The Caller from Microsoft Scam

To the scammers out there: if you're going to call me on the phone pretending to be from "Microsoft", speaking in a thick Indian accent with artificial concern, and offering to "fix the technicals" of "Mr. Kelli's" computer (FYI: Kelli is my wife), I will hang up on you.

I received a call like this today, and it went something like this:

ME: Hello, this is Jon.

SCAMMER: Hello. I am Tom from Microsoft. May I talk to Mister Kelli?

ME: Kelli is a girl.

SCAMMER: Uh... Can I speak to him? May I leave a message.

ME: No.

SCAMMER: Uh... Okay.... I am calling from Microsoft. We have informations about problems to fix the technicals on Mr. Kelli's computer. If you can...

*click* ... (me hanging up on "Tom" mid-sentence).

Clearly, "Tom" wasn't listening. Nor did he care about his supposed "customer service".

You'd think these scammers would get get the hint from the other dozen times I've hung up on them. They used to call asking for "Mr. John". I've hung up on them quite rudely every time. Now they're calling for "Mr. Kelli" (who is a woman, and, quite clearly, my wife). These guys are attempting to scam people by convincing those people to give them remote access to their personal computers (so that they can install malware and other dangerous programs). Their scam has been widely reported on the news, cautioned by word-of-mouth, and can easily be discerned by most people.... yet they persist. They are foolishly determined to steal from and scam anyone who will do what they ask.

If you get a call from someone like this claiming to be from Microsoft, hang up. Microsoft does not call people asking to fix their computers. That's not how Microsoft works.

-Jon