IT support scam hits millions of users.

[Abarbarian]

http://www.tgdaily.com/security-features/56684-it-support-scam-hits-millions-of-users

Microsoft surveyed 7,000 computer users in the UK, Ireland, US and Canada, and found that across all four countries, 15 percent of people had received a similar call. In Ireland, this rose to 26 percent.
And of those who received a call, 22 percent - three percent of the total survey sample - were fooled into following the scammers' instructions. In some cases, this meant giving the scammer remote access to their computer and downloading software code provided by the criminals; in others, users provided credit card information for a purchase.

Across all four countries, the average amount of money stolen was $875, ranging from $82 in Ireland up to $1,560 in Canada. The average cost of repairing the damage caused to computers by the scammers was $1,730 — rising to $4,800 in the US.

Seems to me that Canadians and Americans either have expensive computers or their repairmen are bigger scammers than the real criminals. Five grand to repair a pc

 

[TriplexDread]

I'm sorry I have no sympathy for people, that openly share their online bank details with a stranger that randomly rings them up and tells them they have a problem with their machine.

No matter ho naive the person on the phone is. With fraud constantly being written about in papers and published on the web that person should know better!

 

[Me__2001]

I've had several of these calls, they spout some serious crap that makes no sense and is purely aimed at trying to scare you.

I managed to get one of them to hang up simply by asking him some questions

 

[Abarbarian]

I've had several of these calls, they spout some serious crap that makes no sense and is purely aimed at trying to scare you.

I managed to get one of them to hang up simply by asking him some questions

An that is the best way to fight these tossers

 

[floppybootstomp]

I sometimes quite enjoy a spamming phone call.

Every call is a challenge to my ingenuity to see how I can confuse, befuddle and if I'm lucky humiliate these horrible people.

I think the favourite line if the caller is male (usual) is to ask him if he's from the Gay dating agency and what time would he be arriving? Whilst the caller is in 'stunned' mode I then ask him several questions of an intimate nature.

They usually hang up but the Indian guys often just carry on with the script regardless.

If the caller is female I like to ask them if they're the madame from Fifi's massage bureau and I was expecting Amanda here 10 minutes ago and where is she and has she remembered the marshmallows?

To date I have yet to encounter a caller with a sense of humour and considering I've been getting similar calls for several decades that's a bit sad really innit?