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This afternoon the phone rang and a male voice said "How are you today, sir? This is Microsoft and we'd like to help you to remove the malicious software from your PCs." After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I made my excuses and left the conversation. I felt that it was likely to be a scam, but nevertheless ran Malwarebytes and Avast on my PC and laptop. They found no threats. Has anyone else had a similar call?
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Millions have received this call. Yes it was a scam and it has been going on for some years.
Microsoft has no retail anti-virus business. Microsoft won't even sell you Microsoft software retail.
You only need worry about your computer if you gave them information such as passwords or access to it.
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I've had several. I once detailed on here how I strung the female caller along for several minutes before asking her if she performed an unsavoury sex act in the bedroom. Despite the fact that she was trying to gain access to my computer in order to empty my bank account and max out my credit card several posters told me off for being rude to her.
So the next time one rang I just told him to go forth and multiply. Manners cost nothing, after all.
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Tell them you're running several PCs. Which one exactly has a problem?
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On a day when I had some flexibility for time I've strung them along for ages. There was a time they didn't know an Apple Mac was that different either.
A scam. And similarities to asking a damp proofing company to come out to see if you need damp proof work. Of course they will find something. And who knows what they can do when you give them control of the PC!
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Thanks for the replies. I wonder why they took so long to get round to me.
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This scam has moved on a lot now, the latest version is where they know your name and address and know what ISP you're with. So they can something on the lines of "Hello Mr Smith, it is Talk Talk here your PC has a virus and you need to install this software to remove it...."
If you install the said software you're basically installing malware which can sniff your username and passwords and worse. A very convincing scam but not as common as the usual Microsoft one yet.
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Some who have solar panels are receiving calls saying they need to be rewired to improve efficiency. It isn't quite a scam as such, just cowboys touting for business.
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Smokie - re Solar panels I just had one asking if I wanted a voucher for a system that used the thermodynamic principle (+ other physics bull) to heat my hot water.
When I asked what he meant because as an Aero Eng doctorate it sounded patronising, he told me to answer another completely spurious meta-physical question and then hung up saying I didn't really have a PhD!
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I can never see the point of trying to string them along, I have better things to do.
They get just as far as >>Hello Mr Smith, it is Talk Talk here << to which I reply 'No, it isn't' and put the phone down.
I then dial 14258 and press ** twice and bar the number.
Job done in less than a minute.
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Wed 5 Oct 16 at 03:57
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>> I then dial 14258 and press ** twice and bar the number.
>>
>> Job done in less than a minute.
>>
>> Pat
>>
Is that on BT Pat?
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Similar thing happens to me. I get this female voice calling my mobile saying ''LL, your tea is ready''. Never sounds like any of the female Early Doors bar staff so I ignore it.
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It's Talk Talk and it's free:)
Pat
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>> I then dial 14258 and press ** twice and bar the number.
If I'm not mistaken, that's the number for BT's "chose to refuse"
If it is, it is a subscription based service costing £4.75 a month from BT. (Or *free* if you've got Line Rental Plus, which costs £20.99 a month.)
bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8500/~/all-about-choose-to-refuse
www.broadband.bt.com/line-rental/?s_cid=con_FURL_linerentalplus
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help2.talktalk.co.uk/using-privacy-features
In the middle about half way down is a tab. "Last Caller Barring".
It became a free service from Talk Talk 2 years ago.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 5 Oct 16 at 10:21
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Nearly all the unsolicited calls I get come up as either 'international' or 'number withheld'. Does call barring work with them?
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>> Nearly all the unsolicited calls I get come up as either 'international' or 'number withheld'.
>> Does call barring work with them?
Not individually.
You can probably bar international calls, for example, but it will then bar all international calls. Ditto "number withheld".
Only you can know if that is an issue. Blocking "number withheld" for example could block someone you want to hear from if they were calling from an office, company or public building for some reason.
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>> It became a free service from Talk Talk 2 years ago.
Good job it's also free on my Panasonic handsets as well then.
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I use the Talk Talk call barring. I didn't realise though till recently that the number of callers you can ban is limited - I think it's ten. Since I get a fair number of dodgy calls that rather limits the usefulness
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There's no limit on mine CG, I have a list a mile long when I look at 'managing' my barred call list.
Pat
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>> There's no limit on mine CG, I have a list a mile long when I
>> look at 'managing' my barred call list.
So, for all practical purposes, it doesn't actually work, then?
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They are all different numbers Duncan.
Whooooosh!
