Cold calls claiming to be from “The Windows Department” or “Telstra” or other large organisations have been going on for years. These are scams, frequently attempting to get you to download software to give outside access to your computer. Cold calls from major banks are likewise false and usually aimed at ‘phishing’, that is attempting to get you to reveal personal details, passwords and other information that will be used to your detriment.
I just got a call from “Windows” that led me off on a new rigmarole.
First you are coached to open a command prompt and to enter the command ‘netstat’ this is fairly innocuous in itself but wait for the spin! The list of connections that this will show for any networked computer are perfectly ordinary but you are told this is a list of hackers who have accessed your computer! Oh no, now I am (supposed to be) all worried about my security and flustered so I won’t think too hard about what comes next.
Step two is to get out your credit card because suspicious transactions have been reported. Note this isn’t a financial institution calling and you may not wonder why “Windows” cares about your card. You are told by the prescient person on the phone that your card number starts with 4 or 5! How can they know this stuff, they must be genuine indeed. No, Mastercard numbers start with 5 and Visa with 4, so it would be hard to guess wrong.
Next you are told the address that the card is registered to. No, you are told the street address of the number that they have just called that they picked out of the phone book.
Then having demonstrated their bona fides no less than than thrice you are asked to assist with their fraud investigation - how can anybody refuse, especially when your own card is being misused. You are asked to supply the name on the card first. I innocently asked him why I had to supply this data since he was the investigator he would know this already. Then the voice got rather strident and shaky. Then I hung up having reflected on the unsavoury relationship that he has with his closest relatives.
If I had given him the name the next thing would be the number followed by the CVV. Shortly after that there would have been a rush of transactions up to the daily limited applied to my card. Scams to get your details have been around for years but I thought the psychology of this one was very interesting. Unless you have some background knowledge and are sceptical by nature the information being fed to you can sound convincing.
Stick to the principle: if a stranger calls and wants to know anything about you or your computer hang up.
The weakest part of the Windows scammers spiel is that the claim they are from the Windows Technical Department as opposed to the Microsoft Technical Department, which should be the first red flag.
For everyone else they probably don’t know the difference, and it probably helps self filter out the more aware victims so the scammers don’t waste time on us.
“We’ve traced the call - it’s coming from inside the house”
When a stranger calls me, the phone doesn’t even ring - anyone not already on my contact list goes straight to voicemail … I’ve never had these clowns leave voicemail …
It amazes me how many people fall for theses scams. Maybe I am exceptionally sceptical but when anybody calls me and asks for any details whatsoever (think Telstra, Vodafone etc) my response is always “You called me so you must have these details in front of you”. If I want a better deal on something I will investigate and call them as I don’t trust anybody.
They are on to such clues. To get them to give me the full script requires I am old and doddery, sound slightly business-like and I get the chop quickly. Time is money…
My elderly mother still receives these calls. A while ago when she was a young person of about 80 (she is now 95) she received a call from a scammer. She has always enjoyed stringing them along so she chatted for a while up to the point where she was asked for her credit card details whereupon she declined to pass them on. The reaction from the caller was “What? You mean you don’t trust me?” spoken in an incredulous voice which indicated his outrage that my mum thought him untrustworthy. The call ended about then. Good onya Mum.
I love these calls, I have fun with them when they ask me to type in anything. “where do I type that?” “no I do not have on my screen”. “What operating system do you have?” “I do not know” “can you tell me what is on your screen?” " wait till I get my other glasses" I then go for a walk to the front fence and back. I have had them wait for me. So now I cannot find the button on the screen. “where is the button” I ask. Bottom left-hand corner. “No, I do not have a button there” “what do you have” “A rubbish bin” they hang up.
Don’t hang up. If you don’t feel like pretending to turn your computer on and playing with them for a while today (I’m an old lady and have to amuse myself somehow), just gently put the phone down on the table and tiptoe away, leaving them talking. It’s their dollar.
