Even more Telephone Fraud

[FoxyXII]

Hi all,

 

I thought I would put this as a separate thread so that it gets fresh views as many people as possible needs to be aware of this.

 

This is related to the thread: http://forums.iobit.com/forum/general-forums/general-forum-items/13609-telephone-fraud-update

 

In the UK, the telephone company TalkTalk was hacked and a large proportion of members details were stolen. These were put up for sale on eBay, etc. and people started getting phone calls from people pretending to be from the company informing them that their computers had been hacked and instructing them to install Teamviewer (or other such programs) so they could remove the culprit. On accessing their computers, they consequently infected their machines and said that it would cost £xxx to remove it.

 

Unfortunately, this is not just limited to TalkTalk OR Iobit. These people are systematically phoning people and pretending to be from various companies. Some that I have heard are: TalkTalk, Microsoft, Virgin, Vodafone and many, many more.

 

I work in a computer repair shop and the percentage of computers and laptops we get in with problems caused by these fraudsters has increased to nearly 100% of our business!

 

Please inform anyone you know of the issue. Simply put, if ANYONE phones you informing you that your computer/laptop has been hacked do NOT do anything. Just hang up the phone! And then, pick up the phone again, dial 1 and hang up again. Why do this? This is because in the UK (unsure about other countries), the fraudsters can keep the line open even after you have hung up. This will ensure the call has definitely ended.

 

If you are unsure as to the validity of this, please see a programme called 'Fake Britain' where all of the above is talked about and shown.

 

And, for a funny bit, at work (remember, I work for a computer repair shop), we had a phone call from "Microsoft" claiming that we had downloaded and infected our computer. Of course I told them that this was not possible of which they were adamant. I informed them that they had phoned a computer repair shop and that Microsoft deal with us in a different way, I also mentioned that their scam was well known and that I knew they were fraudsters. He kept very calm (must be good training at these places!) and said that he could prove that he worked for Microsoft. At this point I got bored and told him that he didn't work for Microsoft and hung up, only to get off the phone to find out that my colleague had just had the same style call AT THE SAME TIME!!!

 

So please, ensure everyone knows about this scam!

 

Regards,

 

[Cicely]

Hi FoxyXII,

 

Thanks for sharing the news here. :-)

 

Hope people know this will not be cheated.

 

Now there are more and more frauds. It should be better to take a second consideration before tell something personal to someone you are unknown.

 

Sincerley thanks for your warmhearted again.