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There have been published stories from Microsoft successfully going after and shutting down these scammers. Doesn't matter much to me how likely they are to actually go after them - just mentioning that the department is only a phonecall away is usually enough to get them to hang up.
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When they used to actually have people call, I said " I want your name, your company's name and address."
Funny, I never got a reply.
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I once went along with one of these guys a few years ago just to see where it would lead. He tried to assure me that he had tracked me down through some "unique identifier" assigned to my computer that it was somehow magically broadcasting over the internet. Told him I've been working in the hardware/software asset management area for decades (it is the case), and that unique identifiers is one thing that pretty much all computers lack. Intel tried to introduce serial numbers with the Pentium III, and was very, very quickly made aware that it was a bad idea.
Everything he was throwing at me, I calmly explained how and why everything in the script he was following didn't make sense. He gave up trying to convince me of the legitimacy of his call and hung up.
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I personally prefer the "you've just stumbled into an FBI honeypot".
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They call completely random people. A honeypot would be selective about who they attract.
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: Seriously?
Yeah... My relative got called by an indian scam center and got the PC erased (luckily for him only erased because I could recover most of the content, an encryption would have been way worse)
I have received scam post and scam emails.
But never a case like this.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I, (like everyone), get plenty of scam calls, but I think this is a new variant! I'm always a bit reluctant to follow the instructions, (actually, I'm very bad at following ANY instructions!), because I am never sure if there's some potential hack on my mobile that they can execute. Don't know if that's possible?
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5teveH wrote: I am never sure if there's some potential hack on my mobile that they can execute. Don't know if that's possible?
Well, the GSM standard has codes for call forwarding etc. that can be entered at the keyboard of the phone app. They all begin with '*#' and end with '#'. This does not mean that there aren't other codes that have other prefixes/suffixes.
(I've discovered that my current phone doesn't accept the GSM codes in the phone app. It does, however, provide other methods to perform the same actions.)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Pressing '1' does two things.
First, it often passes you through to the live agent (robo-callers are paid even less so they don't waste money until the think they've caught a live one).
Second, and the much worse part: you have confirmed to them an active and viable phone number to call back with their other warnings (and sell, probably more lucrative).
It's like (foolishly) clicking "remove me from mailing list" on SPAM.
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Makes sense.
I was looking for an obscure technical reason, but as usually... Occam's razor provides the best explanation.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Better than your car warranty expiring...
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The last time the IRS robocalled me with this scam, I took the opportunity to mess with Officer O'Reilly begging him to please send officers to my residence immediately as I had a nice surprise for them. Of course nobody showed up for the cake.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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Same here. I did press one, but they hung up.
I had a call last week from "Peter at BT Openreach" telling me my router had been reporting errors.
I asked him if I could take him through security, and what was my name. He hung up pretty sharp.
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I don't remember details of the following news report but it involved a scam
phone call where the homeowner got fed up and answered the message. When the
scammer started talking to him the homeowner unloaded on him, called him filthy
names and then hung up. Shortly thereafter, his home was surrounded by police and
he was handcuffed. It seems the scammer phoned the police using the homeowners
number on call display and told the police " I just shot and killed my wife".
73
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Man, all I ever get is a clip of the message on my VM. "...or, press 9 to be removed from our list"
No, I don't answer unknown numbers. They can leave a VM and I'll get back to them if it's real. It never is...
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How do you know they're never real? You could have won a whole pile of money and not even know
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I rely on google to let me know. Plus, what would I do with another pile of money? 
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I've had this as well, three calls in all with the last one telling me an arrest warrant had been issued for me. That one was particularly fun as I work for the county police force....hopefully they won't have any difficulty in finding me. 
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Give up a few minutes of your day to listen to an amazing song, which will bring you peace and joy. This track features musicians, (and non-musicians!), from all over the world and constantly evolves, finishing with the beautiful voice of Revatti Sakalkar.
PEACE 
https://youtu.be/ADzR2UyFgc0[^]
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Yes, I had a 'testing' morning - including a power cut. All calm now, though.
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Nice one indeed 
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It's off their first album "One Giant Leap", which has many good tracks. Worth a listen.
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Cloris Leachman has exited the stage. ![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
NBCNews[^]
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Loved that movie, there were so many one-liners and subtle innuendos.
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