Posted in Border hopping, News, Personal

‘Microsoft’ Hacking Attempt?

Posted on by Marion Driessen

This morning I got one of the strangest phone calls of my life. And I’ve had a few 😉

My house phone rang, and when I looked at the number, I saw only zeroes. Weird! I answered the phone and a man in an urgent voice asked me if I was the owner of the resident. In perfect English, with an American accent. Yes, I said, why? And are you the main user of the computer in the house? Again a yes, of course. And who am I speaking to?

M’am, I’m from Microsoft in the USA and we’ve been notified through a crash report that your PC is in grave danger. I need you to start your computer and follow my directions.

A deep silence on my end of the line. What the heck? Or should I say, what the hack?!!

Eh, sir, come again?

M’am, your PC is in danger and I need you to take immediate action. Soon it will be too late and then the motherboard will be irreparably damaged. Please, go to your computer and I will show you the errors with your own eyes, and what you can do to protect it.

My eye brows were passing my hair line by that time.

I will do no such thing, it is working perfectly.

Again, I urge you to follow my directions, or else Microsoft can’t be held responsible for this, it is on your head then. Your Windows Operating System is in danger.

My temper and suspicion flared brightly.

If YOU think that I will follow orders from a unknown man from the ‘USA’ during a weird phone call, and type unknown commands into my dear computer, you must be out of your mind. Since when is Microsoft this concerned about its OVERSEAS customers? In the Netherlands?! I do NOT believe a word you say and will NOT act on your orders. Goodbye!

Yeah, ‘Microsoft man’, your service is excellent, I must say. And you scared the shit out of me. How did that man get my personal telephone number? Spooky!

Have you ever had this kind of experience? And what did you do? 

Author:

feelgood writer | avid reader | RPGamer | caretaker of lads and cats | no lady, but all woman

53 thoughts on “‘Microsoft’ Hacking Attempt?”

  2. It sounds like one of the things perfected in Nigeria. Most of them are amateurish – but people still fall for them – however some are quite convincing. This one of yours, when you stop and think about it, was ludicrous.

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  3. This is a scam! Its going on a lot lately and I have seen a lot of people blogging about scammers calling them up. Microsoft will never call their customers by phone and tell that your computer has errors and stuff. LOL! Hate these scammers! Arrghh!
    And btw, you gave a really good response!

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    1. That was my first thought too: what the hell, Microsoft calling from the US because they are so concerned with one tiny stand-alone computer in Holland?! Yeah, RIGHT 😉
      Thanks, Extreme, for commenting! Have a nice weekend.

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  5. Crazy!! I feel sorry for the little old ladies who believe in this! Good for you, you told him to get lost!
    We get those phone calls all the time – lately I have apparently won 4 Ipads, all I have to do is …….. 🙂

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    1. That’s why I hope people will spread the message about this scam. Grrrr.
      Hey, that’s great, Anne! Four iPads, awesome 😉 Perhaps next time you should say to the caller that you already ‘won’ four LOL.

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  7. Wow, amazing story, Good thing you stood your ground. It must indeed have been a hacker, but you would be surprised what Microsoft knows about your computer and what you use it for. You would be surprised what Google knows about you too. At least these companies openly admit they are leaching on our information exchanges. You would also be surprised about the number of times hackers have already been inside your computer. They are probably still inside, undetectable. They will not harm your computer or your data, but “only” harvest information. The latter really is far more worrying. They are spying on you. They can sometimes do it literally through your computer’s built-in camera. Companies spend millions on cybersecurity these days, and they have to. They need to accept that they are most probably hacked already. Think about the hack into that insurance company in The Netherlands that exposed thousands of personal information about medical care to the whole world. I would rather have them destroy my work than sell it to other’s or use it in any other way without my knowledge.

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    1. Thank you, Mark, I think will destroy every built-in camera I can find 😉
      But your comment is alarming. Is it even possible to protect yourself from this other kind of hacking? I know about the information gathering by Google – the ads on the side prove this. De informatie ligt op straat eh.

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  9. Good for not falling into the scammer’s trap. Sadly Microsoft just isn’t that concerned about any of their customers to actually call them, they’d just sell an updated version with the fix and “new features” and laugh all the way to the bank… That style of scam has had devastating effects on people, when the caller impersonates everyone from a manufacturer of a product to a police officer… I’d contact your local police and file a report.

