Dear Val,
Good morning. I thought I would inform you of a strange telephone converstion I have had with an
Indian gentleman who purported to be from Windows Technical support. He asked if I spoke English
to which I replied yes. He then told me he was getting error reports from my computer and
would assist me to sort out the problem. As I was wary I simply said why have you simply not
sent me an error message.
He then proceeded to ask me if my computer was on. I expressed surprise at the question but I said it was
anyway just to see what happened. and he stated that he would tell me how to get a report of the error.
He then suggested I press the Control Key, the Windows key and the letter R. I said that I was not
prepared to press any keys on my computer on the back of as phone call. He became impatient and
kept reiterating that he was simply trying to help me with my problem and that if I pressed the keys
as instructed it would give me information about my licence number (which of course Windows
is perfectly aware of!) so I stated (a big lie!) that I was perfectly aware of
my licence number and repeated that I was not prepared to take any action that might put my
computer at risk of virus attack.
To end the conversation as politely as I could manage I stated that my computer was functioning
perfectly well, I was not getting any error alerts, and that I did not expect to receive unsolicited
telephone calls from Windows since that is not how they normally conduct their business .I said
goodbye and hung up. I checked the "call detail" on my handset and the call came from
00123456789. Most odd - and of course it is not a valid
number. I wish I'd checked the call display before I picked up the call - something I usually
do as a matter of course in view of the plethora of cold calls I receive.
Perhaps I am getting paranoid in my old age but I wondered if this in some sort of scam which is
riding on the back of Winows XP support being withdrawn and the assumption that some people
might be panicking about whether they will suddenly start experiencing crashes or other problems.
TAG readers might like to be aware of this experience in case they are similarly approached.
Thanks Val. Kind regards.
Di Hope.
Val says I had the same man, or one sounding just like that. He assured me he was not selling
anything but I said whatever I was not interested in unsolicited phone calls and put the phone down.
This scam has being going on for over a year, and we know someone who was caught. I imagine as
they know we are feeling vulnerable at the moment they think it a good opportunity.
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