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Thread: Scams

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
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    12,618

    Scams

    As old as I am, I should know better but I allowed myself to get drawn into the Windows Defender scam. Before I was into it very long I suspected foul play but I had let them into my computer. Fortunately, I became quite contentious and I think, they might have been a little scared. In any event they didn't get any money so far.

    But I have closed my business bank account and cancelled my credit cards. It cost me $75 for new business checks and several hours of inconvenience and I suspect it will cost another $75 for my computer guy to clean up the new pc.

    In any event I'd thought I'd share this as a reminder to be vigilant with your computers, cell phones etc. Good luck.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  2. #2
    Good for you for listening to your gut feeling. That's great you have someone to clean up your computer for you. Even if you became contentious, they still had access to your computer and will continue to try to extract whatever data they can. They may try to continue to call and pester you for weeks to come.

    A dear friend of mine became a victim to that same scam. She knew better due to all the years of me being a former computer tech to be cautious, but they worded things in a way that she believed them. She even kept telling them she wanted to conference me in the call and they knew the right things to say to trick her. By the time she became really wary and hung up with them and called me, they had already triggered a LARGE transfer from her bank account. Thankfully the bank flagged it as suspicious. I cleaned out a lot of intrusive software from her laptop and she continued to receive calls & emails for months.

    My LOML and I set up my 80 year old mother-in-law with an ipad since all she does is surf the internet and use email. She still receives random "Windows alerts" while surfing on her ipad, but when she calls us to say she has another virus alert, we can tell her that she does not have Windows and she can close that alert.
    I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Yorktown, VA
    Posts
    422
    This is why decades ago I started using Visa giftcards with just enough loaded on the card for one months payment only. if it ends up being a scam they don't get access to any of my accounts. If it is legit but ends being not something worth it, I don't have to worry about cancelling it.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
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    2,546
    So for everyone's benefit what took place? I'm not familiar with this scam and I'm probably not alone. Did it come in a phishing email? Sorry this happened to you Mike.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    The way things are now, every phone solicitor or email from Microsoft or Apple is not only suspect, it is treated as a scam.

    There isn't anyone at Microsoft monitoring your computer. Same for Apple, no one monitoring your iPhone, iPad or iPod either.

    If there is a software update, it is easy enough to go to the web site of the appropriate company and download it from there.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,688
    Mike, make sure you change all your passwords, etc., including with your email and saved website information. They had access to that stuff, too. Bummer about the situation, but "this too shall pass"...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    New England
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    2,474
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Mike, make sure you change all your passwords, etc.
    Yes- sooner rather than later. Today it's really important to never use the same password for more than one account. I type about 20 characters of gibberish and keep them all in a db. Yes it means I have to look up my password every time but it also means peace of mind.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Hartland of Michigan
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    I gave one guy the numbers from an Autozone card. It had a couple bucks on it.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Scarborough(part of Toronto|) Ontario
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    What's a db?
    Thanks,

    Tim
    Last edited by Tim Janssen; 09-20-2021 at 10:44 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,885
    My wife's phone just caught a virus and was unusable. Constantly downloading porn etc so no way to use it since it was too busy to answer keyboard commands. I guess they get paid per click fro mthos esites.
    Bill D

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Livonia, Michigan
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    780
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Janssen View Post
    What's a db?
    Thanks,

    Tim
    I would think a database.

    I keep my passwords in plain text files on two thumb drives. The info isn't kept on an online machine.

    -Tom

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    New England
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Stenzel View Post
    I would think a database.
    Yes, thanks. And sorry for being cryptic.

    Just makes it easier to zoom in.
    Last edited by Dave Zellers; 09-21-2021 at 1:40 AM.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Mtl, Canada
    Posts
    2,379
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    As old as I am, I should know better but I allowed myself to get drawn into the Windows Defender scam. Before I was into it very long I suspected foul play but I had let them into my computer. Fortunately, I became quite contentious and I think, they might have been a little scared. In any event they didn't get any money so far.

    But I have closed my business bank account and cancelled my credit cards. It cost me $75 for new business checks and several hours of inconvenience and I suspect it will cost another $75 for my computer guy to clean up the new pc.

    In any event I'd thought I'd share this as a reminder to be vigilant with your computers, cell phones etc. Good luck.
    So how does the Defender scam initiate itself? Is it a download?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    12,618
    It is a quite official looking email.

    Microsoft Account


    Invoice Id: WIN48974984-52942
    Customer Id: 112598811
    mn@

    Thu, September 16th 2021

    Invoice Details

    Product
    Microsoft Defender Protection
    Description
    1 Year Subscription

    Amount
    $399.00

    User-Centric Accessibility
    Your Subscription Of Microsoft defender is successful. It will help you protect your system from unwanted malicious application.

    If this purchase is not done by you or you think some unauthorized person is using your account please contact our Customer care representative +1 (845) 212-2628.

    If Purchase is not done by you amount will be refunded back to your account after customer care representative confirm your details. Please contact customer care representative within 48 hours.
    thank you



    © 2021 Copyright Reserved




    I was unable to copy and paste the email but it is a professionally designed notice in color.

    US Bank is trying to be helpful but they are annoying me in the process. I also have to unlock my info at the credit reporting companies which I locked several years back. That's temporary but annoying considering USB has all my business and I don't carry balances on my cc's.

    I changed my banking pw's the same day and cancelled the cc's. where I am using cc's for subscriptions or purchases I will use a new pw and cc.
    Last edited by Mike Null; 09-21-2021 at 9:20 AM.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Mtl, Canada
    Posts
    2,379
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    It is a quite official looking email.

    Microsoft Account


    Invoice Id: WIN48974984-52942
    Customer Id: 112598811
    mn@

    Thu, September 16th 2021

    Invoice Details

    Product
    Microsoft Defender Protection
    Description
    1 Year Subscription

    Amount
    $399.00

    User-Centric Accessibility
    Your Subscription Of Microsoft defender is successful. It will help you protect your system from unwanted malicious application.

    If this purchase is not done by you or you think some unauthorized person is using your account please contact our Customer care representative +1 (845) 212-2628.

    If Purchase is not done by you amount will be refunded back to your account after customer care representative confirm your details. Please contact customer care representative within 48 hours.
    thank you



    © 2021 Copyright Reserved


    Official perhaps but the grammar is very bad which should be the tip off for the user that it is not legit.

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