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      1. Yes, at least in the US it does. That type of scam can have very serious consequences, in a few cases people believing they were talking to a police office did seriously bad stuff to other people. check this out http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20051009/NEWS01/510090392/A-hoax-most-cruel-Caller-coaxed-McDonald-s-managers-into-strip-searching-worker the person calling you might have been able to gain all kinds of information about you had you allowed them access to your computer. Mostly committing other crimes leaving evidence pointing you not them.

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  11. Looking for an easy paycheck…hackers and scammers abound. I’ve not experienced the exact same thing. But I’ve had a virus overtake my laptop badly enough so that I required an expert to undo the damage, to the tune of $199.00.

    …i guess i was hacked…anyway. 😦

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      1. I’ve said that before. If hackers would spend as much time doing legitimate work with their skills they could make honest money. Unfortunately, that’s not as much as the thousands they make, probably in less time.

        Sad statement of man’s darker side. 😦

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    1. It did bother me the whole morning, but after reading these comments, I felt better. Still pissed over such criminals though. At least this way I have warned some people through this post.

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  16. Hee Marionneke, Goed gedaan, is natuurlijk een hacker geweest.Ook toevallig, ik had deze week in 1 keer een melding dat mijn computer geblokkeerd was door de politie…. Ik moest 100 euro betalen aan boete omdat ik op een verboden site was geweest. Ik kon dus ook niet meer in de computer! Via servicecenter Medion hoorde ik dat dit een virus was (Ukash of Politievirus), vervolgens via RecoveryCDrom 3 uur bezig geweest, PChulpline gebeld , a 1 euro per minuut een half uur mee aan de telefoon gezeten en uiteindelijk alles van de computer verwijderd. Bij Medion zeiden ze ook al dat het op dit moment echt erg is met hackers en virussen. Blijft dan vreemd hoe ze aan je nummer komen. Eng gewoon.

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    1. Blijkbaar bellen ze niet echt personen, maar laten een apparaat willekeurige nummers bellen tot en een echt nummer – en persoon – te pakken hebben.
      Wat vreselijk, dat virus, ben blij dat je het hebt weten op te lossen, goed zo!

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  17. Yes, this is a scam. I have heard the warnings about it. The scammers have computers that dial random numbers until they reach a real telephone number. So they did not call your number personally.

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  18. I can tell you, Marion – THIS is not Microsoft doing this AT ALL .. and If Microsoft EVER call you they will do it from the Amsterdam office and in Dutch…. This is really one that is hacking your telefon or try to .. If you have an unregistered number it is someone that tried all numbers in a row and well…If have have been a complete blonde (sorry blonds) and have done this .. then of course they will go to your bank information and so on and so on.. Glad you did that.. If it is not in too much trouble I assume you change your phone number quick as possible after telling the police first so they can take action

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    1. If you look backwards, it seems very obvious that it’s a scam. But the weird phone number on the display – all I could see were zeroes – made me doubt. But only a bit.
      Others have told me here that a kind of machine simply tries random numbers until they hit a real one. I have not been called after this, so will keep my number. But if it keeps up, or more weird things happen, then I’ll consider your advice, Mariane! Thanks.

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  20. Yeah, heard of this scam as well. They still haven’t called me… for now 😀
    Why on earth Microsoft would call each and every customer to tell them about some mysterious threat no one has ever heard of before? Seriously… 😀

    Gloria, brilliant response! LOL

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  22. Actual, yeah i heard of it. I have caller ID, and this number kept popping up. Well if you enter business numbers into search engines you can find out about them… Did that. Found the number I kept avoiding was associated with the scam you said. So when I picked up the phone and they asked me about my computers, I said, “I’ve got an Apple products.” Hehehe

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  23. Ja, ik heb dit soort schorem ook al een paar keer aan de lijn gehad.
    De eerste keer was ik nog beleefd (ik weet zelf eigenlijk niet waarom, haha), maar de volgende keren heb ik ze de huid vol gescholden.
    Lucht in ieder geval heerlijk op, haha! 🙂
    En goed dat je hem meteen hebt verteld, gauw op te hoepelen, ja!

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