Do Microsoft call you at home?

[charlesr]

T

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBuPaJjilpk

That's great!

[Daragon]

Not being racist here, but chances are if you ever get a phone call from a bloke or lady with a really strong asian accent asking for something, you can bet your last dollar that it's a scam. Asian fraudsters are just as commonplace as nigerian ones

Rule of thumb: Don't ever give information out over the phone unless you're the one that's made the call. Most companies contacting you should already have access to whatever it is they're asking you for.

[hudson]

But they said they were based in Florida

[Deuteros]

Keep this handy in case they call back.

[Insom]

I had one of these call idiots call at work. I managed to work my way through 1 peon and 2 supervisors by playing the dumb victim for 20 minutes. It was superb.
Notable moments were:
Asshat: 'Do you have windows sir?'
Me: 'Why yes thank you, I have only got a corner window in my office though, should I move to an office with two windows?'

Asshat: 'Can you see the start button sir'
Me: 'Nope, what is that?'
Asshat: 'It is in the bottom left of the screen sir'
Me: 'Oooooh I thought that was a power button, when I press it the monitor light comes on, does it start the computer too?'
Asshat: 'No sir, the start button on the desktop'
Me: 'Ahh, I can't see it, is it next to my stapler?'
Asshat: (Huge sigh) 'Sir it is on the screen, where you have icons'
Me: 'There is nothing on my screen'
Asshat: 'Above the power button sir, it is usually colourful'
Me: 'Nope, nothing...oooooh wait, should my computer be on...'

At this point I believe he swore quietly and then told me he would get his supervisor.
I am hoping on my next attempt to wear out the patience of 4 people before they hang up.

[charlesr]

Good effort. Kudos to anyone that mucks these muppets about.

Never too often to break out this:

[eastyy]

Man:Can you click on the bottom left hand corner
My dad: your left or my left ?
man:ermmmm

[randombs]

@eastyy: perfect!

[nakamura]

Man:Can you click on the bottom left hand corner
My dad: your left or my left ?
man:ermmmm

Brilliant!

[Ginger Tosser]

I like to play dumb with them, stringing them along for a while is quite entertaining (usually they call when I'm not doing much so like to waste their time).

Once they asked what computer I had, I paused, played quite dumb and then said it was black and silver.

Eventually they realise after not being able to find the start button that i'm not a PC user and try to get me to speak to their Mac specialist.

One thing I keep meaning to do it create a sandboxed Virtual PC to let them get on to, that would be the ultimate time waste. Filling the desktop with fake bank information etc/porn directories.

It's mildly entertaining, though sadly I know people who would probably fall for it.

[charlesr]

I've had literally none of these calls after I pretended to be the Sidlesham police station armed response line. I'm actually disappointed.

[eastyy]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/i-am-calling-you-from-windows-a-tech-support-scammer-dials-ars-technica/