I’ve had a few strange phone calls lately. The first few said they were calling from Microsoft, the one I just had said he was calling from “PC Tech Support”. They’ve all been the same though. They always ask for me by name, too.
The caller, a very friendly fellow with an Indian accent, explains that my computer has a virus. When I asked how he knew this, he said that the “internet routing service” had shown suspicious internet traffic from my browser. He explained that when I visit websites like Google and Yahoo, software is automatically downloaded to my computer.
It’s kind of fun to let these guys rattle on for a while, and then tell them I don’t own a computer. Today’s was funny;
Guy: Explains I caught a virus from visiting Google
Me: Really? Are you sure?
Guy: Oh yes, it happens all the time.
Me: Well, I'm pretty surprised.
Guy: Oh yes sir.
Me: Especially because I don't own a computer.
Guy: WHAT? (shouted)
I repeated I don't own a computer, and asked how he got my phone number. He hung up.
- Here's a good read at the Guardian: Virus phone scam being run from call centres in India.
Yes, this is happening in Australia too. With VOIP services (Voice Over IP) so freely available, it’s cheap as chips to make international calls these days.
That’s great and all, but it means we’re headed to a point where we could get as many spam phonecalls as we do spam emails. And that’s a lot!