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I got a call from the MS scam people today. Call from xxxxxxxxx (of course) Lady with a pleasant voice: Hello am I speaking to (some name that resembles mine) Me: Close enough Lwpv (Lady with pleasant voice ) Do you speak English? Me:. Yes! So what is this about? Lwpv: I am calling regarding your Microsft Windows computer. Me: I only use Linux. You better try that scam with the next person - you guys are already world famous. (hangs up)

And that is what you should do if you are a Windows user. These guys try to give you "advice" to secure your computer. They will tell you that they work for Microsoft and that you must follow their advice because your computer is critically infected.
During the Session they will ask you to enter a command that supposedly will list a lot of errors (not hard to do in windows - it all looks like errors to me).
After a lot of ladida to convince you that you are infected. You will be asked to enter a remote control software and give them the connection code.
If you do they will plant a trojan.
They will also claim that the service will cost a small fee so they need your Credit Card Number. In short they are creative!

Microsoft would never call you like this.
And as critical I have been towards them they are not the worst privacy offenders out there.

So it all boils down to one important point that cannot be stressed enough:
Do not give people you don't know, your private data or sensitive computer information.
It does not matter if they claim to be Microsoft the Police, the Bank or God. Always make them prove it first in a way that you clearly understand. If you do not understand it: do not give them anything. If you are in doubt -do not give them anything.
And if they threaten you with consequences - do not fall for it.

If you have fallen for it; update every AV software and scan everything even if that may not be enough. A re-install might be the best thing.
And of course considering using Linux where this does not happen.

I hadn't heard about it untill you told me about them.

You will have to hand it to them, these guys are creative.
I wonder what I would have done if I got the call Probably wouldn't have picked up as it was an unknown number.

I hardly ever pick up the phone even for known numbers ^^. H8 phones.

Anyways I guess you were one of the lucky few

They are calling all over the place - at random, so you might very well get a call. If you do you can do what I did not have time to.
Act stupid and keep them working for an hour or two ." Where is enter" - "the door bell is ringing hang on" - "What is C?" And finnaly "are you sure there is a C in Linux"

There's adverts all over the inet too, for the same thing. They're scams as well. The "scan your computer for a virus" or "increase your computer's performance" ones come to mind right off hand.

I have seen a couple of commercials, recently, that, while not attempting to plant trojans, talk a line of bull about speeding up your PC and doing outlandish optimization if you only join the happy people who have paid for this scam....
Here we go:

I think they are conditioning the people to install bogus software for other reasons.

If you see that advertisement is like; is ok to put some crap in your PC to speed it up. The only thing that will make a Windows system to speed up is a Re-Image along with a Defrag and nothing more.

People are ignorant and have no clue, so they will do it.

And How To Stop Them From Doing So

There's a shadowy underworld of websites that claim they can help you perform background checks. Called "data brokers," these sites are the ultimate scam artists. Not only do they rip folks off and sell their user's data, their services can be used by criminals to hunt down potential victims. And there's nothing illegal at all about what they're doing.

Who are these companies and how can you stop them from selling your data? Read on to find out.

This is how they get your info to call you with their scams, I'm assuming. Click linkie for more.