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#4177293 - 10/04/15 06:24 PM Has anyone else been scammed?  
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Dunolde Offline
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Dunolde  Offline
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An operation, in India, posing a Dell Security calls saying they have been getting many messages from your computer indicating there are major problems with your computer. They say the error log contains hundreds of records of problems which are only visible to them, the security people, but can display them if you wish. Well, not surprisingly they can show hundreds of error messages in the error log, not normally visible to the user without accessing the actual error log on your machine. They also claim that your machine has been hacked by a number of entities and may be being used for "nefarious" purposes by these entities. They can display the IP addresses of these hackers to you.
Again, they claim to be from Dell and can only help with hardware and software problems, but they have contact with a company, "Computer Experts", which Dell regularly uses in helping people solve these issues, since they, themselves, are unable to do so being only equipped to deal with hardware and software problems. They even have the express service code, and service tag from Dell, which give some plausibility to what they are saying.
These "Computer Experts" take over your computer, with your acquiescence and show you things, mostly in DOS format, not readily available to you without specialized knowledge in how to access them. They then ask permission to go ahead and resolve all issues, especially eliminating the "hackers", and provide you with a couple of apps to prevent these issues from ever happening again. All, for a very small fee of $150.00.
I do feel very stupid about this, considering myself pretty computer savvy, but I did go along with it. It seemed legitimate the way it was presented.
Well, later I realized that maybe this was not all it was cracked up to be. I called Dell, and yes, they have been contacted by many of their customers about just this sort of thing. People posing as representatives of Dell, convincing people that there are problems with their computers and collecting money for fixing the problems. Dell suggested I try stopping payment through my credit card company, PayPal (which is this fraudulent operation's preferred method of payment), and contacting the "Computer Experts" directly for a full refund. They do provide a phone number and "30 day full refund policy" if you no longer wish to use their "services." Dell also suggested filing a complaint with the FTC fraud team, and gave their number.
I called "Computer Experts", asked for my money back, told them of what Dell had told me, threatened to file the claim with the FTC, and these "experts" became very agitated, claiming that they themselves are the victims of these unscrupulous people passing themselves off as Dell employees. Well, perhaps there is something to that (although I sincerely doubt it) but "Computer Experts" had no problem taking people's money.
They called me back three times in a row to assure me that all my money will be refunded within two business days.
Let's hope so.
In a funny, ironic twist, another call came, from another person claiming to represent Dell and claiming that they have been getting lots of messages from my computer that there are lots of problems with it and claiming to know some people who could help me with fixing it...Well, after laughing at this guy, I just hung up!

Sorry this is so very long, but I just wanted people to be aware of this scam, since, on the surface of it, it does have a certain "legitimacy" about it. I hope none of you get taken, as I did.

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#4177304 - 10/04/15 07:10 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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Sykstring Offline
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Sykstring  Offline
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I have a non savvy friend who also fell for this. I told him what to do, and he was able to get a full refund. Good luck with it.

#4177305 - 10/04/15 07:13 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

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Vienna, 2nd rock left.
Honestly, I don't blame you... but why, why would a computer company call you and present logs from your system? Why do people believe this "omnipotent support technology" exsists which lets them see more than you?

I would be *very* concerned about the machine right now, because you have no idea what kind of crap they might have installed with your consent even.

#4177311 - 10/04/15 07:25 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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KraziKanuK Offline
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Not just Dell as I had one of these calls supposedly from Microsoft. I told him thanks I would would have the problem looked into and hung up.


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There was no Fw190A-8s flying with the JGs in 1945.
#4177314 - 10/04/15 07:37 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
Joined: Feb 2002
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Moses Offline
I have a Rather Large
Moses  Offline
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Tulsa, Ok, USA
yeah i have been hearing about this alot lately. Very sad when folks get hit by this. Your best bet at this point to to completely blow out your system and reinstall windows to make sure you dont have any keyloggers or viruses in the system.


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#4177316 - 10/04/15 07:41 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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RSColonel_131st Offline
Lifer
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Lifer

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Vienna, 2nd rock left.
Is this "Computer Experts" even a legitimate business? Or a front for some botnet managers?

