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I have gotten the Microsoft scam call several times over the past few years. They want remote access to your computer so they can "fix" it. Ha!
A lot of people are fighting back and hijacking the scammer’s computers, locking them with passwords, sending them a virus, encrypting their files or erasing their files altogether. There are some pretty good videos on
YouTube about these folks hacking the scammers.
Our son played a recorded conversation between his phone app and a Honda dealer. He pays $2.00-$3.00 a month to an app the decides if the phone call is a "robocall." If it is, the computer generates a fake conversation with that person that is ridiculously funny. In other words, it wastes the caller's time. It wastes our time, too, but the conversations made are hilariously entertaining.
Our son played a recorded conversation between his phone app and a Honda dealer. He pays $2.00-$3.00 a month to an app the decides if the phone call is a "robocall." If it is, the computer generates a fake conversation with that person that is ridiculously funny. In other words, it wastes the caller's time. It wastes our time, too, but the conversations made are hilariously entertaining.
We have either the same or similar. Works well. Was on national news.
I'm fortunate in that I never have to deal with this problem. Even though I haven't lived in Maryland for 10 years now, I still have my 301 area code phone number, so that's the area code that all the scammers and spammers use when trying to reach me. Whenever I get a phone call from that area code, I know it is either a scammer or a just plane junk phone call and I just automatically reject it. The best thing I ever did was not change phone numbers when I moved to Las Vegas or Miami.
A lot of people are fighting back and hijacking the scammer’s computers, locking them with passwords, sending them a virus, encrypting their files or erasing their files altogether. There are some pretty good videos on
YouTube about these folks hacking the scammers.
I like to keep it simple. I'm capable of hacking a scammer's account online, but I'd rather just say, "Just a moment, I left something on the stove," and then put the phone down. I come back about 30 minutes later. The call has always been ended by the caller by then.
I just stopped my wife from giving “away the store”. She gotta call from what the caller ID showed as our electric and gas provider. They told her that they were from dispatch and wanted to know if there would be any dogs in the back yard as they were sending a tech over to disconnect our power. They gave her a phone number to call to talk to the company. I caught her as she was just about to give them the account number. I grabbed the phone from her and told the guy, who sounded like he had an African accent(Nigerian?), that we were going to call the published number for the service.
It turned out this was a scam. Now, in addition to her parents, I have to keep an eye on her!
We have nothing in the backyard that a tech would need access to by the way!
There is a hilarious video on YouTube (wish I could remember the link) where the joker "victim" being scammed pretends to be "Jed Clampett". He didn't have the $6,000-some the scammer demanded because his money was in the "Commerce Bank', and "Mr. Drysdale" handled it. When asked who did his taxes, "Jed" replied it was "Jethro, Cousin Pearl's boy. He can cipher!" The scammer had obviously never seen "The Beverly Hillbillies", of course. The scammer wanted him to go to purchase Best Buy cards.
"Jed" told the scammer he'd have to have "Jethro" drive him, because he couldn't drive. This perturbed the scammer, because he didn't want another party involved. Couldn't "Jed" call a cab. "Why should I pay for a cab when I have a perfectly good truck parked outside..." He told the scammer Jethro was down at the "SEE-ment pond" with Ellie Mae, and he'd go get him. Hilarious audio of a sputtering old truck.
I'm going to play it tonight for DH.
BWAHAHAHA I've just GOT to look this up so thanks! (Sorry so long to read the comments but thanks again)
Do you think you mis-dialed it? Scary to think scammers are intercepting phone calls.
That's how you get a lot of "fake tech support" popups on the PC - just mis-spell a common URL, like Yajoo or Homail.
Yes, that's what I was thinking!
PS: I'd hate to think of the support I'd get if I mis-typed in the helpline for "Homail" :
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