Global Computer Maintenance Department
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-07-29 18:49:33 - Graham EllisA story that I felt worth sharing ... from a forum that I help with, and describing another practice which I feel is distinctly unethical and misleading ...
| ""As we're on a bit of a tech bent here in the FPC at the mo, I thought I'd share details of a call I just received. May serve as a warning to others. Caller (Asian accent - broken English) says he's from Global Computer Maintenance Department a partner of Microsoft. Now I'm always immediately suspicious of cold calls and this one sounds interesting. Caller says they've detected a problem on my computer and it is sending them messages informing them my hard drive is infected with a spyware virus. Hmmm..... this is definitely a scam, but I'm feeling devilish so I play along. "Oh god, is my computer safe?" I ask. "Don't worry sir, we can fix the problem by remotely accessing your computer." "OK, what do I need to do?" He then goes into the detail of what I need to do to set up remote access, how to download the software and then the clincher.... "We charge a modest fee for this service of .99. So before I fix your problem I need credit card details to take payment." I explain that I don't have .99 as I do not live in a country where the dollar is currency. I ask lots more technical question and get lots of vague replies and eventually the guy begins to realise I'm not going to hand over personal information of any sort, or allow access to my computer. I finish by saying I've really enjoyed wasting 20 minutes of your time and then tell him to call UK number 0300 123 1212 as the people there are always looking for the sort of 'service' you offer."" |
(Reproduced with permission. It's from a regular members area so I can't provide a link - but see also [here].)