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  3. Well that's a new one...

Well that's a new one...

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
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  • L Lost User

    That won't work as there is not much that lawyers can do against criminals. And these people all operate out of unknown locations in India.

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    dandy72
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    There have been published stories from Microsoft successfully going after and shutting down these scammers. Doesn't matter much to me how likely they are to actually go after them - just mentioning that the department is only a phonecall away is usually enough to get them to hang up.

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    • 5 5teveH

      Just had a call, (recorded message), from "The National Crime Agency". Apparently there's been "suspicious activity on my National Insurance Number", which means it's going to be suspended, immediately. :wtf: I was asked to "press 1 to speak to a Crime Agency Officer". I've decided not to bother and see how it goes! :sigh:

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      BStorrar
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      Same here. I did press one, but they hung up. I had a call last week from "Peter at BT Openreach" telling me my router had been reporting errors. I asked him if I could take him through security, and what was my name. He hung up pretty sharp.

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      • N Nelek

        And I guess... pressing one then you call back and it is a very expensive call that gives them money? I ask genuinely because this is something I didn't know about yet.

        M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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        W Balboos GHB
        wrote on last edited by
        #19

        Pressing '1' does two things. First, it often passes you through to the live agent (robo-callers are paid even less so they don't waste money until the think they've caught a live one). Second, and the much worse part:   you have confirmed to them an active and viable phone number to call back with their other warnings (and sell, probably more lucrative). It's like (foolishly) clicking "remove me from mailing list" on SPAM.

        Ravings en masse^

        "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

        "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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        • D dandy72

          � Forogar � wrote:

          "FBI Department of Crime".

          To me this begs the question, what other departments does the FBI have...?

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          Myron Dombrowski
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          Department of anti-crime seems an obvious one.

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          • W W Balboos GHB

            Pressing '1' does two things. First, it often passes you through to the live agent (robo-callers are paid even less so they don't waste money until the think they've caught a live one). Second, and the much worse part:   you have confirmed to them an active and viable phone number to call back with their other warnings (and sell, probably more lucrative). It's like (foolishly) clicking "remove me from mailing list" on SPAM.

            Ravings en masse^

            "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

            "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

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            Nelek
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            Makes sense. I was looking for an obscure technical reason, but as usually... Occam's razor provides the best explanation.

            M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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            • M Myron Dombrowski

              Department of anti-crime seems an obvious one.

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              dandy72
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              If they investigated each other, would they cancel each other out...?

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              • 5 5teveH

                Just had a call, (recorded message), from "The National Crime Agency". Apparently there's been "suspicious activity on my National Insurance Number", which means it's going to be suspended, immediately. :wtf: I was asked to "press 1 to speak to a Crime Agency Officer". I've decided not to bother and see how it goes! :sigh:

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                VE2
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                I don't remember details of the following news report but it involved a scam phone call where the homeowner got fed up and answered the message. When the scammer started talking to him the homeowner unloaded on him, called him filthy names and then hung up. Shortly thereafter, his home was surrounded by police and he was handcuffed. It seems the scammer phoned the police using the homeowners number on call display and told the police " I just shot and killed my wife".

                73

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                • 5 5teveH

                  Just had a call, (recorded message), from "The National Crime Agency". Apparently there's been "suspicious activity on my National Insurance Number", which means it's going to be suspended, immediately. :wtf: I was asked to "press 1 to speak to a Crime Agency Officer". I've decided not to bother and see how it goes! :sigh:

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                  agolddog
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  Man, all I ever get is a clip of the message on my VM. "...or, press 9 to be removed from our list" No, I don't answer unknown numbers. They can leave a VM and I'll get back to them if it's real. It never is...

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                  • D dandy72

                    Richard MacCutchan wrote:

                    claimed they were from Microsoft support and, "we have seen a problem with your computer on the internet".

                    As a Microsoft contractor, I just tell these guys Microsoft has an army of lawyers just salivating at the thought of going after fraudsters like them, and they're just a phonecall away, should I decide to bring this to their attention. They typically don't stay too long on the call after this.

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                    davecasdf
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    When they used to actually have people call, I said " I want your name, your company's name and address." Funny, I never got a reply.

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                    • D davecasdf

                      When they used to actually have people call, I said " I want your name, your company's name and address." Funny, I never got a reply.

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                      dandy72
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      I once went along with one of these guys a few years ago just to see where it would lead. He tried to assure me that he had tracked me down through some "unique identifier" assigned to my computer that it was somehow magically broadcasting over the internet. Told him I've been working in the hardware/software asset management area for decades (it is the case), and that unique identifiers is one thing that pretty much all computers lack. Intel tried to introduce serial numbers with the Pentium III, and was very, very quickly made aware that it was a bad idea. Everything he was throwing at me, I calmly explained how and why everything in the script he was following didn't make sense. He gave up trying to convince me of the legitimacy of his call and hung up.

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                      • A agolddog

                        Man, all I ever get is a clip of the message on my VM. "...or, press 9 to be removed from our list" No, I don't answer unknown numbers. They can leave a VM and I'll get back to them if it's real. It never is...

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                        SkysTheLimit
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        How do you know they're never real? You could have won a whole pile of money and not even know ;)

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                        • S SkysTheLimit

                          How do you know they're never real? You could have won a whole pile of money and not even know ;)

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                          agolddog
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          I rely on google to let me know. Plus, what would I do with another pile of money? :)

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                          • D dandy72

                            Richard MacCutchan wrote:

                            claimed they were from Microsoft support and, "we have seen a problem with your computer on the internet".

                            As a Microsoft contractor, I just tell these guys Microsoft has an army of lawyers just salivating at the thought of going after fraudsters like them, and they're just a phonecall away, should I decide to bring this to their attention. They typically don't stay too long on the call after this.

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                            User 13224750
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            I personally prefer the "you've just stumbled into an FBI honeypot".

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                            • U User 13224750

                              I personally prefer the "you've just stumbled into an FBI honeypot".

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                              dandy72
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              They call completely random people. A honeypot would be selective about who they attract.

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                              • 5 5teveH

                                Just had a call, (recorded message), from "The National Crime Agency". Apparently there's been "suspicious activity on my National Insurance Number", which means it's going to be suspended, immediately. :wtf: I was asked to "press 1 to speak to a Crime Agency Officer". I've decided not to bother and see how it goes! :sigh:

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                                Member 14883159
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                I've had this as well, three calls in all with the last one telling me an arrest warrant had been issued for me. That one was particularly fun as I work for the county police force....hopefully they won't have any difficulty in finding me. :laugh:

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