A phone call came in this evening presumably from India. The woman explained that the computer in our house had some problems and they were going to help us."What kind of computer, is it Windows XP?" I said yes.
"Press the flag key and the R as in Romeo, both at the same time."
"In the Run box type "eventvwr". Click Application, Security, System, etc, do you see the errors in there? That means that your computer has an infection".
"Your computer having too much problem.
1 Error means 62 infections.
1 Warning means 65 infections.
I can help you. Hold while I transfer you to a supervisor who can help you...."
"I am Peter, I am the senior supervisor on the floor. I guess my analyst has already shown you all the error and warning signs.
You know why the call has been placed to you? We got some error reports from your computer, as we are a Microsoft Certified Partner we have to check whether your computer is fine or not".
Me: How did you get the error report, did you get that from Microsoft?
"Exactly, but we are not Microsoft, Microsoft doesn't call any customers".
"The thing is that as you are using original Microsoft operating system you are registered with Microsoft.
We need to scan your computer to tell you the exact reason. We are Microsoft certified engineers".
He got me to run "iexplorer" from the run box, presumably to avoid me using Firefox or Chrome.
I was directed to: www.credentit.com
Click Australia.
"I'll give you a six digit code, which is confidential, do not give it to anyone else".
Then this downloaded something called LMIRescue which is an installer for some sort of remote control software.
As you can guess, I did not install this software and ended the call politely. A quick search shows that I am not alone in receiving this scam call.
credentit.com is controlled by:
Administrative Contact:
n/a
Siddharth Sengupta (credent2010@live.com)
Flat 1/ BC Victoria Appartment
Duke Gardens , VIP Road
Kolkata
West Bengal,700059
IN
Tel. +91.9051255072
Be very careful. Audio here, enjoy.
Yes, I just received the call as well. I didn't enter in the web address as requested, just jotted it down then hung up, so I could search to see if it was a scam. Wasted 20 mins of the poor bloke's time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting about your experience, yours was the first reference to the scam I found.
Thanks Luke,
ReplyDeleteWell done on wasting their time. I also received a listener response from a mention of this on ABC Radio, this person had parted with money sadly.
Peter
I got a similar call yesterday from India regarding errors on my computer, there must be some very busy call centres over there.
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious. I have to say that they picked the worst person to try and scam. You didn't brilliantly to string him along so long
ReplyDeleteGood job.
ReplyDeleteI like this call .
That peter(superviser) is my freind.
got to say it was a bogus call.
by the way thank to god u were not talking to me.
u wud have realized about this call only after paying $200 .
Kireet,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing in. Please tell your friend that he has the skills to get a proper job rather than a life of crime.
Peter