#4177318 - 10/04/15 07:59 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 7,033
komemiute Offline
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komemiute  Offline
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I got scammed by a Russian woman once.
She ended up with four hundred of my euros.

But what a night.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, someone tried to scam me for some hundreds euros again in 2010...

I downloaded a legit freeware from a not so scrupulous website, that looked like another one.
In my typical "yeah-ok-click-forward-yeahyeah-ok" I accidentally agreed on subscribing to the monthly download service (you wut mate?) of that website.

I ignored thoroughly everything they sent me, virtual and in paper form.
It's a telltale when some "most important notice from our lawyers" come with regular mail and not with the "received mail- receipt" service (I have no idea what it's called in other countries).
Anyway, that was a dodged bullet.

Last edited by komemiute; 10/04/15 08:05 PM.

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#4177319 - 10/04/15 08:01 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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Raw Kryptonite Offline
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An older couple I help out sometimes got taken this way, but they charged them for $400.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been though, they didn't have malware on the pc, it was just a random call.
What they did was, in a sense, what they claimed--scanning for malware. Everything they used I was familiar with as freeware.

They got them to connect via TeamViewer. Free, nothing wrong with it.
They ran CCleaner, which will make even a clean install look like there's malware all over if you don't know what you're looking at. This is also free.
A couple of other basic scanners.

The scam was charging a ridiculous amount, using freeware, and contacting them to scare them into the "service".
They asked me about and then contacted their credit card to stop payment. The people called the a bunch of times after that threatening legal action, but of course it was all talk since they were scam artists.


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#4177320 - 10/04/15 08:03 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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Chucky Offline
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When I got my first call from the so-called 'Microsoft Technicians' I didn't twig straight away.Long before they got access to my machine alarm bells started ringing and I ended the call.A quick Google and all was revealed.

Now I just play with them when they ring,which can be quite often.Had 2 last week so I booted up my spare laptop running Linux.However,that no longer seems to faze them as they still wanted me to connect to their crappy web-site and download a Linux version.

They have no problem getting rude and aggressive hence why I learned a few choice words in Hindi that they will definitely understand.

Last edited by Chucky; 10/04/15 08:05 PM.

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#4177323 - 10/04/15 08:08 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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Wireman Offline
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The First State, USA
I love it when they call.
I tell them that it is impossible for my computer to be sending messages on the internet as I am Amish and have absolutely nothing electrical in the house. One guy got truly livid with me and accused me of lying. I asked him why he would make such an accusation. He replied that I was talking on a phone. I let him know that while he may be talking on a phone, I was actually on a tin can with a string through the bottom and that I was amazed at the quality of the call reception. The conversation went downhill from there. He got rather pissed and threatened to come to my house and have violent carnal relations with the wife. I let him know that she wasn't worth the trip, but I related that I had a dog if he was interested in mating with something similar to his usual romantic counterpart. The call was disconnected shortly thereafter.

#4177326 - 10/04/15 08:13 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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Smokin_Hole Offline
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There is an episode of RadioLab (a podcast) about something close to this but far more sinister. Scammers are taking over PC's for ransom and charging $1000s in bitcoin to return access to the files. They have become so good at this that at least one US police department paid up in order to get their case history back. Mostly young Russian hackers working for gangsters. It's a b****.

#4177345 - 10/04/15 09:24 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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CG2015 Offline
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CG2015  Offline
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Easy!

I don't answer the phone if the caller ID doesn't show a number that's already saved in my contacts list.

With my new iPhone, I can set it to only receive calls and texts and iM from contacts and all others will go to voice mail or sorted into a separate iM and text column.

Also whenever I wish I can disable voice mail and whoever so happens to call during that time will get a pre-recorded message saying 'the person you are calling is not accepting voice mail messages at this time, please try your call later.'

#4177374 - 10/04/15 11:01 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
Joined: Jun 2001
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coasty Offline
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Asheville, NC, USA
I contacted intuit QuickBooks support Friday and they asked for permission to remotely access my computer. This all started when I installed Windows 10 recently and that messed up the email capability of sending email statements to my customers. I read online numerous accounts of the same problem and others worse. The service man I spoke with showed me literally thousands of problems in my 4 year old Asus. He and 2 others worked for 10 hours, some of which they had ccleaner, malware bites, and other programs working, so I am fairly certain they were legit. the 3 year contract is $399, but my computer is vastly faster, and free of many glitches that I was just tolerating. I hope it is not a scam. so far it seems much improved.


