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More irritating than creationists!

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
There are some YouTubers that regularly make videos of them wasting the time of these operators. They will keep them on for a half an hour or more and at the end the scammer will tend to get a bit abusive.

If enough people did that these scams would quickly die. I have done my part at times, but I get bored after the first five or ten minutes.
Me too. :) I love the hassle over which one the Windows key is. LOL. I bet @Jayhawker Soule could have fun with that, as would other Mac users.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I do believe that @Polymath257 is one that knows how to create a false user system that he can allow scammers to "take over". That is what one needs to be able to do to really keep scammers on the line.

Yes, it's a matter of setting up a virtual machine. The scammers can do whatever they want and it has no effect on the overall system. I have one already set up with some false bank information and such. I've had some jolly good fun with it. At the end, I just roll back to a snapshot and all is as new.

The best situation was when I got some guy and asked if he was married. He said not, then I asked if there was someone he was interested in. I ended up talking for over 30 minutes about his relationship status and poor life decisions. This was the middle of the call. He never got around to telling me how to get my new Windows key.....

The general tactic for the 'Window's representatives' is to get you to download a remote desktop that will allow them to take over your system. They then proceed to change the syskey password (at least, they do on older systems), which locks you out of your computer until you shell over the money. Since I have a virtual machine, I don't have a problem, but don't do this on a real system!

My record for keeping one on the phone is just less than an hour...
 

rosends

Well-Known Member
Yep, I get all the above from time to time. They come in waves.

I was particularly amused by the one from Tax Canada saying that a bench warrant had been issued for my recently deceased mother. I laughed and said, "Good luck on serving that warrant." The caller actually got angry and asked if I thought it was a joke - which made me laugh harder.

This video is great! The kid is 16 years old and they are calling about his back taxes. LOL.
of all names, why did he choose Shmuley Boteach?
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
I do believe that @Polymath257 is one that knows how to create a false user system that he can allow scammers to "take over". That is what one needs to be able to do to really keep scammers on the line.
Hehe. As @Polymath257 stated, it's as simple as creating a virtual machine and populate it with dribbles of legit-ish looking crap. The invader simply cannot tell that they are not taking over a moron's genuine computer. My personal favorite is when you hear them say, "Your system is infected with Spywares and Malewares." In the trade, I've never known tech's to use such terminology as each is referred to in the singular, much like a herd of deer as you do not have a herd of deers. It's a genuine sign that you are dealing with a newbie rather than a hardcore tech.
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
Hehe. As @Polymath257 stated, it's as simple as creating a virtual machine and populate it with dribbles of legit-ish looking crap. The invader simply cannot tell that they are not taking over a moron's genuine computer. My personal favorite is when you hear them say, "Your system is infected with Spywares and Malewares." In the trade, I've never known tech's to use such terminology as each is referred to in the singular, much like a herd of deer as you do not have a herd of deers. It's a genuine sign that you are dealing with a newbie rather than a hardcore tech.

The people involved are following a script. They have even less tech knowledge than I do. When they take over a computer they are merely following the directions given to them. My favorite lines to use to keep them on the line is to tell them I just turned on the computer and it takes a while for the tubes to warm up. Though since they are from India usually I suppose I should say "valves". I also like to drop the fact that my computer is an ENIAC. They never get that either.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
The people involved are following a script. They have even less tech knowledge than I do. When they take over a computer they are merely following the directions given to them. My favorite lines to use to keep them on the line is to tell them I just turned on the computer and it takes a while for the tubes to warm up. Though since they are from India usually I suppose I should say "valves". I also like to drop the fact that my computer is an ENIAC. They never get that either.
Though I've not created a virtual machine for them to play with, as I'm just not that bored, it is fun to keep them on the line with weird questions that throw their imperfect understanding of English. Add a yokel sounding southern accent and y'all can have a blast with dem dar tech weenies from the Punjab. :)
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Looking at the thread's title, I wonder if new members
who are creationists would decide to look elsewhere.
"Good riddance" some might say. Bad form, I say.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
The people involved are following a script. They have even less tech knowledge than I do. When they take over a computer they are merely following the directions given to them. My favorite lines to use to keep them on the line is to tell them I just turned on the computer and it takes a while for the tubes to warm up. Though since they are from India usually I suppose I should say "valves". I also like to drop the fact that my computer is an ENIAC. They never get that either.

My tactic is to pretend I have no real understanding of computers. Which means they have to *tell* me to turn on my router (actually, a virtual router!) and guide me through how to connect. And, for some reason, my computer tends to reboot for no good reason (must be those viruses!) and we have to start over. And, of course, I have trouble downloading their software and seem to always push the wrong buttons. So, it takes a while before they can take it over and find nothing.......
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
Not to mention I don't turn on that machine so often, so there are always updates to wait for....
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
There are some YouTubers that regularly make videos of them wasting the time of these operators. They will keep them on for a half an hour or more and at the end the scammer will tend to get a bit abusive.

If enough people did that these scams would quickly die. I have done my part at times, but I get bored after the first five or ten minutes.
I watched several of them they are hilarious.

One of my favorite is when they syskey the scammers computer. Lol

There's a couple of vids where they even called police officers.

It seems majority of scammers are from India.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
I watched several of them they are hilarious. There's a couple of vids where they even called police officers.

It seems majority of scammers are from India.
The ones where they unwittingly target cops or IT pros were a hoot. :)
 
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