Here in the UK, the old Windows Virus telephone scam has been around for well over a year. One of these evil scum even tried to con my 77-year old mother. Fortunately she is a wily old bird and hung up before the guy could even start his spiel. Besides, she runs Ubuntu.
There are several gangs of crooks behind the scams and the details vary from one to another. However the basic pattern is always pretty much the same:-
1. You receive a call from an unknown "International" number.
2. An Indian or Pakistani sounding voice says, "You have a virus on your Windows PC", c/w bullshine about how their virus scanners detected the problem from your IP address.
If you are daft enough to believe the guy, then:-
1. He tells you to switch on your PC.
2. He walks you through a procedure that "proves" you have a virus - usually involving Windows Process Viewer.
3. Then he tells you to open your browser and points you to a site that downloads the "fix" onto your PC.
4. The call ends with them charging your credit card around 120 quid or so for the privilege!
They've tried me several times. Most times, I'm far to busy to listen to this nonsense. I generally somewhat impolitely tell the guy to "go away" shortly after his first sentence. But one day I decided to play along for a giggle.
I pretended to do his "virus test", telling him what he wanted to hear. I then diligently I downloaded the *.exe file to my desktop to fix my non-existent problem.
Then I double clicked it just like he instructed me. But it simply would not run. We tried again. And again. And again.
Eventually a man he described as his "supervisor" took over. We went through the procedure several more times - no luck
Frustrated, the "supervisor" handed me over to his "supervisor". Under the guidance of the uber-supervisor, I tried again, several times without success. I did ask if I needed to set the file's "executable bit", several times. But he instructed me to, "Stop being silly and do what I am telling you!"
Finally he asked me, "Which version of Windows are you using?"
"Windows?" I asked, "What are windows? I got a keyboard, a mouse, a screen. But no windows. Do you mean the screen? I sometimes use window cleaner on my screen. Its called Windowlene. It's awfully good. Is that what you mean?"
"Microsoft Windows Operating System?" he shouted - obviously becoming somewhat grumpy at this point, "What version of Windows Operating system have you got?"
"But I thought you knew that already? That's what your colleague told me, over an hour ago?" I enquired.
"Tell me. Tell me now! What does it say on your start menu?" He bellowed!
"Kubuntu Linux." I replied.
"Go to hell!" he screamed. There was a click and the phone went dead.
LOL
I just bought a phone adaptor for my voice recorder, ready for next time they ring. Five quid off eBay! So if I'm not doing anything when they hassle me next time, I will record it and post it somewhere. Should be a laugh...
Best wishes, G.
