FTC Shuts Down Global PC 'Tech Support' Scam

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I am truly amazed at how many people fall for this kind of crap.

The scam involved cold callers who claimed to work for major technology companies, such as Microsoft or Google, and who told consumers they had viruses on their PCs, according to regulators. The callers would attempt to dupe users into giving them remote access to their computers, locking the user out while attempting to "fix" the malware that the scammer claimed was on the machine.
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A number of my friends fell for this, completely ridiculous. Some of them are even tech savvy!
 
I've had at least 3-4 dozen people have this call that I can think of.

So common, glad they're going bye bye, hope another one doesn't
spring up in their place (even though I know it will eventually)
 
I always wonder about the ads on TV for mycleanpc.com.

it just HAS to be a scam somehow. Not sure though, as I've never visited the site.
 
Another example of people that are that stupid they deserved to be ripped off.
This is just like the scam that went around years ago "This is your bank; we need to verify your credit card number". And people fell for that too! :rolleyes:
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Another example of people that are that stupid they deserved to be ripped off.
This is just like the scam that went around years ago "This is your bank; we need to verify your credit card number". And people fell for that too! :rolleyes:
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agreed.
 
Now if only the FCC would do something about those damn "loan refinance experts" who falsify their callerID numbers...
 
This happened to my grandfather who is 86 years old. He isn't very computer savvy but he figured out something was wrong halfway through the call and hung up.

I had never heard of this sort of scam before so I didn't know what to make of it, but luckily nothing happened after a friend helped him get his settings back to normal.
 
ive had 3 of these calls. i told them to screw off the first 2. the third time i acted clueless and followed instructions. sitting on the couch, i pretended to download teamviewer and give them access to my pc. when i started asking questions, the "manager" came on, and when i asked why they want me to give them my password, they disconnected.
 
I got several of these calls. he said he was contracting for MS and that they had detected remotely a virus. I just asked him which one? He seemed confused. I told him I have six computers, which one is infected? He said the main one, I just laughed and told him to fuck off. He called back four times that day and tried again a couple weeks later.
 
I had one of these calls two weeks ago. Despite me answering the phone "IT, this is John", they went on. I played along for a little bit before telling them they reached the Dept of Homeland Security, and would they mind hanging on for a minute... Suddenly there was a dead line... :D
 
Now if they can just shut down the robodialing "Attention utility customers" or "Do you want to save money on (whatever)" and all those other telemarketing scams I'll feel better.
 
If someone ever "took control" of my PC I would just..uhm you know, rip out the internet connection since you can't do jack shit without it. I feel like to whoever this happened, they deserved it.
 
One of my elderly customers got a call like this and didn't fall for it. She told the caller that I maintain her system and if there were any problems then she would have me handle it. The caller tried to convince her to give him remote access and she finally hung up on him and called me. I told her that it was a scam and that she had done the right thing. To reassure her I had her drop the system by for a checkup, which it passed with a clean bill of health.

I told her that the next time she gets a call like this to tell the caller that she runs Linux on her computer. :D
 
I have has 3 calls from support working for MS in the last month. I am a Technician and knew this was a scam and keep the poor fool on for 20 minutes on the first call while watching TV. The 2 time i was polite and told them i know they where lying. The last time I I click on a one tap recorder so they could here it and told them i am now tracing the call and would they mind staying on for i can find then and kill them. They hung up. Evil :D
 
Only been called by these douchenozzle's once, I was surprised at how emphatic the lady on the other end was about "the problems with my computer". I then asked her which once since I have about 6 of them.
 
Got a call today. Showed as 000-000-0000 number.

They yelled "Hello, hello, hello, ...." at me. Then said they were calling from tech support because they found a virus on my computer.

Then I hung up.
 
I would've confused them by telling them stuff that sounds legit. Would've been fun, then cuss them out for not being able to help.
 
Do they ever call cell phones? Or just land lines? I've never been able to play with these fine gentlemen :(
 
HeavensCloud said:
Do they ever call cell phones? Or just land lines? I've never been able to play with these fine gentlemen :(
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They've only ever called me on my Vonage line. Seems odd cuz my cell is probably more available on the net and I'm not otherwise listed.
 
MN Scout said:
Got a call today. Showed as 000-000-0000 number.

They yelled "Hello, hello, hello, ...." at me. Then said they were calling from tech support because they found a virus on my computer.

Then I hung up.
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I've been getting those phone calls a lot lately with odd phone numbers like:
000 - 000 - 0000
xxxx (only 4 numbers show up on the Caller ID)
00 - 000 - 000 - 0000 (Yes, it does show up as 12 digits on the Caller ID.)

