[shezbut]

I keep getting phone calls from 000-000-0000. That's the number that pops up on my screen.

A man is on the other end of the line, and has a very strong Asian accent but does speak English. I've always had a very difficult time understanding English with accents, so this man has had to repeat every word he says a few times.

He says that he's from Windows internet. That they can see my account keeps coming up, and that he wants me to go on my computer and bring up some site.

It seems highly suspicious to me. But he won't take no for an answer! I've tried several times & I've hung up on him. Yet, he keeps calling me ~ everyday for week now. He says that this really needs to be done. He's doing me a favor by calling me, blah, blah. I told him today that I don't understand computers, and I'll have to call him back.

Does this make sense to anyone?? Have you ever heard of this happening? What am I supposed to do? I don't know. Please help!

Thanks in advance....

How do i create an new thread?

[jen29]

wow that is very very strange.....have you tried looking up the phone number and seeing if it's a scam. I have done that with certain phone numbers and had to actually call the police

This is just what has happened to me...but i would be very cautious.

hope this helps,
jen

Call your telephone service provider and explain what is going on. The service provider will help you. In my state, if the service provider agrees to put a trace on the call, I have to agree beforehand to testify if the individual is prosecuted.

[shezbut]

Thanks jen,

I just put a complaint through to the police online. we'll see if that works!

[shezbut]

Thank you Byz!

I did call my phone service provider a couple of days ago. They said that there wasn't anything that they could do to help me. Weird, isn't it?!

I just filled out a complaint to the police online. Hopefully, that will help. I don't know what to do next time the guy calls ~ avoid answering maybe??

[Visioneer]

There is a scam like that going on in my area right now. The caller says that their "free trial antivirus software" has expired, and that they are now required to pay for a full subscription. They get people's credit card numbers, and/or they then get people to go to a website and download software that allows the scam artist to go through their computer and take information, and control it remotely. Don't ever listen to these telephone scam artists! You did the right thing by reporting that, Shezbut, I hope these people can be stopped. At the very least, they will stop calling you

[Yoda]

You might want to file a complaint at this site. It is for internet crime.

http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

[shezbut]

Originally Posted by Visioneer

There is a scam like that going on in my area right now. The caller says that their "free trial antivirus software" has expired, and that they are now required to pay for a full subscription. They get people's credit card numbers, and/or they then get people to go to a website and download software that allows the scam artist to go through their computer and take information, and control it remotely. Don't ever listen to these telephone scam artists! You did the right thing by reporting that, Shezbut, I hope these people can be stopped. At the very least, they will stop calling you

Thank you Visioneer!

Phew ~ glad that I didn't trust him & have put him off. I hope that these scammers get caught soon!

Thanks for responding to my post. I appreciate it!

[shezbut]

((((Yoda))))

Thank you for the link! I will definitely check that out

[Flooded]

It is most definitely a scam. It's been happening in Australia for months now. I used to get 4-5 calls a day until I used a whistle down the mouthpiece

Once you login they can hack your computer for all your passwords etc including if you do your banking online.

[Rose76]

This may not help you, but it lets you know what is possible. Once I got a phone call that was threatening me physically. It shocked me because I had nothing going on in my life that would have explained it. I immediately called the police and two officers came to my apartment. They used my phone to call the local phone company. The officer told the phone company he wanted the numbers, names and addresses of any calls made to me that morning. I had only had the one call. He immediately had that info on the caller. He told me the name and address of where the call had come from, asking me if that info rang a bell with me. It didn't. All we could note was that the address was an apartment a few miles from mine. Next the phone company told me what to do so that they could trace any disturbing calls. The plan was for them to give any info to the police (not directly to me.) I never got another crazy call, but I was glad to know what a thorough response the situation would be given. The police couldn't have been nicer.

BTW, I don't think "Windows Internet" is a company. If he had said "Microsoft" or the name of your Internet service provider, it would make more sense. (Though not much more.) It's definitely a scam. Spooky, isn't it, when the scam involves calling you at home. The phone company should do more. Meanwhile, whenever you hear his voice, just hang up. He'll get bored.

[lynn P.]

