Microsoft -- and problems with your computer!

Just want to share this with all of you ---


Today , Saturday, the phone rang --- I answered , thinking that it was one of my children .


But the call was from 'Microsoft" to say they had discovered a fault on our computer !!!! and would i switch it on so they could fix it. I gave the ph to my husband and he said that he would only deal with them through email---- and he finished the call.


About an hour later the ph went again and again it was from 'Micrsoft " saying they had discovered a problem with our computer and would we switch it on ( all three computers ( Apple) in the house were on at the time!!!!)


My husband said was this a problem with PC's ? and they said yes --- OH then said " I do not have a PC--- the person calling from "Microsoft" abruptly put down the phone ----


I am just passing this on for what it is worth,


BTW, the caller sounded as if he was in a call centre , his accent was Indian, Pakistani? that region------ When i spoke on the phone he immediately spoke in English -- even though I answered the Ph. in French?????


Has anyone else been rung up by "Microsoft"? the other odd thing was the first Ph call came at 10.30 am on a Saturday morning? the second at 11.30 am ???



By the way Norman, David and Richard are "Wind up artists" who are self

employed people who frequent internet cafes.

The basic reply was, Windows comes with sharing turned ON by default. Apple Mac Doesn't. You have to physically turn it on on a Mac. So. If you have a Windows PC and are worried, go turn sharing to off. Then, if a hacker should get through your router to your PC, you are more secure.

You are scaring yourself now Shirley. Fix the problem and move on mate.

Not heard of that one Theo, making the phone invisible. My iSP is Orange, so how would I do that with them?

… and how many of you watched the UK ITV programme about scammers on 18th May?



From some of the things said on there about hackers and scammers now I’m really convinced I am being hacked.

Not sure what you are replying to there Pip.

Hmmm. Unless you have a reason to have 'sharing' switched on, why not turn it off. Your router will have some sort of firewall built in. How did these so called 'Microsoft' people therefore get access to your PC?

if it seems a scam it usually is.

The other school of thought, change to Apple Mac. Most secure on the planet. Don't get viruses etc, and a built in parental control the kids won't break in a hurry. And these days cheaper than a Dell.

One called me last week & I'm afraid I pretended I couldn't speak English & asked why he was calling a French person in France & not speaking French. He hung up.

The only time this happened to me was in a rented house on holiday in Cornwall, so it's not restricted to France. We managed to waste 15mins of his time.

@ one and all.
I received a new form of this problem in which the caller claimed to be from SFR. Since I have SFR service I listened awhile but spoke in French. The caller then spoke to me in English with a very African accent. I told him in French - I do not understand you. Your accent is bizarre. He hung up.
I think it is a scam - again.
Last week I was receiving an average of 5 similar calls a day. How can I block them. Despite I wait for messages from my real callers, it fin these calls annoying.

Had "the call" this morning. AGAIN. I told them that I did not have a computer and he apologised and went away.

It is like with the telephone sellers, I tell them I am not the owner and offer to give them the address in the UK that they can contact - always does the trick

I say "gosh, what a coincidence, I work for Microsoft's legal department ... which section did you say you were in?". Doesn't stop 'em calling, but stops the call in its tracks.

Hi celeste, I’d forgotten but a few months ago, was on my yahoo mail trying to contact their support when a page showed a UK no to call, support all free to me and my computer was on at the time. Yes I called it - duh! Same thing with Indian voice at other end, suddenly a cursor was moving all over my screen. I then asked about the cost of support and yes they wanted my card details. Yep I shut down immediately and stopped phone call, even pulled plugs out of wall on the livebox as well.

so perhaps that’s compounded my computer problems - see my discussion iPad or imad!

Yes, I received a similar 'phone call when I first came to France about three years ago. I was immediately suspicious and and told the gentleman I wasn’t aware of any problem with my computer. I asked that he e-mail me concerning this and I would consider it further. He hung up.



I Googled the circumstances and came up with name of a very wealthy gentleman from the Far East who was wanted by various governments on suspicion of a variety of illegal activities, one of which was a scam which gave access to people’s computers. When access was achieved, the individual’s personal details etc. were compromised and fraudulently used.

Just took one of these calls (again) this morning. I just kept acting friendly , curious and a bit dumb. When he asked me what I saw on the screen I said that the screen had turned green like St Patrick. (I am Irish). I wish it had been St Patrick’s day. I kept asking him questions… He got fed up in the end and hung up. Sometimes when my husband answers he asks them if they have a granny, etc, etc and eventually says how would you like someone to do that to your granny? And so it continues.
It is very sad that some folk still get scammed by these people.

You guys should make your phone # invisible, this option must be provided by your ISP

I keep them on the line and pretend to go through the procedure, as they are Asian they have a problem saying V they say wee so I have some fun saying I have a wii machine what do they play! After they get frustrated and get back on track they get to a screen ( they think) and say what does it say. At this point I reply some scumbag overseas ********* is trying to rob me so **** Off! I even had one ring back to tell me to foxtrot oscar!

The Microsoft Technical service scam has been rampant around Europe for a number of years now.I regularly get these calls in Ireland and a couple of colleagues of mine have confirmed they have received them too.
If you tell him you have an Apple Mac he will hang up immediately.
I also had my email compromised, taken over by a third party, I had great difficulty in getting my old address back.
This happened in Ireland.
The secret is having a very strong password. The scammers take over peoples email accounts by using password recognition software.
If you use a password which has a combination of upper case,lower case, numbers and symbols it is highly unlikely anybody can steal your account, the scammers love weak passwords !!!

I've had these and once I got into a whole argument (I was in a bad mood), I explained how I was in IT and could he please describe the error message so I could look into it. He tried to explain that we did the same job. I then had a great time pulling his script to pieces and finally explained that he was working in an awful role putting pressure on people so that they can be conned. At this point he got angry with me and put the phone down. I felt better for it even if I just wasted 10 mins of his time so he couldn't hassle any of you!