More often than not, the numbers are invalid so you can't call them back nor can you report them to the FCC.

I'm literally on my fourth phone number and may change to a fifth within a year. I'm already paying extra to be unlisted and for any online site that asks for mine, I use a fake phone number unless it's something important like the IRS or CTEC..
 
octoberasian said:
I've been getting those phone calls a lot lately with odd phone numbers like:
000 - 000 - 0000
xxxx (only 4 numbers show up on the Caller ID)
00 - 000 - 000 - 0000 (Yes, it does show up as 12 digits on the Caller ID.)

More often than not, the numbers are invalid so you can't call them back nor can you report them to the FCC.

I'm literally on my fourth phone number and may change to a fifth within a year. I'm already paying extra to be unlisted and for any online site that asks for mine, I use a fake phone number unless it's something important like the IRS or CTEC..
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So maybe that is them, I too had the 0 phone number, I just don't answer at all If I don't know the name.
 
I don't bother answering either.

It's weird when they leave a message. Sometimes I get this:
"Please hold for the next available caller..." then the call cuts off.

"Thank you for calling so-and-so company, a representative will be with you shortly..."

The weird part is I never called them, but they called me so it's odd hearing that kind of message on my answering machine.
 
Zarathustra[H];1039198649 said:
I always wonder about the ads on TV for mycleanpc.com.

it just HAS to be a scam somehow. Not sure though, as I've never visited the site.
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mycleanpc is a marketing arm of sorts for cyberdefender which is a fairly unremarkable antivirus. id say its more in the area of shady than an outright scam
 
xIronCrossx said:
If someone ever "took control" of my PC I would just..uhm you know, rip out the internet connection since you can't do jack shit without it. I feel like to whoever this happened, they deserved it.
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They'd just hack the BIOS and use the traces in the motherboard as a Wi-fi aerial and continue implanting rabbit viruses! There is no safe. But i can make it happen for $99.99.
 
Good riddance...
I even got a fake PC support call a year or so back, I hung up the phone as soon as they blurted out pc and virus. Then I posted about it on some forums and that was that.
 
I've kept them on the phone for over an hour, talking bullshit!

...Yes I'm very lonely.
 
Come to think of it, we did get a call like this once, maybe a year or so ago.

My stepson picked up and they were trying to convince him that there was a virus on a computer and they were going to help him. He kept coming to me and asking questions and then going back to the phone.

Every time I'd say "no, that isn't right, it's probably a scam" and then he'd go back to talking to them.

Eventually I asked him to put me on the line, and by the time I got there, they had hung up.
 
If I were to ever get a call from them again, I'd probably make a copy of one of my Windows VM's and label it "danger, possibly compromised" and use it to follow their instructions and see what they said, and what happened.

Later I could tarball it, put it on my web server and post a download link on a security research forum, and let the experts figure it out and nab them.
 
octoberasian said:
I've been getting those phone calls a lot lately with odd phone numbers like:
000 - 000 - 0000
xxxx (only 4 numbers show up on the Caller ID)
00 - 000 - 000 - 0000 (Yes, it does show up as 12 digits on the Caller ID.)

More often than not, the numbers are invalid so you can't call them back nor can you report them to the FCC.

I'm literally on my fourth phone number and may change to a fifth within a year. I'm already paying extra to be unlisted and for any online site that asks for mine, I use a fake phone number unless it's something important like the IRS or CTEC..
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Get a google Voice number, and just don't have it forward calls anywhere. You'll get an email when a voicemail is left, and if you get too much spam, you can just get a new GVoice number. Give companies the GVoice number, and you're set.
 
They are some resilent little bastards, got them to tell me what webpage to go to, and when they asked what I saw I said:
"I see a picture of what looks like your mom"
"Now your mom is naked, covered in some whit gooey substance"
"Wow, your mom sure can take a lot of dicks at once!"
"I didn't think it was possible, but wow, your mom actually fit the entire bowling ball up her ass!"

It went downhill from there.
 
My aunt got one of these types of calls once. Apparently she was so hopelessly clueless around her computer that they just gave up. Never thought computer illiteracy could have its benefits. :p
 
I'm watching alot of these videos that people recorded on youtube when these scammers called them. Pretty entertaining
 
jameswhite1969 said:
I am a Technician and knew this was a scam and keep the poor fool on for 20 minutes on the first call while watching TV.
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This is hilarious! I can just see you sitting in your recliner watching the game and eating chips while telling the guy "yeah I'm at your website now but I don't see anything" and having the douchebag trying for 20 minutes to figure out what's wrong. Reach over and tap on the keyboard and tell him "yeah I put the password in like you said but it wont let me on".

Well done sir! :D
 
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