Windows Help Calling scam

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user 26

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last nite a friend told me how he spoke AT LENGTH to a man who said he was calling from 'windows' to tell him he had a virus on his computer. he wanted him to enter a code into his computer, etc.
this is an old scam and i was kind of surprised my friend got sucked in for a while.
he assured me he 'eventually' hung up but he wasn't really convinced when i told him it was not legit.
because the man had his name and phone number. well, he is is LISTED in online and paper directories.
he's had trouble with his computer. we all have trouble with our computers from time to time
i asked him to promise me he wouldn't speak to anyone who called like this again, wouldn't open any links in emails, etc. but i have a feeling he trusted the caller more than me.
i found one of many stories online and sent it to him, why does he remain unconvinced this is a scam?
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/i-am-calling-you-from-windows-a-tech-support-scammer-dials-ars-technica/
ugh.
 
I just saved a client of mine $5000!!!! She bit on an out of the blue call...It was all a SCAM!!! Thankfully we were working together at the same time and she cancelled her credit card payment. Good grief..why would anyone believe a stranger calling out of the blue rather than a good friend???? Got me!
 
I get these all the time. I tell them that I don't have a computer. Or that all my computers run Linux. I call them scammers directly and ask them how they can sleep at night working as a thief. And yet they still call back from time to time.
 
Yes, a woman I know in my town had this call the other day. She thought it was legit, followed the instructions given, then rebooted. When it restarted she told the caller, "Now it says 'Locked. Please enter unlock code.'"
He told her he'd give her the unlock code if she'd give him her CC info so he could charge $25 for the service.
She finally hung up, turned the computer off, and hasn't started it since. She's disgusted. I'm disgusted at her for being so foolish!
 
Yes, a woman I know in my town had this call the other day. She thought it was legit, followed the instructions given, then rebooted. When it restarted she told the caller, "Now it says 'Locked. Please enter unlock code.'"
He told her he'd give her the unlock code if she'd give him her CC info so he could charge $25 for the service.
She finally hung up, turned the computer off, and hasn't started it since. She's disgusted. I'm disgusted at her for being so foolish!.
And she's going to find out that the Geek Squad is going to charge more to undo this. Altho, by now, they probably have it down to a science.
She should do a search on what happened, I bet there is a fix from one of the tech sites.
 
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