How can I protect someone from support scammers?

[pastymuncher]

The BT call blocking phones would be a good investment in cases such as this. The BT8600 is the latest model. It has truecall built in and has the 200 most common numbers already blocked and is dead simple to add more. You can also block all international calls, witheld numbers etc. Anybody not on the white list has to announce who is calling and should it be a spam caller (it won't be because they can't be bothered with the hassle) you can block them without even speaking to them. We have the previous version, the BT8500 twinset and we used to get between 3 and 5 unwanted calls a day, even sometimes at night. Since buying this phone two years ago we have not had a single nuisance call. You need to have caller display setup as well or the phones won't work.

 

[Steeps]

The basic fact is that Microsoft will NEVER call anyone – how could they when they don’t have their details!

I get calls from Microsoft all the time, which usually results in asking to load a web page for remote support and letting them fix some issues... but only when I've raised a support ticket with them. I've had to direct calls to my mobile because once one of the admin staff picked up the call and hung up after hearing "I'm calling from Microsoft".

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

hes got dementia, and just wont listen, he cannot get into any issue with the pc though as its not used for anything slightly important and no bank cards to use

In that case I'd go with physiocal remiinders, post its on his desk/screen or even a poster above it saying if MS call to simply hang up and call you perhaps?

 

[AtreuS]

Ive had this before... a customer i have reinstalled her laptop countless times and she STILL keeps letting these fools mess with her laptop and install all sorts....

She is in her mid 40's and not dumb-dumb but not the brightest. I have told her countless times that microsoft/windows/skype etc will NEVER phone her... my god they do not even know her phone number! ( mobile ) so anyone who says they are "trying to help" are liars and if she would just phone me and ask me.

But each time she says "but they said they were from microsoft and they knew i had a laptop!"

Some people are just beyond help... no matter what you tell them they will do it anyway.

Last time i went round it had the usual remote software installed and i asked her if she had been called and done the same... "no".... really? "no really"... so how did this get on here? "well microsoft called me but it was a real call"

 

[Narj]

Last time I had one of these guys call, I let them on to a VM with a script running to keep popping up browser windows with a bit of man-on-man action in them. Heard quite a lot of gasps and cursing down the phone.

Kept disconnecting them saying it had crashed too. Drove them mad for an hour or so.

 

[asim18]

Is it possible he's getting blackmailed? They could be saying they know hes watching "videos" or something and that it needs clearing.

 

[benjii]

Ive had this before... a customer i have reinstalled her laptop countless times and she STILL keeps letting these fools mess with her laptop and install all sorts....

She is in her mid 40's and not dumb-dumb but not the brightest. I have told her countless times that microsoft/windows/skype etc will NEVER phone her... my god they do not even know her phone number! ( mobile ) so anyone who says they are "trying to help" are liars and if she would just phone me and ask me.

But each time she says "but they said they were from microsoft and they knew i had a laptop!"

Some people are just beyond help... no matter what you tell them they will do it anyway.

Last time i went round it had the usual remote software installed and i asked her if she had been called and done the same... "no".... really? "no really"... so how did this get on here? "well microsoft called me but it was a real call"

Wow, I don't know how these people manage their day-to-day lives.

 

[neil_g]

this won't stop RDP programs like join.me or them

iirc join.me etc does not display the admin logon prompt it just greys out the display. so unless the local user has admin rights or types them in (just dont give them this info) they should be okay, no?

 

[Scort]

Edit their HOSTS file so that the common 'remote sites' just go to Google or the loopback?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Install free forticlient - set it to block most things - its what I use with elderly people of the family.

 

[AHarvey]

My grandad just received a letter from Barclays today telling him if any fraud is reported and you have given your details over the phone it's "fraud" you will no longer be able to claim the money back and it's your fault for giving them the numbers.

I'm beginning to loose trust in every single company in the world. Makes me think that IT is really a bad thing not a good thing.

If you insured someone's car against theft, then on a cold winters morning they popped out, started it up, closed the doors and went in for a brew while it defrosted and someone stole it, do you think you should pay out for it?

 

[pcfarrar]

BT call guardian has been amazing for us though, never had a dodgy Indian call us ever sice we bought the handset.

BT call guardian working great for us too. Not had a single dodgy call since installing the phones.

 

[boxman2000]

I get calls from Microsoft all the time, which usually results in asking to load a web page for remote support and letting them fix some issues... but only when I've raised a support ticket with them. I've had to direct calls to my mobile because once one of the admin staff picked up the call and hung up after hearing "I'm calling from Microsoft".

You know what I mean though... for the regular home user, not the system admin types...

 

[agnes]

Not read all the thread at this point, but at this point I'd suggest getting them a little Android tablet and teaching them how to use that. If they can't be trusted with their own computer and spending money then it's simply going to happen again.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

#EtchASketchOS

 

[agnes]

#EtchASketchOS

It will be more reliable.

 

[Robbo]

A similar thing in my experience are the emails supposedly from Russian women who want to meet up etc. An elderly chap I know falls for these every time, thankfully it hasn't cost him much, but he's pretty wealthy so could easily be robbed of a lot of money. I've told him a thousand times that these emails are just not real and all I get back is "but she said..." He is a bit of a dirty old goat which doesn't help matters.

 

[DXP55]

I have been waiting for them to ring me -- I do need help getting my Spectrum working and will play dumb as long as I can.

 

[Mynight]

Way too many replies in here to address them all (which is a nice thing really so thank you ).

I'll agree clearly my teaching methods weren't up to scratch . I'm not entirely sure how else I could have taught them that unless you're calling them it's going to be a scam.

I've blocked join.me via the hosts files to redirect to a page saying "put down the phone and call me[phone number]".

Sadly I think another OS is out of the question if I couldn't teach them that all people calling you from Microsoft are out to hurt you then I doubt my ability teaching them a new OS .


I'll look into forticlient thanks honeybadger .

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

a now retired IT security officer for a government agency I know was present while his friend spend 3 hours on the phone to a cold caller (from Windows) being scammed she paid over £270... He never thought it was odd or it might be a scam

true story

Yeah similar here. Sales & marketing manager of where I used to work has been selling computers since the 1980s. Not a typical (read: clueless) sales bod for the purple shirts. He knows his PC specs, would be able to reformat/reinstall Windows if needs be and will attempt to resolve tech issues before calling us techs out. Then 2 years ago, "Microsoft" phoned him up and they got as far as initiating RDP, installed something via it before he wised up and ended the call. No money taken, but we did have to re-image his PC.

Last time I had one of these guys call, I let them on to a VM with a script running to keep popping up browser windows with a bit of man-on-man action in them. Heard quite a lot of gasps and cursing down the phone.

Kept disconnecting them saying it had crashed too. Drove them mad for an hour or so.

Quality lol