Watch out !!!!! New Scam

[Su Lawrence]

Yep it pays to be suspicious about anything like this (ie unsolicited contact). I deal with a fair amount of spam issues (referrer, email, blog comments etc) everyday, so you get to recognising unlegit stuff or scams and so on pretty quick; but even so there are always some that cause you pause and you have to check out (ie Googled) if you can before deleting etc. So you just have to be cautious really.

Mind you the phone ones won't work with me as I never answer the phone.

Thanks for the heads up Frank.

Regards

Su

[masque]

I've had one of these so far, but I just treated them as I did when they rang saying they were Microsoft and that they had had a report that my computer was infected.
I just said that my computer wasn't on, though it was running slowly now they mention it, and if they waited I'd switch it on and let them help me with it as I had some banking stuff to do.
Then it's just a matter of getting on with whatever you're doing, make a cup of tea, mow the lawn, and so often they are still there when you come back, when of course you just hang up.
Invariably they ring back as they are now convinced they have a sucker and you just repeat the whole process as you switched off the computer when you were cut off etc etc.
It might be childish but it keeps me amused for half an hour. Its so sad when you have to rely on scam phone call for much craved human contact.

[pauland]

These particular people have called me a few times. I have tried various tactics with them.

None of us like what they do but take the time to remember there's a human being at the end of the phone. It's easy for us to judge them, but most of us live in comfortable homes and hopefully few worries. That can be in sharp contrast to the lives of the people calling us (usually from India).

On one occasion, I tried the tack of having a conversation - not about the computer but about my caller. I suggested that she should find a better employer, one that didn't try and trick people. I asked her if she enjoyed working for the kind of company that it was. She broke down in tears and said that she hated her job and she hated her boss. She told me her boss walked around the room listening in on conversations and shouting at them. She explained that she had a young baby and desperately needed the money. I became worried she might lose her job.

I wished her well and better fortune for the future.

I think it's a reminder that no matter how much we hate getting these calls and hate the scoundrels that set up these outfits, the person calling you can be an ever bigger victim than you are. Try and give them some respect.

I will add that other callers from that same company have been pretty rude and I have little sympathy for them, but that particular woman that called me that day did teach me a lesson (I sometimes forget) that we are all just people with problems of our own and we don't always have good choices to make.