Another Scam !!

A friend has told me of a way of dealing with these callers which she says works:

When they say they are from Microsoft or whoever, ignore what they say and ask for their password, whatever they reply ask again more insistently for their password, as they try to carry on with their spiel press any two buttons and say "we have a code yellow on line 4 initiating trace" then press 6 and 7 alternatively (not too fast) as this makes a sound (almost) like an alarm.

At this point the usually hang up!

I love messing with these people!! [evil emoticon]

Ariadne that is a new one.

Ana I agree, a computer is too complex for me so I never bothered to learn. That gets rid of them when ringing.

I had an e mail (in my junk folder) yesterday from an FBI agent, threatening prosecution if I did not release immediate information about some vast quantity of money lying around somewhere...

Or tell them you don't own a computer. They're probably not going to call you a liar...

Blind 'em with jargon! I have found this web page, which has a transcription of someone's phone call from an Indian self-styled "Microsoft" technician. lawsie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/transcript-of-my-call-with-indian.html and his answers.

I think everything he says (the blogger, not the caller) is genuine stuff about exactly WHY it is impossible that the caller can know that "Your computer has a problem". Even if you don't understand a word of it, memorising some chunks and spouting them back into the receiver could be fun.

Or you could just put the phone down.

When they don't address you by name, it is obviously a bulk mailshot, and not a genuine letter from the bank.

I've just had an email which claims to be from NatWest but it was 'Dear Valued Customer'. Other than that it could easily be assumed to be from the bank. Did not open it and sent it to the real NatWest.
I find it very annoying to be constantly suspicious of everything.

I've just had an email from McAfee saying that I use online back up version one and this will expire on 26 July and that I have to install version 2 manually. It looks kosher but with so many scams I'm doubtful. Usually McAfee does everything automatically.

I backup with Macrium Reflect - a full image once a week, and cumulative part-backups daily. I also have 'cloud' backups of data folders.

It's a good idea to have an external backup and then if the worst happens you can recover a previous healthy copy of your hard drive.

I must add that I bought an external hard drive a week ago and put all my photos and files on it and I'm going to export all my email addresses to it today. I use Avasti which is free and downloaded by the nice man who patiently tidies up the pooter annually for me.

My SIL has just sent me an email about safeguarding the pooter against scams. He uses iCloud Dropbox and a variety of backup systems. He works in computer security and says he is probably more cautious than many of his colleagues.

I have a Hotmail account, use Avast! free anti virus and (fortunately so far) I don't get them either.

TMI Ana

Oh, I order from many much more disreputable sites too, Aka!

Seriously, I've been with hotmail for about 15 years and have only had a handful of dodgy emails during that time.

But M&S and eBay must be pretty reputable sites anyway.

Perhaps you've just been lucky up till now??? Don't you get ANY unsolicited emails at all?

I use my hotmail address for all and sundry and don't get spam or scams. I use it for ordering from everywhere from ebay to M&S!

So your explanation doesn't make sense to me, Aka!

It's nothing to do with virus protection and everything to do with them getting hold of your email address. I've got three email addresses. The BT one I give out to all and sundry and that's the one I get scams etc through on.

The other two are just for special friends and I NEVER give these out to companies asking for my email. So consequently these are 'safe' from scams, advertising, penile extensions, please send money to my account in Nigeria, etc....

I have Norton too Ana, and I don't get much spam/scams either.

'scams' I meant!

Doesn't explain why I don't get any of these spams/scans though Aka

I have McAffe )and another special anti-everything one just for this next couple of weeks until this virus scare is over) but this will not stop you getting scams.

Scams are not viruses in themselves.

Some will trick you into opening a link which will then introduce a virus/Trojan horse/etc and that's when your protection should kick in with a big red exclamation mark or similar.

Perhaps not, Maggiemaybe. I think I posted on another thread that I have Norton antivirus too - £22 or so a year isn't that much to pay for peace of mind!

Perhaps you have good antivirus software, Ana? I pay for Norton, and now that I'm with BT internet I seem to have acquired McAfee for free. I'm assuming this is why all the nasties go straight into my junk mail, but perhaps I'm just lucky. My DS keeps telling me I'm wasting my money paying for Norton instead of just downloading free antivirus software, but I feel strangely comforted when I see those little scans being performed while I surf the interweb. No doubt I'm living in a fool's paradise...