I know this has been on before, but just had a call from a gentleman informing me that I have a problem with my computer hard drive, before he could go any further I thanked him profusely and put the phone down.

We had this one again this week telling my husband that his computer was slow - the problem is that it is at the moment so we could have been taken in had we not had similar experiences.

The caller asked if the computer was switched on to which my husband replied. If you can monitor my computer then you'll know whether it is switched on or not and popped the phone down.

Hummm - would love to hear one of these scammers myself - to understand what they're trying to get.

I would just review your wifi security settings (if you use wifi / BT home hub etc) - if you are not running wifi, and are just connected via a cable to your modem - then you needn't worry.

If you ARE using wifi, and you know how to - check your security settings. Use WPA ENCRYPTION where you can, and if possible - enable access control. (this limits which hardware may connect to your wifi regardless of whether they have a password or not).

Needless to say you need to ensure your PC's anti-virus is up to date and active at all times.

Looking for a decent FREE anti-virus & malware program? I recommend AVAST:
http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

Free 2 year license, with daily updates.

KGAdmin

I've had calls from these asian technicians a few times. They try to talk you into installing something usually or changing your ISP settings, presumably to some premium rate line.

I always 'put them on hold' and see how long they hang on before they hang up or pretend to go through the motions and then ask if it doesn't work because you're using linux or are on a mac

You can also spend a good ten minutes pretending to be an absolute IT idiot, they love that They can also become quite agressive and abusive though, but it's not like they'll come all the way from asia to kick your door in.

They benefit from defrauding you in a range of ways see what Microsoft have to say

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/jun11/06-16MSPhoneScamPR.mspx

I posted something a few months ago about a scam that originated at Linkabord. Apparently scammers had accessed their site and got hold of customer email addresses. So their customers got all the usual requests to confirm bank details and so on. I am still receiving scam email from this.


John

Hi John

It's still there on page 3

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9724

Thanks Alan
Apologies all round to everyone.
I had searched long and hard but couldn't find it anywhere.
I will edit my post.

john

Just had another one of these calls and would you believe he rang back four times before he got the message that we didn't want to talk to him. Each time we told him that we weren't interested. The third time I told him that I knew it was a scam. The fourth time we had to become rather more forceful.

The guy on the other end sounded desperate which made me wonder who is controlling the callers and how!

I am now receiving scam nearly every day from this Linkabord leak. When I rang LB they apologised and assured me that my bank details were safe. However these recent scam emails keep asking for details of the bank account that I used when I bought from them so I have little faith in LB's assurances about their security. Fortunately the card that I used is out of date now.
It seems that once you're out there on the scammers list you're there for ever and ever. It was two years ago that I ordered from them.

I always treat any email or phone call from someone that I don't know as a scam - never even confirm my name on phone calls from these low lifes.

John