Hello everyone!

Occasionally I would get a call from someone telling me that they found a virus on my computer and I need to follow their instructions.

Anyone claiming that they know what`s on your computer without actually using your computer is either lying or a threat to your security. These guys are crooks. They'll tell you to go to a website and the site itself will plant things into your PC and steal your info.

I never fell for this trick but it's a little worrying that there are folks who aren't so aware of what's really going on.

If you get one of these phone calls say "Ok, I'll run my antivirus on my computer. Thanks" and then hang up.

the best choice to do with all phone conversations like this (and other spammers) is to say "hold on 1 sec, I got a kettle of tea boiling, let me turn it off" and carefully put the phone down and go back to doing what-ever you where doing. As long as the spammer is waiting for you to pick up the phone again they are a) getting a phone bill for nothing and b) not bothering anyone else.

That's brilliant!

Cool answer. :)

I wish I had seen this thread four years ago. :P Son of a bitch had me going for a while until my total lack of computer know-how got him to lose it and start screaming at me. At that point I realized he was not an official Microsoft tech guy; they are specifically trained not to scream, "What are you, an idiot!?"

I guess for once my stupidity paid off.

OT, but next time someone calls about your 'long distance service' tell them you don't have a phone. DON'T HANG UP! Just sit there and wait while the guy tries to figure it out. :P

true story - I have worked in a hotel, and once a woman called asking several questions. One of them was "is there a telephone at your hotel?"...

Boot up a Linux and pretend that you have no idea what an operating system is and what's installed on your machine.

Just heads up, I read on one forum dedicated to screwing with scammers (www.419eater.com, brilliant website) that at least one phone based scammer has had a person "Swatted" once they realized the person had been messing with them. https://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=273763

As recommended by 419eater.com, f you're gonna mess with scammers only do it through email and not through your personal/business/etc email either, make up a completely new email address, make up a name, say you're in a different city/country than you actually are, never give out your real phone number (nor anybody else's) etc etc. Better safe than sorry.

But.. lol tinyE! XD

I'm not sure if sending an e-mail is such a great idea. I think they can get your IP that way. That's probably the intention of scammers who direct you to websites.

I could be mistaken though. I'm not really a computer expert.

I'm not sure whether it actually is what it claims to be, but it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen:
Monty Python, scammer style

I managed to get one this way. But it only lasted 7 minutes before he fucked off.

I only ever get automated ones now.

Certain email carriers do not give your IP. Google, Fastmail are two that don't. Yahoo does give your IP address, I'm not sure about Live or any of the others.

I also suppose I was mostly referring to Advance Fee Fraudsters, as the fake malware scammers tend to not be "baitable", you might waste an hour of the malware scammers time at the max before they decide to give up on you. With advance fee fraudsters (aka 419 scammers, known for the "Fake Nigerian Prince" type scam) you can waste days, weeks, months (in some cases, years!) of their time and can get them to do fun things like visit foreign countries or build pyramids in their backyards. Seriously folks go check out the letters archive of www.419eater.com and be sure to visit the forums for more stories.

To find out if your provider does this:

Send yourself an email.
Upon receiving, view the source or "full headers", whatever option you have.
Pay attention to the entry "X-Originating-IP".
Enter "my ip" into Google and compare.

Yep, that's the trick!