Posted on 04/12/2016 8:29:34 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Everyone should be on high alert and not talk with anyone claiming to be from some computer support group that you didn’t call first.
I have a laptop and get calls from people claiming to be from Microsoft support group.
Naturally I tell them I am not interested and hang up.
Pinging dayglored for his ping list for PC people who also use iPhones.
The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me
I had a nice conversation with a woman at the FBI and she gave me a website to report the incident. The website is really intuitively named so victims of this scam can find it easily:
You can see how any one can figure out how to find that, just from it's name, can't you? NOT! TIGTA stands for Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. . . and that's even really intuitive to find. The FBI gal and I had a good laugh over it as well.
I played the scam guy along for a while before he hung up on me.
You can tell by the URL that it is fake. Phishing catches stupid people. You have to wonder how they were smart enough to have anything worth taking.
Good idea! This is a nasty one... and I'm one of those "PC people who also use an iPhone" myself...
Any other iPhone users among us Windows users? Look out!! ... PING!
Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
Phishing also catches the huge number of people who don't analyze whether a URL is exactly the same as the real company's, even assuming they have the background to do so. And those people, whether "stupid" or merely "uninformed", are in the VAST majority.
Show a left-hand-thread bolt to 100 people and ask them to describe it. 99 will only tell you "It's a bolt", and if you're lucky, 1 in 100 will mention "with a left-hand thread".
You (and I) might say "Well you can tell by the angle of the thread that it's left-handed", but the vast majority of people don't even know what to look for.
Same with URLs.
I hope the .UK URL would have alerted me.
The ones who call pretending to be from Microsoft are told that I don’t even own a computer.
I got a call once from "Windows, Inc" trying to tell me that my computer was infected. . . "Windows, Inc?" sez I, "aren't they the people who make all those great Microsoft computers?"
"Yes sir." he sez. "We do indeed!"
"Why, I have one of their best models. . . a Microsoft Mac. . . right here in front of me!"
"Yes, sir! That's the computer we're calling you about. It's infected with a dangerous EXE virus and we need to help you get rid of it. I need you to go to the START button on the bottom left of your screen. . . "
Me: "Uh, what's a 'start' button? I don't see any 'start' button."
He: "It's on the tool bar at the bottom, on the left."
Me: "The only thing I see is a square blue and white face with a smile on it that pops up with a lot of other icons. Is that it?"
He: "What? No. . . let's try this. Are you already running Internet Explorer?"
Me: "No. What's an Internet Explorer? Is that a game?"
He: "It's a browser. You use it to browse websites on the Internet. You don't use Internet Explorer? What do you use?"
Me: "Oh, I use Safari. Why, what does it matter?"
He: "What anti-virus are you running?"
Me: "I don't. Mac's don't need any."
He: "But we called because our scan showed your Windows computer is infected with viruses, malware, and adware . . . "
Me: "No, YOU called to scam me, because I don't HAVE a Windows computer. . . "
CLICK!
Sounds like you had fun with that chump.
They didn’t fool me with this scam. Just shows how naive most Apple buyers are. They think they buy immunity when they buy Apple’s outrageously overpriced products. As PT Barnum said, “A sucker is born every minute”
You don't have any Apple products, Baron. All you have in stock are lies.
Anyone fool enough to buy overpriced apple devices can afford to be ripped off by Bulgarians and Nigerians fishing exploits. They need to eat too!!! And have large families.
A TOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED!
The FBI paid professional hackers to crack the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone, it has been reported.
Researchers are believed to have created a piece of hardware which could get around the four-digit pin code jihadi Syed Farook used to get into the device.
They were able to design the technology after they found a flaw in Apple's software that had not been previously discovered, the Washington Post reported.
The hackers also managed to get into the phone without triggering a security feature that would have erased all of the data.
Sources told the newspaper they were paid a one-time fee for the work.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3537229/FBI-paid-professional-hacker-break-San-Bernardino-terrorist-s-iPhone.html
Priceless!
I'd enjoy hearing your conversation with tax scammer.
That is very funny Swordmaker. Sometimes it’s fun just to play with them a bit.
Here is one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAb8vGSRBoE
Trust the Baron Dennis Won Munchausen to turn it into an insult to all Apple users.
Very interesting article if true, Dennis. But what is even more interesting is that what was described there is a FEDERAL CRIME which the FBI is charged with tracking down, arresting, and bringing those who commit such crimes to justice!
White Hat crackers survive because they report the hacks they find to the manufacturers of the devices they hack so the vulnerability can be patched. Black hat and gray hat hackers are CRIMINALS, selling their hacks to people who intend to use them for profit. That is a crime as defined by FEDERAL LEGISLATION. If he FBI facilitated such an act, without arresting those responsible, they they are just as responsible for committing the act. No wonder they do not want to reveal who supplied the unlocking of the iPhone 5C.
All they had to do was ask the Chinese government since Apple had no problem at all giving the Chicoms the source code.
My daughter had her IPhone and IPad bricked when someone called in that they were stolen.
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