"I'm Calling From Windows!"

[W3WN]

So, last Friday evening, I get home a little earlier than usual. Little Miss Field Day is getting ready to go sing with the choir at High School graduation, so we have to get her there early.

Phone rings. She answers, tells the caller my wife's not home, and then after a minute, hands me the phone. Caller ID says the call is coming from Hartwell, GA.

"Hello?"
"Hello!" (very thick Indian-type accent) "I'm calling from Windows! Is Miss Julie there?" ('Windows'? Uh oh)
"Sorry, she's not here right now. Can I help you?"
"I must speak to Miss Julie! I'm calling from Windows! Her computer is reporting to us it is very infected!!"

Oh, brother.

I'll summarize the next 20 minutes... he wanted to speak to my wife as the "chief computer user" (hah!) in the household, would not talk to me. Insisted he was calling from "Windows" or "Windows Security" -- not Microsoft, not that they ever call anyone with this type of information anyway. Insisted he was calling from Texas, not Georgia, nor from Redmond WA. Could not identify the Windows version(s) [we run XP Pro SP3 & W2K on various machines at present], the number of computers allegedly reporting this, the AV program [not that Avast! would report this to M$ anyway], or anything else important.

He also couldn't tell me how "Windows" had gotten our home phone number or our address...

When I got tired of playing with him, and he insisted on talking only to "Miss Julie" (and implied I didn't know what I was doing), I told him I'm a Network & Database Administrator, I set up all of the computers on the home network, and was responsible for the security. At which point, he hung up.

Scam artists. I love wasting their time.

Of course, when the boss got home, she scolded me for being rude to him for "just doing his job." To scam us... right.

This ranks right up there with, but just below, the people who call out of the blue to inform me that they're going to supply me with "free" diabetes supplies, just as soon as I confirm my Medicare information (only I don't have Medicare).

[WØTKX]

When I get calls informing me about extending the warranty on my vehicle, I ask them if it's for the daily driver Mercedes, the Ferrari, or grandpa's Pierce Arrow.

[NQ6U]

I've gotten those calls. I usually play dumb and abuse them for five minutes or so just to be sure they're losing money on the call, then explain to them how I have four Macs and no Windows computers in the house. That's no lie, either. I do have a Windows machine but it's out in my shack, which is not in the house.

[KG4CGC]

Ron, please post the number that called. I love looking up these numbers. They usually have a long history.
Here's a number I just pulled out of the air and it turned out to be a good one.
http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8665499190

[K7SGJ]

When I get those calls, I try to sell them three rooms of carpet cleaning or siding for their house.

[NA4BH]

I bought the weed eater with the lifetime supply of line. I only have to pay shipping and handling. :lol:

[KB3LAZ]

When I get those calls, I try to sell them three rooms of carpet cleaning or siding for their house.

I had a man call me from India, on my Spanish cellphone, asking me about my banking habits in the USA. Ofc he thought I was some lady and got upset when I told him I wasnt and that this was now my number. He asked, are you sure this is not Mrs...I dont remember her name. So I looked down, and then said to him..I have a cock. He hung up.

Normally I am not this mean but that was the tenth or so call from this banking company since I got the phone turned on...are you sure youre not a mrs..well, now they know.

What irritates me most of all is my phone company calling me twice a week. My bill is current, go away! I dont want to chit chat with them. I never answer, now they send text messages asking if my service is fine. It would be if they would stop pestering me.

Remind me why I got a cellphone?

[KB3LAZ]

I bought the weed eater with the lifetime supply of line. I only have to pay shipping and handling. :lol:

Should have bought a goat. At least when it breaks down you can eat it.

[NA4BH]

I have a cock.


Priceless :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: and:rofl: plus :bowdown:

[W3WN]

Ron, please post the number that called. I love looking up these numbers. They usually have a long history.
Here's a number I just pulled out of the air and it turned out to be a good one.
http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8665499190Wish I could. The phone's caller ID showed where the call was coming from, but not the phone number... which I do believe is illegal these days, big surprise there.

[KG4CGC]

Oh well. Stay vigilant.

[XE1/N5AL]

Apparently, the scammers have been targeting Britons for a while: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres

[W3WN]

Ron, please post the number that called. I love looking up these numbers. They usually have a long history.
Here's a number I just pulled out of the air and it turned out to be a good one.
http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/8665499190709-805-1137

I'd almost forgotten about the basement wall phone. It's an old-fashioned wall phone, when I hooked it up a few months back, I still had a couple of the original BellAtlantic Caller ID separate displays, so I'd hooked one up.

It showed the Caller ID, even though the new "smart" phones upstairs didn't bother.

Nothing comes up for it on a Google search or on WhitePages.com. Although 709 is the area code for... Labrador & Newfoundland.

[KG4CGC]

Thanks. The site I posted shows nothing. Hmm. New?

[KJ3N]

"I'm Calling From Windows!"

http://www.lifesdigitals.com/wap/tech.swf (definitely NSFW!!!)

[KG4CGC]

FOAMY!

[W3WN]

Thanks. The site I posted shows nothing. Hmm. New?Or the number is spoofed.

[n2ize]

This scammer sounded pretty arrogant and dumb. I always like it when some scammer tries to tell someone their business only to discover that the person they are BS'ing happens to be an expert in the field. But I guess there are enough people that are naive enough to believe him and thats what keeps him going. Some people are simply not very saavy when it comes to all this stuff about operating systems, networks, and security.

[KC2UGV]

709-805-1137

I'd almost forgotten about the basement wall phone. It's an old-fashioned wall phone, when I hooked it up a few months back, I still had a couple of the original BellAtlantic Caller ID separate displays, so I'd hooked one up.

It showed the Caller ID, even though the new "smart" phones upstairs didn't bother.

Nothing comes up for it on a Google search or on WhitePages.com. Although 709 is the area code for... Labrador & Newfoundland.

Pro-tip: Older style, detached caller ID boxes show the ANI information, which can not be changed, in no way, shape or fashion. Newer ones show the customer provided information (The CID).

Usually, this is a "Good Thing" (tm), since a large customer, like AT&T for example, can use many outbound trunks, and outbound phone numbers, but display a single call-back number. However, it's quickly became a "Bad Thing"(tm) when telemarketers learned they can put anything they want in there, even nothing. Adding to this, many PBX (Private Branch Exchange) administrators don't know the ins and outs of their PBX's, and forget to put sane values in there, and oft times defaults to a CID that is many times 000-000-0000 or 999-999-9999.