Beating back the telephone virus scammers

[Paddy Landau]

I did get a response, and BeyondCompare was recommended. It's an excellent product. I compared the two files, and I found no suspicious change (as I expected).

I think what we need is a "scammer alert" program -- something that flashes on the screen and rings a bell saying, "SCAM ALERT! The person who is controlling your machine is a scammer. His IP address has already been noted and sent to the FBI and their contacts in India. Please do not give him your credit card details."

Set this program to run on a specific keystroke (say, Ctrl-Alt-Q), and press that keystroke just before you give him your details.

Now, does anyone know how to write this on a Windows computer?

[CharlesA]

I did get a response, and BeyondCompare was recommended. It's an excellent product. I compared the two files, and I found no suspicious change (as I expected).

I think what we need is a "scammer alert" program -- something that flashes on the screen and rings a bell saying, "SCAM ALERT! The person who is controlling your machine is a scammer. His IP address has already been noted and sent to the FBI and their contacts in India. Please do not give him your credit card details."

Set this program to run on a specific keystroke (say, Ctrl-Alt-Q), and press that keystroke just before you give him your details.

Now, does anyone know how to write this on a Windows computer?

Not to sound negative, but I highly doubt that would be feasible. You would probably need a backend DB that stores the IP addresses and whatnot and something like that might even be considered malware by some.

[Paddy Landau]

Not to sound negative, but I highly doubt that would be feasible. You would probably need a backend DB that stores the IP addresses and whatnot and something like that might even be considered malware by some.

No, it's not necessary to be that complicated. Just something that pretends to have traced the IP address and notified the FBI etc. would do. Give them a bit of a scare.

[CharlesA]

Ah gotcha.

[Moozillaaa]

That is funny.
Start at 2:06 minutes for the phone scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhWav...eature=related

That response wasn't funny at all. How long do you think they're going to hold on, when you aren't talking with them???

What you do, to waste their time, is chat them up.

"Where are you"
How's the weather
"I'm sorry - 1 more time please - I'm writing this down...
Call them by their name VERY frequently, beginning, middle, and / or end of phrases.
Can I get that offer by mail to look it over?
Is this a limited time offer - how long do I have ot make up my mind, because I don't spen money on the phone FIRST time.
etc., etc., etc., ...

pffft.

You really thought that other response was funny? You're easily amused (or just a poor brown-noser)

[Moozillaaa]

One time, SUE said HE (he picked a name from the WRONG list), said he was in Phoenix (USA?), and he said it was cloudy and raining. My caller ID said it was a local number, so his SERVER wasn't even in Phoenix!!!

Being on the computer, I brought up Phoenix weather. Sunny, 22% relative humidity.

"Must be hard dodging those raindrops, huh Sue"

[Paddy Landau]

My wife was with a friend at his home when he received a call. Guess from whom?

As he spoke on the telephone, my wife urgently exclaimed, "Hang up! Those are scammers! They just want your money!"

"No, no, no," he waved at her. "These people are from Windows. They know what they are doing. They sent me an email. They can even get into my machine and see what I'm doing!"

"But they are scammers," my wife persisted. "Paddy knows about them. Hang up!"

Well, my wife left while he was still on the phone, convinced that they were genuine.

Fortunately for him, he did eventually realise that my wife was correct. But it shows just how easily non-technical people are fooled. "They sent me an email, so they must be genuine." Oh boy.

[Dry Lips]

"No, no, no," he waved at her. "These people are from Windows. They know what they are doing. They sent me an email. They can even get into my machine and see what I'm doing!"

My reaction:

[Irihapeti]

The last time I got a call from one of those - I've had a few recently - I said to them: "Gee, you guys are poorly organised. I don't know how many times I've told you that I'm not using Windows, but you still keep calling me."

Guess what - they hung up.

[weasel fierce]

Stuff like this almost makes me want to get a landline. Most I get on my cell is a few measly text messages