I received yet another call from a computer support scammer about an hour ago. He said his name was Harry and sounded like he was severely doped up.

He told me that my computer was showing a problem while browsing the Internet. I asked him which computer since I have more than one.

He asked me what I saw on the computers so I told him that on the first there is a funny picture of a guy holding onto a cow's tail with the caption "ski Kansas":

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He hung up on me!

I tried to keep the scammer on line before to have some fun with him. The previous one hung up, too, but this one was in much less time. The previous scammer was really hard to understand and I had to keep asking him to repeat himself. This one was fairly easy to understand because he was speaking so slowly.

Sine poena nulla lex.

Some of them can be quite sophisticated.

For some of the Quickbooks scammers, they actually have multiple well done web pages set up to show that their company handles many different issues for Quickbooks. When they call, they show you that they are on the level by having you go to those pages to see their name.

They prey on the elderly. My mom fell for one a couple weeks ago.

ATL Aggie said:

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They prey on the elderly. My mom fell for one a couple weeks ago.

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I was in an accountant's office last Friday when someone came in and was telling about getting a telephone call from the IRS. I didn't go into the other room to see who it was, but it sounded like he wasn't happy to learn that it wasn't the IRS who he gave his money to.

Several years ago I took one of these calls sitting in the hallway of the New Orleans convention center. We were at a volleyball tournament for my daughter and nobody was at the house for the weekend. They told me the computer on my home network had a virus and it had to be fixed.

Me: Oh ***** Call 911!
Him: No, we don't need to call 911 you just needed to let me remote into your computer and I can fix the virus.
Me: No, you don't understand. There's nobody at my house so if someone's computer on my network has a virus they broke in!
Him: No, nobody broke into your house.
Me: They must have broke in if they're in my house.
Him: No...
Me: Oh, wait, don't call 911. We've got a Great Dane so either the intruder got scared and left or they've been eaten. We'll figure it out when we get home. I'm sorry, what were you calling about?
Click.

One of these guys called me a few years back when I was leaving the office for College Station. I kept the guy on the phone for most of the hour drive. I started off playing dumb and then let him in that I work for a software company and knew his scam. I asked if the real reason he called me is because he wanted a job. He told me he did want a job and asked how to apply.

I thought about that guy when I listened to Reply All's 2 part story they did when one of these guys called them up. It's quite entertaining and interesting.
Long Distance - Part One
Long Distance - Part Two

There's got to be a story somewhere about one of these scammers calling a hacker with Anonymous and getting baited into connecting then getting reverse hacked all to hell.

I get about ten calls a week at my office; always from a different city (city and sate are t all that pop up on caller id for these call) purporting to be Google Maps. They claim to be my "onboarding agent" and will connect me with a technician. There is a verification issue with my listing. The first time I let them get me online and see what the issues were. When she said they needed to log into my account to fix it I stopped her and said, "No, tell me what to do and I will fix it." she said she would send me detailed instructions. That was six months ago. I continue to receive these calls and tell each the same thing; they just hang up.

How about if we ask the scammer what IP address the computer is at.

If he asks why, tell him that the computer has an enormous amount of critical company data and was stolen last month and the police say that if they can get the IP address, they can track it down, arrest the thief, and return the computer to you.

And don't forget the $10,000 reward offered for the return of the computer and data.

taxpreparer said:

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I get about ten calls a week at my office; always from a different city (city and sate are t all that pop up on caller id for these call) purporting to be Google Maps. They claim to be my "onboarding agent" and will connect me with a technician. There is a verification issue with my listing. The first time I let them get me online and see what the issues were. When she said they needed to log into my account to fix it I stopped her and said, "No, tell me what to do and I will fix it." she said she would send me detailed instructions. That was six months ago. I continue to receive these calls and tell each the same thing; they just hang up.

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I get a lot of these. I used to get two or three a day, but not as many these days.

Unfortunately, they are nearly always at inopportune times.

I've often wondered what type of business and business name to give them. Do you think it would work to tell them that you have the catering contract on a nuclear submarine and so you'd rather not show up on Google Maps?

They know my business name and website address. It is part of convincing me they are legit.

taxpreparer said:

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They know my business name and website address. It is part of convincing me they are legit.

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Hmm. I'm going to have to take the time to play with one of the scammers sometime.

Kitboga on youtube is one of my favorites to watch because he has a voice modulator where he can sound like an old woman and keeps these idiots on the phone for HOURS

eric76 said:

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He asked me what I saw on the computers so I told him that on the first there is a funny picture of a guy holding onto a cow's tail with the caption "ski Kansas":

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Oh no! I think I have the same virus as you... I see the same picture!!!!