scam technical support?

[leewill31]

i have just received a phone call some 30-40 minutes ago from somebody called frank although from maybe asia not many people will be called frank saying they were from technical support for my broadband provider and they would like to sort out some issues with my connection(no mention they were from virgin media by the way).

from the off i was very suspicious of this call so wanted to carry and and see what they wanted or said,they then asked for me to connect to internet explorer and type in www.teamviewer.com BANG that was the my que to start asking the questions.

its a scam if anybody gets this phone call do not go any further they are trying to access you pc for information the phone number they were from was 0002785642361.

has anybody else had this or know of it becuase its the first time ive had this somebody will get caught by this im sure and needs stopping?

[BenMcr]

Yes it's a known issue affecting all Telco/Broadband providers

[Kymmy]

You're not the first and probably won't be the last.. There's lots of threads reporting the same in the Security/Virus forum

[leewill31]

ah right thank you i didnt know were to put this maybe it can be moved or merged?

[Chris]

There are many variations on this scam - I started a thread the other week after I got one:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/19/33680857-beware-checkmypconline-com-scam.html

[greyhairbadger]

If you don't need RDP from outside your LAN, then configuring your firewall to block port 3389 (both incoming and outgoing) will add an extra layer of security. Blocking RDP at layer 7 is also an option for a firewall capable of deep packet inspection.

Phil.

<edit> It appears that the Team Viewer software uses port 80, so blocking port 3389 will be ineffective in this case. A deep packet inspection firewall is necessary, and it will have to be correctly configured to recognise and drop the appropriate packets. Apologies for the erroneous information.

Phil.

[Milambar]

They are fun to play with, and when they realise they are talking to someone with more knowlege than them, who is just trolling them, they get very angry.

Considering that we're the ones they are trying to trick into downloading a virus, shouldn't we be the ones getting angry, not them?

[dilli-theclaw]

If the link is for dodgy software maybe we could break it in the first post so it's not clickable.

Or is the software just like vnc and it's only the person on the phone that's making it dodgy.

Me - I want to get one of these calls so I can play with them :)

[Chris]

It's only a matter of time Dilli, they seem to be on the rise. We have had another one since but Mrs T took the call and ended it pretty quickly.

I think we should set up a Cable Forum League of Pain to see who can keep them on the phone the longest. It would have to run on honesty though as there's no way to verify the claimed time, unless we start recording the calls (which actually might be rather amusing as a form of entertainment in its own right).

I kept mine going for about 15 minutes but I believe others may have done rather better.

[Tim Deegan]

It's only a matter of time Dilli, they seem to be on the rise. We have had another one since but Mrs T took the call and ended it pretty quickly.

I think we should set up a Cable Forum League of Pain to see who can keep them on the phone the longest. It would have to run on honesty though as there's no way to verify the claimed time, unless we start recording the calls (which actually might be rather amusing as a form of entertainment in its own right).

I kept mine going for about 15 minutes but I believe others may have done rather better.

Now there is a challenge :)

I have a couple of ways of dealing with cold callers. If they are based in the UK, then I will usually either say something like "I'm ok for double glazing at the moment, but would you like to buy a bed?". Or I put my phone on speaker, and then put my cordless next to it so that they get feedback.

One call I often get from abroad is somone with an an Asian accent, with a number that comes up on my phone as international, and they say that they are from the British Consumer Survey Association. But when I challenge then as to why they are calling me from abroad they usually hang up.

I think what I will do if I get one of the scam calls, is I will play dumb, and get them to keep explaining what they want me to do.

[Nopanic]

I tried to keep one on the phone but he hung up on me ..

[dibbz]

i had one from Windows Maintenance Dept...already heard about the scam few weeks ago

3 phone calls...(hung up...ooppps i meant dropped the phone that cancelled the call, battery flat on cordless phone ;) and the final "goodbye") and 1 1/2 hours on the phone i kindly told him i was not interested....well ok, maybe it was not so kind!! but he still had a cheek to call the next day and have another try!!

Bit of searching on the net...this is what he was trying:

http://forums.v3.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1184524&postcount=30

[Ken W]

I tried to keep one on the phone but he hung up on me ..

