{"id":805,"date":"2011-10-30T20:52:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T03:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.brainlitter.com\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/"},"modified":"2011-10-30T20:52:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T03:52:00","slug":"i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/","title":{"rendered":"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve had a number of calls in the last week (probably 4, would swear it is the same woman even).\u00a0 After yelling at her a few times and\/or being outright mean and cruel (she doesn\u2019t get sympathy\u2026), tonight I thought I\u2019d play along and record it. I missed the beginning as I was on the phone but Wendy brought the camera over in time to catch much of it.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how this particular scam works<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. They call you from a phony number (call display was modded to say 23456789)<\/li>\n
  2. They tell you they are from the computer department<\/li>\n
  3. They get you to open EventVwr (Event Viewer) and look at your application log.\u00a0 They know they will find some reds and yellows in there (in my case, I hadn\u2019t addressed a goofy CAPI issue regarding trusted root certs, don\u2019t worry, its resolved now, I can thank them for putting my on the case \"Winking) and they get you to read out the count of items in there (in my case 42000+, this is normal, it writes until the threshold to overwrite is reached\u2026)<\/li>\n
  4. Then they get you to open a Command Prompt and type ASSOC which lists file associations.\u00a0 She gets you to find the association for Windows \u2018Send To\u2019 target, which will be the same on all Windows machines (.zfsendtotarget=CLSID{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}) and pretends that by reading this number back to you, it is the \u2018unique serial number\u2019 of your machine and therefore this should serve as proof and authentication that what they are saying is true and you should trust them<\/li>\n
  5. Finally, they want you to go to a website, http:\/\/www.ammyy.com<\/a>, where I assume they then want to take control of your PC and either install a keylogger, trojan or otherwise. I stopped at that point and cut her loose.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Enjoy the Video<\/h2>\n
    \n
    [youtube http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tLw4ZijmLlY&hl=en&hd=1]<\/div>\n
    Recording of Indian Computer Department Phone Scam<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=tLw4ZijmLlY<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We\u2019ve had a number of calls in the last week (probably 4, would swear it is the same woman even).\u00a0 After yelling at her a few times and\/or being outright mean and cruel (she doesn\u2019t get sympathy\u2026), tonight I thought I\u2019d play along and record it. I missed the beginning as I was on the … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[248,429,325,426],"tags":[474,397,475,476],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nI was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve had a number of calls in the last week (probably 4, would swear it is the same woman even).\u00a0 After yelling at her a few times and\/or being outright mean and cruel (she doesn\u2019t get sympathy\u2026), tonight I thought I\u2019d play along and record it. I missed the beginning as I was on the …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/\",\"name\":\"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Brainlitter\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/\",\"name\":\"Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge\",\"description\":\"Dad. Husband. Drummer. Learner of Things.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77\",\"name\":\"Sean Wallbridge\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sean Wallbridge\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/author\/swallbridge\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge","og_description":"We\u2019ve had a number of calls in the last week (probably 4, would swear it is the same woman even).\u00a0 After yelling at her a few times and\/or being outright mean and cruel (she doesn\u2019t get sympathy\u2026), tonight I thought I\u2019d play along and record it. I missed the beginning as I was on the …","og_url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/","og_site_name":"Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge","article_published_time":"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00","author":"Sean Wallbridge","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sean Wallbridge","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/","url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/","name":"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-31T03:52:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2011\/10\/30\/i-was-called-by-the-computer-department-help-desk-scami-recorded-it-for-fun-tonight\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Brainlitter","item":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I was called by the Computer Department Help Desk Scam\u2013I Recorded it for fun tonight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/","name":"Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge","description":"Dad. Husband. Drummer. Learner of Things.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/74e1c0def190f181c1394c2b6d883e77","name":"Sean Wallbridge","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/adf8cea6291c39d166616f2148d919a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sean Wallbridge"},"url":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/author\/swallbridge\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}