Pat
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>> They are all different numbers Duncan.
>>
>> Whooooosh!
Don't worry! I had grasped, or guessed, at that fact already.
The spammers have a virtually infinite number of telephone numbers, so they will simply use a different phone number, every day, every week, ten times a day , or whatever.
The fact that you are still getting the calls demonstrates beyond any argument that you haven't stopped the calls!
So Whooooosh! to you, madam!
I have said on this and other forums many times.
"Don't worry about it."
"Put the phone down, with a comment, if you really want to."
"But it's nothing to get hung up about (did you see what I did there?)"
Last edited by: Duncan on Wed 5 Oct 16 at 22:22
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Well, I did talk to Talk Talk about it yesterday (did you see what I did there?) and they asked for permission to access my banned caller list of numbers to investigate further and have promised to stop them within 48 hours....we shall see!
Pat
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TalkTalk customer currently. I was pestered for a long time by Indian callers saying they wanted to credit me £30, there was a fault with the router, there was a virus............
It all died off about 6 months ago after telling them to p*** Off.
On Monday & Tuesday they rang 5/6 times - so it has started again - time for some more obscene replies BUT only when SWMBO is not within earshot.
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"some more obscene replies" - someone should be arrested one day for that. It is so unnecessary and disrespectful.
The people you are talking to are likely to be people who are fairly desperate to earn a living and end up doing a job that is not a lot of fun, for a pittance.
I've seen the way some of the "great British public" talk to shop/bar staff, other motorists, anyone in authority, etc etc and in general I conclude that you'd have to be something special to choose a job where interaction with the public is a requirement. It must really make their day to have someone mouthing off at them when they are trying to do their job.
Are you on the TPS by the way?
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>> The people you are talking to are likely to be people who are fairly desperate
>> to earn a living and end up doing a job that is not a lot
>> of fun, for a pittance.
Who the hell cares? I'd be in desperate trouble if someone emptied my bank account and I wouldn't be polite to them any more than I would to a mugger on the street.
I also have my doubts about the circumstances of these scammers. They are more likely to be trying to fund a newer Ferrari than putting food on the table.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 7 Oct 16 at 01:13
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You've never been inside a call centre then... and I've only seen ones in England, where they have at least some rules about minimum space, work rates and breaks etc
Maybe a new Ferrari for Mr Big but not for the kids on the phones...
Although I am mixing call centres with scammers a little... however I think some scams are that well organised...
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I don't really understand the need to be rude to someone over the phone, but hey, if it works for you and helps you get through the day, then I doubt the person you're speaking to cares very much.
What it won't do though is make any difference to the number of calls you get.
Life's just too short really. Block the call if you can, hang up and move on.
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My Panasonic phone can store 200 contacts. I answer
- calls from people whose callerID is recognised.
- calls from unrecognised local numbers [*].
All others, I wait for them to leave a message. If they don't and a google search doesn't show them to be a scam, I phone back. If either the google search or phoning back results in proof that they are scammers, that number goes in my blocked list. I get about one scam call a month (usually "your car was in an accident")
[*] my number is one digit different to local GP surgery (and the GP partner there is a friend of mine!). I often get calls/messages, mostly from elderly people detailing their medical problems or from suppliers of services to the surgery. I always politely redirect them to the surgery.
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I was told, so it might not be true, that the reason the BBC does not caller identify is because if they want this, they'd have to pay more £s, $s, shekels or whatever.
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>> they asked for permission to access my banned caller list of numbers
>> to investigate further and have promised to stop them within 48 hours...
When the phone rings (even I get occasional scam/nuisance calls) why don't you just say 'no', or say nothing, and put the phone down?
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I knew a solicitor, many years ago, who when his secretary/receptionist put through a call from someone he knew, always said ''speak first, you're paying''.
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Duncan....you're like a dog with a bone!
Has it escaped your notice that our 'days' in this house usually start at 1am and end around 7PM.
The phone rings when we're in bed asleep frequently with this type of call.
We have family who are elderly and ill who always call on the landline, and we feel we have to answer, in case it is them in trouble.
What is wrong with barring the numbers and expecting Talk Talk to do something about them as they were gleaned from the recent hacking of their website?
Why berate me for trying to take the correct course of action but not Falkirk Bairn for giving them foul mouthed abuse?
Is it because you can?
Pat
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>> Duncan....you're like a dog with a bone!
etc etc
>> Pat
Oh dear!
Firstly if I have annoyed you, then I apologise.
