Many of us probably know the drill...
Some unknown number calls you, you pick up, some guy with weird accent tries to explain he is from Mircrosoft and that he needs to access your computer to delete some imaginary virus.
Usually, I hang up instantly, but this time, I thought, why not play their game.
It went differently than expected...
To answer your question: Why did you even pick up?
The number calling was from Denmark, and I've been in Denmark on vacation the last 2 weeks, so I thought, maybe there was something important from the car rental or on of the hotels.
Well... it was neither.
However, the call went the following (report from memory)
| ME | SCAMMER |
|---|---|
| Hello? | |
| [English voice with indian accent] Hello sir? This is Justin from Microsoft speaking. I reach out to you because our security reported a virus on your computer. | |
| [acting surprised] Oh no! That's bad! | |
| Yes. Are you at your computer right now? | |
| Yes I am. (Actualy I am not, but nevermind) | |
| Good. Let me show you the virus first and then I will show you how to delete it. Do you see the windows key on your keyboard? | |
| Yes, I do. | |
| Ok, please press Windows Key and the R Key at the same time. | |
| [Not pressing anything, knowing it opens the "RUN" dialog box] Yes, I got a small dialog box | |
| Ok. Please enter the following: E-V-E-N-T-V-W-R and press enter |
Short explaination on what he probably tries to achieve. This command opens the eventviewer. In this viewer, the system lists various events like, warnings or errors. There are always some entries. Even on freshly set up devices. Most of them can be ignored as they have more of an informational character.
However, my guess is, that he tries to convice me, that the errors are caused by a non existing virus.
It gets quite hilarious from here.
| ME | SCAMMER |
|---|---|
| (not typing in anything) Hm... I got a weird warning message. Should I read it to you? | |
| Uhm... yes please | |
| It says "Tell this loser on the phone, go fuck yourself." | |
| [short silence] You are a bad person! | |
| I am a bad person? YOU are the one trying to scam me! | |
| (sounding a bit desperate) THIS IS MY JOB! | |
| Yeah, what a great job... | |
| [starts sobbing] I need to earn money for my family! | |
| Of course you need to. I am sure your family is proud of you robbing other people! | |
| [crying] You don't understand anything you stupid asshole! Do you know how hard it is to get a job in this shithole where I live?! | |
| No. And I don't care! It still was your choice to pick up this job. Stealing from others is not a job anyways. Its just beeing a criminal! | |
| Fuck you man! [Hangs up] |
I am sure it will not change anything in his behavior or the doings of the call center he is working for, but at least I - sort of - ruined his day.
One of many many scammers out there.
So listen to my advice:
Unless explicitly asked for phone support, Microsoft Support will NEVER call you!
Do NOT follow their instructions!
Do NOT provide any personal data!
Just hang up!