Got the "your PC has been sending us error messages" scam call today for the first time. [View all]
I was interested to see how they play this, so I strung him along. Heavy Indian accent so could well have been calling from out of the country. Caller ID was 215-249-6100. I think this is spoofed because when I call it back it is the "$100 Walmart Gift Voucher Hotline" which would seem to have a somewhat tenuous connection at best to PCs sending out error messages.
He told me to click on Start-Computer-Manage then Event Viewer-Windows Logs-Application to look for errors and warnings so that I could be convinced he was telling the truth. He then told me to go to www.support.me which redirects to a site called "logmeinrescue" which asks for a 6-digit PIN code which he told me to enter. This site then downloaded an executable to my PC which he told me to run. Obviously I was not going to do this even though the virus scan was clean; upon further research I found out that "logmeinrescue" is actually a legitimate service that enables remote technical support to be performed online. When I called the Logmein customer service department and told them the 6-digit PIN code I had been asked to enter they were very appreciative and said that they would be able to shut down the scammer's account.
Some DUers have criticized me in the past for stringing these people along (as they are "only doing their job"
but I think this is worth doing to reduce the chances of others being victimized.
On a slightly more positive note, I have just been informed via email that I have won $2,100,000 in the "South Africa Big Big Lotto" which is a very nice surprise as I don't even remember entering!
Stay safe out there!
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