In the last three days I have had several calls from someone claiming to be from Microsoft support all sound foreign.

One stated by saing Good afternoon even though is was 9:43 AM"

It is a Scam

[Scrubbs]

I managed to keep a young female with a distinct african accent going for about 25 minutes at least while I spun her a tale of me being divorced and my wife, who the original call was for didn't live here(not true):erm: being an IT tech( half true):p: eventually she asked me if I was looking for another wife:Yikes:. At this point the real wife started getting interested in who I was talking to, so I had to call it off. I think I will hit record next time.:D

[gazzae]

If the link is for dodgy software maybe we could break it in the first post so it's not clickable.

Or is the software just like vnc and it's only the person on the phone that's making it dodgy.

Me - I want to get one of these calls so I can play with them :)

Teamviewer is legitimate software as is Logmein which these scammers also use.

[Tali]

My Dad's had a call like this, and he hasn't even got a computer, let alone internet access!

[Kymmy]

Last post "None scam technical support" moved to it's own thread in the correct forum

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/19/33683157-none-scam-technical-support.html

[arcimedes]

They are getting a bit persistent now. We had a call from "Technical Support" to-day which went through the looking at the event logs for errors stunt. So we strung them along for while (wife and I) until we got bored and said goodbye. That didnt stop them phoning back imeediately about another two times but they eventually give up.

[tweetiepooh]

Hmm! Maybe there is a way I can get them the logs one of our real vendors wanted. Once they've downloaded ~2GB of compressed file, uncompressed them out to their original size (that should be fun) then realised that they aren't for Windows at all.

I got the "You've got a virus... ", didn't last long once I said the magic word ... "Linux". (I know Linux could/can get malware but ..)

[Andrewcrawford23]

i ****ed them off ;) i went to the site and proceed to enter teh details from linux ;) lets jsut say teh guy connecting didnt havea scooby what to do ;) they couldnt find windows !!!! :O

but there is countless calls from these scammer saying there is virus etc i have challange how they knew also told them what idiots they are one time when i told them i wasnt a idiot who knew nowt i am trained it person so i know wha ti am doing ona computer

edit not sure why the sensor came in wasnt a offensive word i think

[Pauls9]

My wife's aunt keeps getting these calls. She finds it hilarious since they've never had a computer in the house.

[Peter_]

My wife's aunt keeps getting these calls. She finds it hilarious since they've never had a computer in the house.
Tell her next time they call can they tell her which room it is in as she would love to see it.:D

[Pauls9]

Tell her next time they call can they tell her which room it is in as she would love to see it.:DLOL - will do!

[adzii_nufc]

Grandmother received a call out of the blue.

She cant remember most but apparently my computer is causing problems for them at their end. What I'm doing is wrong and needs to stop

This sound like a new one?

[Tim Deegan]

Grandmother received a call out of the blue.

She cant remember most but apparently my computer is causing problems for them at their end. What I'm doing is wrong and needs to stop

This sound like a new one?

She didn't let them access her computer, or give them any personal details did she?

[adzii_nufc]

Nope it's my system :D

[Chrysalis]

If you don't need RDP from outside your LAN, then configuring your firewall to block port 3389 (both incoming and outgoing) will add an extra layer of security. Blocking RDP at layer 7 is also an option for a firewall capable of deep packet inspection.

Phil.

<edit> It appears that the Team Viewer software uses port 80, so blocking port 3389 will be ineffective in this case. A deep packet inspection firewall is necessary, and it will have to be correctly configured to recognise and drop the appropriate packets. Apologies for the erroneous information.

Phil.

I need 3389 open but I have noticed every so often a stream of traffic hitting that port which I suspect is someone trying to brute force in so when that happens I close the port for a bit. What I really should be doing is keeping it closed and only open it when I go out but I will probably forget which is why I keep it open.

[qasdfdsaq]

There's been a recently disclosed security hole in Microsoft's remote desktop protocol, so there's been a lot of hackers probing it:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-020

Personally when I see the stream of traffic I block the IP it's coming from and report it to abuse@their isp. I could probably automate it to autoblock anything more than 2 connections per second, but I'm already patched so don't really care much.