Beware of this Computer Scam!

Yesterday,I received a phone call from someone who identified himself as Shawn Peters with Microsoft Security Center. He spoke English but with a heavy Indian accent. He asked to speak with me by name. After I identified my self, he said that my computer had been sending reports of someone attempting to hack into my computer. He said they were Russian or Chinese hackers. He wanted me to go to my computer and enter something into it for him to find out if It had been hacked into. I was suspicious because the caller ID on my phone identified the caller as "unknown". I did not give him any information and asked for his phone number, he gave me this number: 262-872-0430 and hung up.

Today, I received this reply from Microsoft:

Thank you for your message to Microsoft Customer Service.


"At Microsoft, your concern is our priority and we appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention.

I understand that you have received a phone call purporting to be from Microsoft. This is a known scam that uses Microsoft's name fraudulently. Microsoft DOES NOT make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or fix your computer. Also Microsoft values customer privacy, so we do not know if your computer has a virus issue or is experiencing technical difficulties unless you call us here to inform us of the problem. Microsoft will use the information provided for faster investigation.


You can also refer to these links for more information on how to address issues like:


Avoid Tech Support Phone Scams

Email and Social Networking

Avoid Scams that use Microsoft name fraudulently

Information on Phishing scams, lottery, fraud, and other type of scams


You can also report this by calling the Federal Trade Commission at 1-888-382-1222 (TTY1-866-290-4236). Please be ready with the date of the call and the phone number or name of the company that called you.


I hope the above options and information come out helpful while Microsoft Customer Service finds ways to address issues beyond our scope.

Thanks once again for contacting Microsoft Customer Service."


Beware of this scam!

yeah sadly there are lots of them
i norm tell them i don't have a computer and then they hang up lol

That's the first one that I have received. I just thought I would let others know about it.

The ex Mrs had one of these phone calls a few of years ago.
She handed the phone to me after trying to explain to the caller we weren't interested but he seemed insistent we had some serious problems with our Windows 7.
Very professional sounding chap he was, spoke English with a strong accent, there were dogs barking, kids screaming & people yelling in the background etc..
I kept asking him for some kind of proof he was who he claimed to be, he gave me the web address of some company in the UK that sold ski equipment I think it was.
I kept asking him how he knew there was a problem with our computer but he wouldn't answer that, he insisted he could show me what the problem was if I followed closely his instructions.

So I played along a bit more, he kept saying "do this, this, this and this" and I kept saying "but I can't find that or that or that" so he tried a few other things & I kept telling him I couldn't find what he wanted me to click, this went on for about 10 minutes then he appeared to lose it as he got quite upset.
Poor fella, started yelling at me in some gibberish I couldn't understand though I'd guess most of it was bad language, all this while the dogs, kids & others were still being noisy in the background, real professional, not quite what you'd expect from a Microsoft tech department.

After ranting and raving a bit more he ended up hanging up on me
What I didn't tell him was the reason I couldn't find any of the things he wanted me to click on was because I was using a Linux Ubuntu operating system, not Windows.
Haven't had any more of those types of phone calls since then

Let others beware.

I recieved the same type of call. I told him I didn't have a computer.
He said someone in my household must. Isaid I live alone.
So then he proceeds to try and sell me one.
I told him I'd trade him straight across, for my horse with 3 good legs and 1 eye that still worked pretty well.
He hung up on me.

lol good one

Yea, the guy called me back. He wanted me to go to a website and download a file then open it, which I didn't. I told him that my anti-virus program blocked it. I then asked him if he was trying to scam me and he hung up.

These scammers never really get it! We know about them and yet, they continue to call like crazy. So I decided to return the favor and found tips to waste their time and annoy them. This one's a favorite: When they call, say, "I'm really interested, but someone's at the door, will you excuse me a minute?" and then just leave the phone off the hook and go do something else. After about 10 or 15 minutes they will get tired of waiting and hang up. Be sure and leave the phone off the hook for awhile as they will call back if you hang up immediately. "

Well, they can keep calling me. I'm not running out of jokes! Hahaha! Found this http://www.callercenter.com/articles/14waystoannoytelemarketers.html that's got tons of tips to mess with the scammer's mood. When blocking their phone number don't seem to work, annoy them instead. Hahahah!

I had one of these calls recently. I told the caller where to go in no uncertain terms!!

He hung up.