Have you seen the Arrow? WWW
#4177376 - 10/04/15 11:06 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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coasty Offline
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I was facing replacing my 2012 QuickBooks pro with the 2015 version which still has much online forum traffic proclaiming the PDF converters are not working with Win 10. All that risk for $299 and no guarantee it would work. Plus they unsubscribed me from trend Micro, which they claim was part of the trouble, and got back the $98 dollars I had just paid to continue service.


Have you seen the Arrow? WWW
#4177385 - 10/04/15 11:35 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  

**DONOTDELETE**
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I have always been very careful to the point that there was never an instance when a scam almost had me.

Except for one. Maybe it is good that I share this in case anyone is desperately trying to get a room in central London.

The scam goes like this:
A room is posted located in a very desirable place in london. Once you contact the owner for details, the owner will tell you that she is in the U.S. (NY or whatever as an intern or on vacation) and she wants you to take care of the place. Since she's in New York, the keys will be sent to you via mail. She will warn you not to go to the place as it will be locked. The moment you express interest, a professional looking form of lease will be sent to you requesting payment be sent to her attorney in Texas. Included in the message is also a picture of her passport.

Also as a come on, she will suggest that once she comes back, "we could have fun" or something. This is the point where I started to become suspicious. The scam fell apart when I tried to search for her attorney. The instructions for wiring the money included the scammer's real name. Immediately, there are pending cases of fraud including complaints in websites.

That was the closest I got to getting scammed. Still pissed off about it because usually my sense is very acute that it never gets to that point of involvement.

After that, whenever I inquire about a room and there's a very tempting sexy reply by the female owner suggesting "if things go well maybe we can have fun", I immediately drop it.

#4177392 - 10/05/15 12:04 AM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: ]  
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Nixer Offline
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Nixer  Offline
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This stuff just requires a little common sense and a touch of paranoia doesn't hurt a bit either.

If it's too good to be true, it ain't.


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Look for me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or Tic Toc...or anywhere you may frequent, besides SimHq, on the Global Scam Net. Aka, the internet.
I am not there, never have been or ever will be, but the fruitless search may be more gratifying then the "content" you might otherwise be exposed to.

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#4177408 - 10/05/15 12:27 AM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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xthor Offline
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xthor  Offline
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Sydney, NSW, Australia
Scammers have been calling me for more than a year - sometimes a couple of weeks apart, sometimes several times a day. They have introduced themselves as being from Microsoft, sometimes with Telstra (a local telecom company that I'm not a customer of). The scammer with an Indian accent would always be insistent that they detected that my PC was slowing the internet down (the CLSID scam).

The dead give-away has always been the Indian accent. Male callers are persistent, their female counterparts not so. I always ask them to give me their phone numbers so I can call them back later in the day - and that's when they would hang up.

#4177552 - 10/05/15 12:28 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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PV1 Offline
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Ladner, Wet Coast, Canada
I used to get calls "I'm from Windows" - Say what?
Obviously from India, so I would start the conversation
"What sort of karma do you think you're accruing spending
all your time scamming old ladies?". I just never seem
to get any of those calls any more, for some reason.

#4177820 - 10/05/15 09:02 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: Dunolde]  
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toonces Offline
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Honolulu, Hawaii
I'm really worried about the OP's computer since the hackers/scammers had access to it. You really need to get that thing virus scanned by a legitimate software or even a computer technician that you can trust.


"A week or even a month for someone basically saying "shucks, this is pants" maybe. But their banhammer only has the forever setting. Gotta set phasers to stun for the localization of female undergarments, not kill yo." - Frederf
#4177823 - 10/05/15 09:12 PM Re: Has anyone else been scammed? [Re: komemiute]  
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Vertigo1 Offline
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Originally Posted By: komemiute
I got scammed by a Russian woman once.
She ended up with four hundred of my euros.

But what a night.


Does your wife know about that? hahaha


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