Keep getting spam texts and calls on my mobile and calls to our landline from Accident Direct, reference an accident I was supposed to be in a few days ago

Yes, an indian gentlemen from 'Microsoft' or whatever rang my husband yesterday, saying we were prone to attack from a virus, they asked to speak to the person who was responsible for the computers, my husband said they would be back in an hour and the indian gentleman then slammed the phone down. We knew straightaway it was a scam.

If only DS had a computing forum we could put a sticky thread about this important topic.

Oh, there we go:
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1435992

The thread is just as much about scam phone calls as it is about computing.

Agreed. It's the folk - like me - who wouldn't know where to find the computing section who need to be warned about this. All the clever clogs wouldn't be taken in for a minute.

They've tried me twice and, to my undying shame, nearly got me the first time. I actually turned on the pc and gave them one or two numbers but then got suspicious and hung up. The next time, I kept him talking for about half an hour. It was great fun I wondered who exactly was paying him and why I didn't have to pay him for providing this wonderful service; then told him the story about how the local computer shop charged me €50 to take the lid of a pen out of my printer one time; on and on I went until eventually he interupted and asked me to turn on the computer and I told him to sod off

i had a couple of minor issues with IE9 which I sorted myself. I remembered saying she had same symptoms, so I left on FB asking wether she was on 32bit or 64bit, she posted back.......?????????? no idea what that means, so I posted is it an i3, i5, i7, or older chipset....again, the post back was "..........no idea what I have". So I posted the exact explanation on what she had to do, like , go to this menu, do this, then this, post back was......."no idea what you mean-dont have a clue - will ring the PC people and get them to sort it".

Starting to think people should have to pass some sort of test before being allowed to buy a PC.


Lastly, this is one of the people that posts loads of photos and does loads of stuff on the PC like printing pictures, and other people think this person is a PC wizz for being able to master this, but when some thing goes wrong, they dont have the slightest clue, and they dont even do backup's, let alone multiple backups - the person in question does her backup to the same hard drive , while another that had spent several years typing up a book had no backup at all and lost over 3 years of work when the hard drive failed
.....maybe they should go back to a typewritter.

If i get any call like that and they ask for me by name i always reply with..Im sorry he died last week...they always go away..

If my daughter answered a call like this asking for me she used to say the same thing put a sob in her voice and asked if they could stop ringing as it was so upsetting.

We've had loads of these calls,asking if our computer was ok and the first time I thought it was genuine because I didn't know they did scams like this. Didn't give him any info though, the terrible line connection alerted me to the fact they were probably scammers. Just told them my dad wouldn't be home for a few hours

Where do they get your name and number from though?
Are they just trolling the phone books?

peoples phone numbers are sold to these sorts of companys.
(and its legal).

Anyone who falls for any cold calling scam (and its human to be too trusting if you are a nice soul) be very aware that you are now on a list as being an easy prey to these sorts of scams.

I know someone who has been caught out, but not only can I not get them to change their land line number they refuse to except the notion that a cold caller is only calling you for their financial benfit never yours.

Yeah I had the same call the other day. As soon as they said we have identified a virus on your computer I said sorry not interested and hung up. These days I always hang up on these calls but before I used to be worried that how can possibly hang up when they are still talking. Hanging up on them is the best way forward imo.

Oh I am sorry I didnt realise they only rang ENGLISH people
must tell my FRENCH mate who told one of these scammers to F right off - they must have got the wrong number

Well I would have thought they would have found out what is going on with the call and why it was being made, which COULD lead to a prosecution.

Wow, there was a case on Judge Judy some time back shown on one of the satelite channels in the UK where a woman changed her number because of people calling for her, then they gave her old number to this man who kept getting the calls. In the end he left an answering machine saying "Sorry, if you're calling for xxxxxxx, she died in a car crash, we're all very distraught, please don't call again". This got back to the woman and she successfully sued him for damages.

The moral of this stroy is watch what you say, you never know what will happen as a result. If you don't believe me, have a look at some of my past threads and messages and the repliues they received.

If you liked that, my dad received a call asking if he and his partner wanted to join up for ballroom or salsa dance lessons. He said he was very soprry but he lost both his legs in a nasty car accident (which was not true). They were very apologetic and never called back.

I love winding these people up if I have time. Last call of this nature I decided to play the part of a computer illiterate OAP. Had the guy helping me navigate around the BIOS, then when I managed to get into Windows I said "ooh dear, there's a picture of a man's willy on the screen".
He asked if he could call back and speak to my fictional son another time, I said "how about you never call this number again"? He suddenly went rather shy at that.

I've never had one of these but I might keep a claxon by the phone just in case...

Aparently that's one of the worst things you can do.

Did I say that if someone calls you asking you to dial a number like 9 or 0, it's a scam and they can use your line and you get billed?

Don't be fooled.

At this point, I'd have been aware it was a scam.

I've had possibly a dozen of these calls in recent years. They always start off the same way, "Hello, is that Mr.....I'm calling you about your computer problem". This immediately causes suspicion as I don't have a computer problem, so I reply with "what computer?" or "I don't have a computer". That completely throws them.

To the opening poster, even though you feel there was nothing on your laptop of use to them, and it's possible all they did was do a scan to find out if you had any problems they could sell software to correct, it's equally possible that they could have installed malicious software on it. That might include trojans allowing hackers access whenever you go online, or a keylogger.

I would do a scan of your laptop for scumware, using something like Spybot Search & Destroy (freeware) - I know that sounds just like the caller, but it's tried & tested software with a solid reputation, free, and downloadable from Spybot's site. I wouldn't use the laptop to access any secure sites, such as your bank, until you are certain the laptop is clean of trojans.

Seriously, with these people you're meant to string them along. Play a part and join in their charade. Faff around asking what a computer is, what a desktop is, what a mouse is until they go insane. Then just at the very end to rub salt in the wound tell them you've been playing them along and that you will report them to the relevant authorities and have recorded the conversation to put on youtube.

hi OP, if your computer is part of a 'network' of computers in your home that can access eachother through a router they may have gained access to other computers. Please run anti virus software and all computers attached to the laptop.
Also talking of dodgy calls, Dyson customers are being targeted at the mo, getting cold calls for 'servicing' their hoovers. they are fake so beware.

Take care xxx

P.S. sorry if anyone else has said what i have, i havent read through all of the posts!

My friend got caught with that one last year...


They got really nasty with her when she refused to purchase from them.

When a company I deal with contact me and ask me for my password to confirm I am the account holder, I simply tell them I cannot be sure they are who they say they are and refuse any information. One company called me 6 times in the last two weeks want to offer me a better deal.
However they soon got fed up when I refused to confirm who I was with secure passwords etc.