

“Windows Technical Support” scammers call me again - chinmoy
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/in-which-windows-technical-support-scammers-call-me-again/

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meaty
I've had these guys loads of times.

"We're from Windows"

Pretending you are partially deaf and old keeps them on the line a while. 6
minutes is my record so far :)

~~~
lunarscape
This is my favourite response: [http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/can-
you-fix-my-windo...](http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/can-you-fix-my-
windows-95-computer-how-to-troll-a-tech-support-scammer/)

My personal best is 2 calls lasting just over 40 minutes. I was bored at the
time and curious about their methodology. I was really impressed by their
professionalism and technically competent scare tactics.

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UnoriginalGuy
Sometimes they're literally not allowed to hang up. You could just set the
phone down and leave it for a few minutes.

~~~
MichaelApproved
That's more likely a rule in legitimate customer service operations. This guy
was probably following the principal that the longer you keep a customer on
the phone, the more likely you are to make a sale.

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BetterLateThan
I did this:

* Ignored the caller's pressure and sense of urgency.

* Repeated every phrase she told me with a question mark added: "My computer is slow, eh?"

* Every time she said "Yes", I asked my own question: "What department do you say you work for?", "Who is your manager?", "What number should I call if I need more help from you?"

I never let her lead, never said Yes or No and never acted like an a __hole. I
was nice and calm. In five questions she got very nervous and hung up.

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wonderyak
My dad was unlucky enough to be a victim of these guys. I was surprised, being
a lawyer for so many decades, that he didn't realize that no one at Microsoft
is that nice as to give you a call because your machine is slow.

Common sense people!

------
chinmoy
Previous article's HN discussion here
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4612022>

