As a follow-up -since it is nearly Friday now - I thought this was a very analytical and almost cruel response to our hard-working friends in the (mainly) off-shore call centres. After all, they're only trying to earn a quid (or rupee), and some of them may be better educated than us and earning very little for their education and the sacrifice to get it.
I know their drill, and have the process down pat with these guys. I did this several months ago, and managed to keep them on the phone for about 50 minutes playing as a dumb end user. I even allowed them remote access to a sandboxed VM, and recorded the screen session. They get you to go to run and type "inf virus". It opens the C:\Windows\inf and they tell you that each of the files listed is a virus J Next, they took remote control of the VM using Citrix GoToAssist, and opened the Windows System event log, and said that everything with a red x is a virus. I threw them because I cleared the System event log prior and it was only informational messages displayed! So the guy stumbled, and said because there was more than 20 informational events, that it was a virus. Classic. I had to help them along with the scam because they were so bad at it. Following on, the rest of the scam is to download a their software from amazon, for around $300 or so to fix the problem, at which point I kept them going on in circles. They caught on at this stage, and after speaking to about 4 different people they realised they weren't getting anywhere with this "dumb arse" end user J I traced their sources, IP addresses logged, and the screen recorded. Submitted to AFP with the evidence - got a phone call from the AFP a week or so later, saying they traced it back to a service run out of Sydney, but was VoIP and sent offshore from there, so they couldn't trace it any further. I think I have done my civic duty J Usually, I just resort to telling them (the helpful computer maintenance guys) to go away, and then I end the phone call. I have more problem with (local) charities that have somehow got my number and name, and won't be told to desist. And they are exempt from the Australian "Do Not Call" Register. _____ Ian Thomas Victoria Park, Western Australia
