75 Yr old father possibly scammed, help please!

Indeed, I've explained to him that he's now most likely to be on a "sucker list" - as the subsequent call seems to confirm - he's had a good talking to by me, and my mum won't let him forget it either!

Lesson learned I very much hope.
 
Scania said:
Indeed, I've explained to him that he's now most likely to be on a "sucker list" - as the subsequent call seems to confirm - he's had a good talking to by me, and my mum won't let him forget it either!

Lesson learned I very much hope.
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indeed, tell your mum not to let him answer the phone anymore, should sort the issue lol
 
Glad that the bank are a bit more helpful this time around and Windows refreshed.
Regardless of the company, worth checking ports on router too as suggested earlier.
I would also have suggested registering with TPS, the Telephone Preference Service - I think that only works with UK calls and not international, I think.
Sometimes having an answering machine that lets you monitor incoming calls is useful too - some companies don't like leaving names and numbers on them!
 
I would seriously consider a phone which has the ability to block certain numbers. My own cordless Panasonic phone allows me to block phone numbers and I have turned on the option with my phone provider to block withheld numbers. Every few months, I'll erase all the blocked numbers.

I still get the odd call coming through with no number for some reason, but I'm happy that blocking withheld numbers is keeping most of them away.
 
I'll be seeing him again later in the week and will explore blocking options - he has some Panasonic phone too iirc - yes, this time the bank were much more helpful (bank holiday staff yesterday maybe didn't care!) my only issue now is reinstalling his 8.1 seems to have altered how its interface works, options he could previously see in the email client are now not visible, his printer seems to be queuing everything without printing and the OS seems to periodically freeze for a few minutes at a time for no apparent reason,but then seems to carry on just fine after the freeze without issue (which I recall it doing initially when I first installed it as a replacement for XP last year) the problem I have is he assumes I have an answer for all these issues but alas I have Win7 64bit which has none of nor replicates any of these problems!

Pensioners and PC's are a baaaad mix! :p :D


Yet again, many thanks to all.
 
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Ha, I don't mind silver surfers and PCs, they actually do listen and stick to something you tell them, although change doesn't go down too well!

I find the young/middle generation and PCs are a bad mix. They never listen, always say they're too busy when you need to safeguard them with backups or renew AV etc but as soon as there's a problem, they expect you to be available at the drop of a hat and recover the impossible! :)
 
Is there any real big reason to be using windows?
If he really is that vulnerable and doesn't know much about computers, it might be best moving him to Linux. At least the scammers won't physically be able to do any thing to his machine if it was to happen again.
 
stopper said:
Is there any real big reason to be using windows?
If he really is that vulnerable and doesn't know much about computers, it might be best moving him to Linux. At least the scammers won't physically be able to do any thing to his machine if it was to happen again.
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Most people are used to windows, linxu will just freak them out.
For example I installed Kodi on my father's pc and set it up in the living room for him. For the past 2 weeks there hasn't been a day he hasn't called me to ask how to shut the damn thing down :p
 
darael said:
I would seriously consider a phone which has the ability to block certain numbers. My own cordless Panasonic phone allows me to block phone numbers and I have turned on the option with my phone provider to block withheld numbers. Every few months, I'll erase all the blocked numbers.

I still get the odd call coming through with no number for some reason, but I'm happy that blocking withheld numbers is keeping most of them away.
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My nan has these options (she's 80 odd), have international enabled can't 'block' withheld numbers because both the hospital and the local doctors surgery use withheld numbers... yes I agree it's stupid too :o

So unfortunately this isn't a fix for all, does seem to cut back on the international calls though :)
 
stopper said:
Is there any real big reason to be using windows?
If he really is that vulnerable and doesn't know much about computers, it might be best moving him to Linux. At least the scammers won't physically be able to do any thing to his machine if it was to happen again.
Click to expand...

To be fair to him, he's managed just fine with XP and 8.1 for years, if anything, he's called me hardly at all over any issues with 8.1, this scam was new to him and he fell for it, I think he will be far more suspicious of anything else in the future.

Not to mention I have no experience of Linux and also his grandchildren play z few direct x games on his PC when they visit which I doubt would work were he to change OS.

Thanks, but I think I'll pass.


Blocking international calls isn't very viable, we have extended family in the U.S.....
 
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I had one of these the other day, the worst bit was the caller obviously didn't have a very good grasp of English. I had to tell him 4 times that I didn't have a Windows Key because my windows don't have locks on before he realised I was taking the [expletive denoting urine]. This was after I told him I had a BBC B.
 
stopper said:
Is there any real big reason to be using windows?
If he really is that vulnerable and doesn't know much about computers, it might be best moving him to Linux. At least the scammers won't physically be able to do any thing to his machine if it was to happen again.
Click to expand...

If by Linux you mean a Chrome system, sure.
 
KIA said:
A full-blown Linux distro can be just as vulnerable as Windows.

Locked-down operating systems offer a lot security.
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What are you on about? Reread my original post, last sentence in particular.
I was talking about "if" the OPs relative wasn't very computer literate, and the scammer on about problems with his windows system, which would be impossible if he was on a different OS.
Leave the Windows vs Linux debate for another thread.
 
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Buy him a BT8500 call blocking phone. We were being bombarded with sales/scam calls and bought a twin set on New Years eve and haven't had a single nuisance call since. It's got Truecall Software built in to it and comes with the 200 most prolific nuisance numbers already in the black list and it's dead simple to add more. It's only £39.99 for a single and £54 for a twin set. There is a review here.
 
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