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Thread: Who & what is "Global Technical Support"?

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    Email problem mother's Avatar
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    Who & what is "Global Technical Support"?

    I don't know for sure that this is a scam, so I'm not sure if I should put it under scams or here...

    Got a call the other day from a woman who claimed she was phoning me from "Global Technical Support". Apparently the reason for her calling me, was to tell me that my computer had downloaded some "dangerous & corrupted files" from the internet. Immediately I started frowning... and I asked:

    1. How do you know this? and
    2. Why are you telling me this?

    She raised the pitch of her voice as she answered: "I know this because I work for "Global Technical Support", and your computer has downloaded some dangerous and corrupted files!" Ok, sweetie, you're not answering my question, and besides, who the heck is "Global Technical Support"? So she tells me it's a global company, that supports all Windows users. SERIOUSLY?! And to prove it, she told me my name and physical address (hang on a second, perhaps if you pay Telkom enough, they will give you the info of their ADSL accounts?).

    I entertained her for a while, convinced that this was some kind of scam, yet curious to see what she was going to try and get from me. Cut a long story short, she told me to press the little Window key (bottom left on keyboard) and another, to open Eventviewer. Then she told me every yellow triangle and red circle showed a "dangerous and corrupted file" that my computer downloaded from the internet. So why didn't my anti-virus software prevent this or alert me? Because no anti-virus software or firewall can prevent your computer from downloading dangerous and corrupted files from the internet. (I know, I also thought : if she uses that sentence once more, I am going to throw up!).

    Look, I am no IT expert, but everything about this call sounded wrong. Unfortunately I had to end the call, because I was called away to a meeting. I told her I had to go, and asked her to phone me back the next day... so it sounded like she started panicking, and she insisted in a high-pitched voice "You don't have 5 minutes for my call? I told you your computer is downloading dangerous and corrupted files from...!" I just put the phone down.

    I am convinced this must be some scam, just a pity I couldn't get the whole deal. Have any of you heard of this before?

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    There is another thread with this posted yesterday. It looks like a scam. Sorry cant post the link sending from phome cause we got no electricity the whole day...

  3. Thanks given for this post:

    mother (14-Sep-11)

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    Email problem mother's Avatar
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    Sorry! Didn't even check for other threads. Just read it now.

    I thought as much!

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    Email problem
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    Should've asked her for a website address so we could do a port scan & really have some fun with their listening ports.

    Dammit I wish she'd call me.

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    Email problem mother's Avatar
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    Well, if she ever does call back (although I doubt it), I'll be sure to get that web address and pass it on.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Singhms View Post
    There is another thread with this posted yesterday. It looks like a scam. Sorry cant post the link sending from phome cause we got no electricity the whole day...
    Thought I'd just post that link quickly to save anyone else the hunt.

    Quote Originally Posted by Perform Computers View Post
    Should've asked her for a website address so we could do a port scan & really have some fun with their listening ports.
    Now there's a fine idea! I'm going to leave instructions to that effect with my staff in case they give us a whirl.

    Fair chance they won't give their web site address, of course.

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    Email problem KimH's Avatar
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    "If at first you don't succeed, do it like your mother told you."

  9. Thank given for this post:

    AmithS (14-Sep-11), Perform Computers (15-Sep-11)

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    Gold Member twinscythe12332's Avatar
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    Eh, scare tactics. "If you don't do this, your computer is going to die!!!" for anyone who hasn't gotten the gist of the topic... It's a scam, they're trying to acces your PC so they can install their own spyware/virus/program to track you/program that uses your computer for spam/ etc.
    put down the phone and walk away

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    Bronze Member rfnel's Avatar
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    I recall something similar happening to us once. The lady who handles our accounts called me (in a pretty stressed out state) to come and look at her computer. While she was browsing the web, a popup appeared which said that it has detected that there are a whole bunch of viruses on her computer and something along the lines of "you must install this software immediately if you want to get rid of these viruses".

    The "your computer about to die" approach can really get to people; especially those who haven't been using computers all their lives.
    "Fortune favours the bold" - Virgil
    Riaan Nel
    Freelance Software Development | LinkedIn | Skype

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    I suspect the phonecall version of this scam is more popular nowadays because most anti-virus programs flag the sites and pop-up's that used to do the same thing.
    _______________________________________________

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