It definitely sounds like a scam. No reasonable organization would ask you to log into to your computer or ask for account or banking info over the phone. The same thing with emails asking for account info. Here in Canada we can ask telemarketers to take us off their calling list and they're subject to fines if they don't comply. This sounds like an illegal scam so they won't listen anyways.

Good you called the police and do check out the link Yoda gave. Don't be afraid to be rude to these people - they're so pushy and try to be so polite, its annoying. If he calls again, tell him you called the police and your number is tapped - he'll hang up on you. I also like the whistle idea. Lately almost every week I keep getting this electronic cruise call and it bugs me because there isn't a live person to talk to.

When I was first looking for a dog, I came found an ad in the paper for a Yorkie with an email address. I emailed the person and got a response in 5 seconds. She said her / hubby are busy doing missionary work in Africa and they have this adorable Yorkie puppy. They would give it to us for free, all we had to do was pay for $450 shipping. She said they were too busy saving lives to care or the puppy. Now mind you I live in Canada and they're in Africa lol. I fell for it for a second or two. A month later I saw a warning on an online site about this scam.

[Indie'sOK]

Rose is right. "Windows Internet" definitely raises a red flag to me. Also, no real phone number exists that is all zeros. It's known as a "spoof number", made up to hide the real number of whoever is calling.

[Indie'sOK]

Originally Posted by lynn P.

When I was first looking for a dog, I came found an ad in the paper for a Yorkie with an email address. I emailed the person and got a response in 5 seconds. She said her / hubby are busy doing missionary work in Africa and they have this adorable Yorkie puppy. They would give it to us for free, all we had to do was pay for $450 shipping. She said they were too busy saving lives to care or the puppy. Now mind you I live in Canada and they're in Africa lol. I fell for it for a second or two. A month later I saw a warning on an online site about this scam.

Scams like this are especially prevalent on Craigslist. A few months ago, my dad put up a listing for an electric guitar he was selling. Someone replied within a day, claiming they lived in Nigeria or South Africa or some other country and had no way to pick it up right then. He asked that my father hold "the item" (big red flag there, when they refer to it as "the item") until his "assistant" was able to pick it up for him. In exchange for holding it, he offered to pay more than the asking price for the guitar.

Nobody that can afford their own personal assistant buys used stuff off Craigslist. This is a very popular method for scammers. They even send checks which appear real but aren't, so bounced when cashed - meanwhile, the scammer has made off with whatever you were selling. This is precisely the reason Craigslist posts warnings everywhere about scams and suspicious emails. Scary stuff.

[addcolin]

Do NOT do anything!
We were warned here a few weeks ago that there is this huge scam going on from India, amongst others. . . .Basically they want to get your personal details!

[Lostime]

Stay away it sounds like a scam.

Windows Forum.

http://forums.windowsforum.org/index...howtopic=45599

[shezbut]

My sincere thanks to everyone who posted their knowledge and experience with scams!

I greatly appreciate it ~ especially since I'm not a quick thinker. That scam guy gets very annoyed with me for asking "what?" repeatedly and then telling him that I don't understand. I probably sound like a moron! But, this is one time that my slowness has paid off I guess Much better than him getting what he wants!

Thank you all very much!!

[Flooded]

And get a whistle

[Visioneer]

Originally Posted by Flooded

I used to get 4-5 calls a day until I used a whistle down the mouthpiece

That's hilarious! What a good idea lol

[Evening]

I actually find this whole thing rather creepy...

[Caretaker Leo]

shezbut - total scam calling going on! Keep being smart and don't do what they are asking.

I also live in MN. We can sign up to be on the "Do not call list." It isn't perfect, but it sure has reduced calls to my home.

[amandalouise]

there are many on line phone sites that can help identify those annoying telemarketers and scammers. this one we use frequently at the crisis center..

http://phoneowner.info/

[Gus1234U]

there is one thing that always gets rid of phone scammers for me,,, a sports whistle, ,blow it in their ear.... when they come to their senses, they won't come back for more.... :O

[Open Eyes]

Get an answering machine and screen your calls. If someone doesn't leave a message with a phone number that ususally means it is a scam. It is creepy but that is when you excersice the word no.

Open Eyes