soc123.com, logmein123.com, logmeinrescue.com phone call scam.

[#1]

I am hoping it is not related to recently changing my home phone to plus.net but I have been rung 3 times today by a company claiming to be working with Microsoft and asking to fix problems with my PC.
Even though I am registered with the TPS I still get the occasional nuisance call trying to sell me some rubbish or another but today was a bit different, the script goes something like this;
It is an international call and via a scratchy phone line someone introduces themselves as being from Techhelp Online or Support on Click and they are calling because my computer was running slow and they had been notified by Microsoft. They then asked to confirm my address which while actually correct I told him it was wrong and gave the details of my local police station.
Now I am an IT Manager by profession so this was were I became even more suspicious, first he asked me if I was running XP or Vista to which I replied Windows 3.11, he was a little phased but once he had established that I had the Windows logo on my keyboard he proceeded to run through his script and told me to use Start > Run and open Event Viewer. The 2nd call it was the prefetch directory.
Apparently every entry in Event Viewer or file in Prefetch is because my PC was infected with viruses and this was the computer telling me I had a problem, he then proceeded to reel off a list of Anti Virus vendors and offered to pass me across to a Microsoft Technical Engineer who would connect to my PC and fix the issues for me.
While I knew this was a pack of lies I played along to see what they were up to and the next step is to ask you open the internet browser and go to www. ; soc123  .com. I naturally had no intention so played dumb and told them the page could not be displayed, he then persisted in telling me how I needed to try www. ; logmein123  .com instead before resorting to www. ; soc321  .com.
I had no intention of visiting any of their web pages, first time round after 20 minutes of me playing the dizzy computer user he gave up and cut me off, with the other calls once I started asking questions they just cut me off again.
Following a bit of searching with Google revealed the web pages would have presented me with a login portal which in a couple of clicks would have enabled them to take control of my PC and probably install a key logger to try and grab my bank details or something else equally malicious.
This has to be one of the most convincing scams calls out there so you have been warned, cut them off, tell them you run Linux  or play along to waste their time but whatever you do never go to the web pages.

[#2]

Hmm I haven't had any calls like that, however i DO run Linux, so would tell him to take a running jump! 

[#3]

You will find that the company resides in India, and yes it is a persistent scam, But I am uncertain if it is actually dangerous except to your bank balence, they charge you £130 for the privilage, there have been other thread on similar  recently, and Police warnings

[#4]

Anything which involves letting an unknown third party have access to your PC has to be considered dangerous in my book. 

[#5]

that is true, but the Indian MD seems to be a bit nieve and open

[#6]

See also this thread for further detail.
M

[#7]

The same thing happened to me
As soon as he rang I knew he was a fake so I happily played along for a while with the "I'm a dumb PC user" line, until he told me to go to logmein and use this code!  I then told him he was not a nice person and should get a real job.  I phoned up BT who can't do a thing about it, I mean, how hard would it be for BT to block, at the exchange, the obviously fake number 000000000000?  So yes, in this matter I not only blame the con-artists but also BT.

[#8]

as far as i'm concerned its not the responsibility of BT to prevent calls like this.
Yes, it would be good if (say at the request of the police) started blocking calls from XYZ... but then - where does this stop?
but by doing this - im sure they would then add the cost of doing this to their packages etc. etc.
Best thing to do - Someone calls you that you do not know (e.g. Calling on behalf of, Calling From XYZ) so its not the bank, or someone you have dealings with... Hangup.

[#9]

The thing is, people will fall for this scam and end up being ripped off and having nasty stuff stuck onto their PC's.  I can see no logical reason why the BT network would need to allow spoofed numbers to connect.  With caller ID we can see that the number isn't a real number, so why are BT allowing fake numbers to connect?
Think about it, if you were driving a car with the licence plate OO 00 OOO you would expect the police to pull you over, it's obviously fake, the phone number 00000 etc. is obviously fake so prevention is better than some poor person being ripped of for £100+ and having keyloggers/trojans etc.. stuck on their PC's.

[#10]

Why should BT do this? BT are not the only telephony provided. So will all the LLU companies need to do this as well or should the call fail at the NTS and I'm not sure which company will be responsible for this.

[#11]

The call should fail at the exchange if the caller ID cannot be confirmed as "real".  In the case of the number being unavailable (withheld or international) it'll get routed through, but in the case of a false number (like 000000000) it'll be blocked at the exchange.  I'm not sure if it's possible to detect an international spoofed number, but if it is, blocked at the exchange too.
But if not BT, then whom?  If my mother had answered the call and been asked to do what the caller suggested, the big error and warning signs in Event Viewer may have got her to go further logging her into logmein, taking her money, loading her PC with malware AND having her credit/debit card details, so who would take responsibility for all the people with computers who do not realise it's a scam and are being fleeced out of hundreds of pounds? 
If BT/Virgin (LLU is broadband so why are you bringing that up?) can stop the calls at the exchange then they have a duty to do so.

[#12]

Quote

If BT/Virgin (LLU is broadband so why are you bringing that up?) can stop the calls at the exchange then they have a duty to do so.

No, LLU or Local Loop Unbundling, means someone else deals with the Copper between you and the exchange... regardless of BB status...
e.g. a fully TalkTalk unbundled line, means TT deal with Phone & Broadband, which means the line does not terminate in BT equipment (it just goes over their backhaul)
it is not their duty at all - They provide a service, which is uncensored which allows people to call you.
Doing what your suggesting is low level censorship, and one step closer to a police state.
i seem to remember something on Dragons Den a year or two ago that got investment... would allow something like 10,000 blocked calls, (would intercept the call, answer, ask whos ringing, record that - then ring your internal phone - tell you whos ringing, you could then allow or deny the call... C'est wala!)

[#13]

I can see where you're coming from with your argument, but I guess I'm not putting mine forward correctly.  If a police officer sees a man with a gun wandering towards your house, should the policeman stop him or wait until he's entered the house with the gun and shot your budgie before he does anything?  Obviously you'd want the copper to stop the gunman, he has only one intent, to commit a crime.  These phone calls also have only one intent, to commit a crime.
It's a criminal offence to use the phone line in the manner these people are using, they are using the phone lines to defraud people and they don't even respect the TPS!  So, if BT have the power to prevent a crime taking place, should they allow the crime to continue or prevent it?
Would it be censorship, that's an interesting topic to debate, should some forms of speech be prevented, most certainly, especially those with criminal intent or an intent to cause harm to another person.  I've been the victim of hate crimes, I've had someone threaten to kill me simply because I'm Welsh, I wish someone would have censored him at the time.

[#14]

Quote from: Matt_2k34

i seem to remember something on Dragons Den a year or two ago that got investment.

It is cald TrueCall and I have one but it is not inuse at this point in time.
TrueCall can double up as a answer machine

[#15]

Quote from: dgwebb

So, if BT have the power to prevent a crime taking place, should they allow the crime to continue or prevent it?

As pointed out earlier BT are not the only providee of telephony. There are 2 types of LLU, MPF and SMPF. With SMPF BB is provided by the LLU company and telephony by BT. With MPF both BB and telephony are provided by the LLU company. In the latter none of the call is handled by BT.