(Despite the fact that any annoyance is completely unjustified)
No, I must admit that I don't constantly keep in my head you and your husband's domestic timetable.
No, I didn't know that you had elderly family members who are unwell.
The TalkTalk (don't talk to me about TalkTalk, I would rather be without an internet service than be a TalkTalk customer again) barring thing simply isn't working, is it? Is it impossible for you to switch to another provider?
You dear, sweet, lady - that wasn't me berating you! Oh no! Not at all.
I hadn't got around to Falkirk Bairn. I think swearing at some anonymous caller is both pointless and unpleasant.
I will admit that I don't know how these scam/nuisance call operators work. It may well be that all the numbers they call are logged and then repeat calls are made to those recipients who engage their operators in conversation. The fact that it was two minutes of pleading, or two minutes of swearing might make no difference, as far as the company is concerned it would seem that you showed an interest.
For the umpteenth time, do what I do - just put the phone down. The more excited you get, the more of a drama you make it, and it seems worse than it really is.
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No, you haven't annoyed me Duncan but it does seems that if anyone goes by the correct route on these forums and politely posts either an action or an opinion, it is quickly pulled apart and criticised by all and sundry, though being personally rude to anyone is approved of and indeed encouraged.
>> do what I do - just put the phone down<<
That's fine....but by them we've both been woken probably an hour into what is usually less than five hours sleep and are mentally on our way to Scarborough.
Brian Bypass
I'm on TPS and also the reject anonymous caller list.
These are always from weird numbers
00144207286086
00464420727208
00442392099997
00464420783702
They were yesterdays!
Pat
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>> 0014 4207286086
"friend" or "enemy" from Brazil?
>> 0046 4420727208
Sweden
>> 0044 2392099997
spoofed UK no. from scammers claiming to be talktalk or ofcom
>> 0046 4420783702
Sweden
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Yep, I got that result too...that's why I've told Talk Talk to sort it before my contract is up for renewal!
Pat
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>> >> 0014 4207286086
>> "friend" or "enemy" from Brazil?
0014 is the international access code to be used when you are in Brazil. 00 means international and then you have to choose which carrier to use, in this case 14 chooses Brasil Telecom. It is not a code that you should see in the UK. And then one would have to dial the country code. So to use Brasil Telecom to call the UK you would dial 00 14 44 [number] and would show as coming from +55 21 [number] if it was from Rio, say.
The actual country code for Brazil, actually what you *would* see, is 55.
If you think about it, when calling internationally you don't dial your own country code, that is added to call record for you.
Hence why a Sweden call would show 46
It is unlikely that any of those numbers are correct. "Weird" is about right.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 6 Oct 16 at 16:55
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>> It is not a code that you should see in the
>> UK. And then one would have to dial the country code.
>>
should?
You may be right. It may not be a code that I should see, but all I know is that the only calls I get from abroad are from my contact list in my phone and their numbers show up as the stored number, i.e. with the dialling code shown as I would use to call them.
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>>should?
It is not a code that you *should* see, because how can I make the definitive statement that it is a call that you will not see / have not seen? But you certainly shouldn't see it.
>> i.e. with the dialling code shown as I would use to call them.
Correct. So a number from Brazil would show up as 00 55 nn nnnn nnnn or with + instead of 00
00 14 44 is how they would call you not how you could/would/should call them.
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>> We have family who are elderly and ill who always call on the landline, and
>> we feel we have to answer, in case it is them in trouble.
>>
Won't a combination of TPS, caller display, and anonymous caller reject make it easier for you?
help2.talktalk.co.uk/using-privacy-features
or as recommended by Which?
another option is to buy a separate call blocker and then to plug it in to your existing device.
These usually work in the same way as the call blockers built into phones in that they have a ‘black list' of numbers, or number types, that you don't want to receive. But the TrueCall call blockers are rather different in that they're based around a ‘white list' of numbers that you do want to speak to – any other calls are screened, giving you the option to reject and even block for ever those you don't wish to accept.
The TrueCall Call Blocker box works like a virtual secretary. It lets calls from your friends and family straight through, blocks unwelcome calls, and asks unrecognised numbers for their name before putting them through. You plug the TrueCall box in between your phone and the wall socket, allowing it to intercept calls before they get to your phone. For TrueCall to work you’ll need to have caller ID enabled from your phone provider.
Last edited by: BrianByPass on Thu 6 Oct 16 at 11:38
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>> When the phone rings (even I get occasional scam/nuisance calls) why don't you just say
>> 'no', or say nothing, and put the phone down?
