They finally found me!

[MadMike]

I've never dealt with one of these scammers, but then again if I don't recognize what comes up on Caller ID, I screen it.

I've seen Youtube videos of this guy who strings them along, and wastes as much of their time as possible. In one of them, he keeps them on the line for over an hour before calling them on their scam, and they cuss him out and hang up. Another one, they ended up giving up after he played dumb with them for 30 or 40 minutes. "OK sir, type www.(whatever)" "OK, I'm typing w-w-w-d-o-t..." "No, don't type d-o-t!!!" Damn near pissed myself laughing.

I think if I wanted to string one of these losers along, I'd pretend to go to the site they asked me to, and tell them I keep getting the "this site can not be displayed" message. I'm sure it would be awhile before they'd think to ask if I was connected to the internet, and then I'd tell them, "No, I just moved in here, and I don't have internet service yet. Is that a problem?"

[KatherineB]

Friend of mine has something likes TEN functioning computers in his house, I think I'd 'borrow' his set up (at least in pretend anyhow) and start asking the sca...er, caller about 'ok which one was it? well, you see, we have this one and this one and that one and and and and'. See how much time I could go thru getting them to run down just exactly which computer.

The response I got when I tried that line was that it was happening on all of them. I contemplated pretending to have a screaming hysterical fit about the prospect of my life being RUINED, DAMN IT! but found I didn't have the energy so called them on the scam and went about my merry way.

[PepperElf]

Probably because it's a PC.

To them, it goes like this:

PC=Windows, Linux, whatever.

Mac=OS X.

Hmm. Wonder what they'd say if you claimed to have a Commodore? The 64 is back! It's making quite a comeback among geeks.

or REALLY mess with them and tell them that you're running a Commodore Amiga.

[raudf]

*chortles* Is the Commodore Amiga the one with the processor under hood or in the trunk? *ducks*

Oh, man, now I want one of these kinds of calls! "Thar's nothin wrong with my winders, 'less ya count being dirty as a problem. Mind if ya wanna come wash 'em for me, I'd not object. Oh, wait.. ya mean, that computer stuffs? Man, I dunno about no compooter stuffs. Alls I know is that if ya let the magic smoke out, then ya gotta open 'em winders!"

[Marmalady]

I did think afterwards, when it was too late, that I could have had some fun by getting 'paranoid' with them - "Windows? What about them? Are you looking through my windows? You are, aren't you, you filthy pervert! You're looking at me through my windows!"
(with voice rising hysterically)

If they try again, I think I'm going to do that.

[Geek King]

I think if I wanted to string one of these losers along, I'd pretend to go to the site they asked me to, and tell them I keep getting the "this site can not be displayed" message.

Better yet, tell them it is a 503 error, which is almost always on the side of the provider. Drive them crazy trying to figure out why their web box is screwing up.

[SilverOrb]

Hmm. Ask the scammers if it is an id ten t error?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forum Runner

[Ironclad Alibi]

Just in case those guys call me, I'm tempted to reinstall Windows 3.1 on my old computer which runs MS-DOS 6.22. However, it's not connected to the Internet. Not that it would matter.

[Kitten in the box]

I had a call one time where they told me of "errors" on my comp and I was out for the day. They needed my acsess code to log on to take errors away. I told them
I ain't falling for that scam to try it on themselves "hey, you might fall for it."

I got silence for a moment followed by a "FUCK YOU!" and *click* on their part

[Shironu-Akaineko]

Hmm. Wonder what they'd say if you claimed to have a Commodore? The 64 is back! It's making quite a comeback among geeks.

Oh god I know!! I HAVE a C64 and I didn't even think of using it as an excuse! I so regret it now, I'm wishing they call back so I can do that...

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Ugh, had these scamsters call here probably 8-10 times in the past two years. It's so annoying... We've told them we have no computers, we have Macs, we are transferring the calls to the local cops, 'nice try, scammer', 'pull the other one, it plays jingle bells'... and still the calls come. Sigh...

[ADeMartino]

On occasion, I'm the last to hear about some things, and this is probably one of those times. I've never heard of this particular game. What is it they're trying to do?

[MadMike]

At best, they're trying to sell you worthless products or services that don't actually do anything. At worst, they're trying to steal personal information, i.e. bank passwords.

[MoonCat]

I did think afterwards, when it was too late, that I could have had some fun by getting 'paranoid' with them - "Windows? What about them? Are you looking through my windows? You are, aren't you, you filthy pervert! You're looking at me through my windows!"
(with voice rising hysterically)

If they try again, I think I'm going to do that.

You can do the old Mike Meyers routine. "Are you lookin' at my bum?? Bum lookers!!"

I've never gotten one of these calls. I'd like to, though. "Windows? Oh no, they work fine. I just had new ones installed! Brand new double panes!"

[lordlundar]

You could always pull the classic and tell them you'll give them your IP address so they can fix it directly. Then give them 127.0.0.1.

Also you can tell them you prefer to communicate by email and give them abc@123.com.