it. I am attaching a picture I found on another site that looks like what came up on her computer. 

     

    Was as running the command dangerous? Did it compromise her or open any access to her computer or do anything else that might be harmful?

    Thanks for any thoughts.

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