Or ask for their phone number so you can call them back at an inappropriate time.
My workmate had the best answer to a nuisance caller. "sorry luv, can't talk now. Just popped around the neighbours for a quickie while her husband's at work"
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If you are talking about i Talk Talk Last Number Caller barring with Talk Talk then its definitely only ten numbers. Effectively it only uses the last ten numbers added to the list.
"The Last Caller Barring feature is the perfect way to stop nuisance callers. You can use it to simply block the last number to call you or you can enter specific numbers you’d like barred.
"Now, whenever someone tries to call you from a blocked number, all they will hear is a busy tone and you’ll no longer be disturbed with a call. You can block up to 10 different numbers using Last Caller Barring."
help2.talktalk.co.uk/how-do-i-block-unwanted-callers"
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Quite correct about the last 10 numbers barring with TalkTalk. However if you have, for example, like me a Panasonic setup, you can if you wish block a large number of such callers.
My method is to enabled Caller Display and set the answerphone to four rings maximum. Scam callers, especially those from overseas, end the call before the answerphone cuts in, so you don't know a call has been made. If it's a genuine caller, you can tell via Caller Display or they will leave a message and, if necessary, you can answer whilst they are doing so.
Any other unknown callers are blocked (sometimes after a Google check to ascertain if they are genuine). Eventually you will find most scam calls are screened out over a period of time.
I originally found that TPS would block the majority of UK cold callers, but it doesn't apply to quite a few of the newcomers since then and, in the case of calls from Out Of Area, even more so.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Fri 7 Oct 16 at 00:29
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I got the same call frequently, John Boy, but then stopped answering and leaving it to BT Answer, unless expecting an important call. The phone often rings but there are never any messages recorded from scammers.
When I did get caught out, I found there was an interval during which I could hear call centre hubbub before someone spoke, my cue for ringing off.
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No real help to you, but I never answer the landline anyway. Anybody who wants me will try the cell phone.
And on the cell phone I use sync.ME. It must be at least 6 months since any unwanted call got through to me, although it does keep a record of them in case I care.
sync.me/features/
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I have that too and I'm amazed at the people it seems to "know" - i.e. people who call me who I don't have in my phone book yet it identifies correctly. It's only really a small handful, mostly local tradesmen and the like, but also recognises corporate numbers when I call them. It's a useful product.
EDIT Just realised I tried it out following your original mention of it here back in May
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 7 Oct 16 at 08:45
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I am never rude to these callers but I do say something along the lines of "This a scam. You will just show me standard Microsoft reports and then infect my computer with Malware. Please stop calling."
Despite my being polite I have on two occasions been invited by the caller to do something to Mrs Aston that I am reliably informed is illegal in several states.
I may revert to my son's technique which is to say. "I am glad you called. Will you just wait while I get naked". Works every time.
Last edited by: martin aston on Fri 7 Oct 16 at 09:00
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In response to this type of call I usually say, "Stop wasting my time" and leave the phone off the hook to try to ensure the caller's bill is as high as possible.
Sometimes, if I can be a***d to do it, I say, "Look, if you know I have something wrong with my computer, that means you have hacked into it. Can you confirm this is the case?"
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I'd imagine an offshore operation would use IP telephony so calling costs v low.
I use the same response for this one as (I think it was) Bromps somewhere above - I have more than 1 computer, which one?
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>> In response to this type of call I usually say, "Stop wasting my time" and
>> leave the phone off the hook to try to ensure the caller's bill is as
>> high as possible.
I don't think that works anymore, they can just 'switch' their end off and carry on ringing people.
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This seems as good a place as any to mention this as I can't find anything more recent with a forum search.
If you're with BT, they've just launched a new free service called BT Call Protect. Easy enough to set up. It can block international and withheld numbers too, and the best thing is it costs absolutely nothing.
home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/bt-call-protect-free-service-crackdown-nuisance-calls-11364136279348
More details here - tinyurl.com/z99gc9e - Links to BT. You just need to sign in with your BT account and activate it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 17 Jan 17 at 14:00
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Yup.
Signed up for this yesterday and it was activated almost immediately. Didn't stop a spam call recording itself while I was in the bath this morning. However, I added the number to the blacklist.
It's got to be better than nothing, though.
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Well hopefully it'll stop / cut down on the amount of international calls I get which I cannot block as my Panasonic phone requires the number to be able to add it to the blocked list.
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Was this a scam? - No FM2R
