Does microsoft contact users

Question

Dear Microsoft,

I received a telephone call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft support.

He told me I had a nasty virus and that he needed access to my computer in order to fix it.

I told him I would look into this problem myself.

He became very agitated, demanding that I listen to him.

I asked where he was calling from and he said California.

I asked him what the weather was like and he said it was lovely and sunny. California time at the time of the call was 3.40am.

He was super aggressive so I passed him to my husband (he is a Barrister) My husband told him there are laws against this type of call however the "Microsoft support guy" told my husband he would sue him.

We ended the conversation.

The call came from Estonia : + 372 5625 2408

He told me his name was Sam Richard.

We await a reply from you before reporting the call to the police as he was violently aggressive and refused to take no for an answer.

Thanking you kindly,

Deborah and JJ Trinquet.

Answer 1

Well done for being suspicious, many people are caught by this type os scam

Microsoft will never, ever, cold call a customer, this is a well known Tech Support Scam.

If ever someone claims to be from Microsoft in a webpage, or provides a phone number on a web page, or cold calls you, it is always a scam, Microsoft could not possibly know if your PC was infected (it is not), these scammers just prey on people to try to scare people into thinking there is something wrong with their PC

Answer 2

In addition to what Dave already mentioned, here's an official Microsoft document that covers these scams in some detail, as well as provides an option near the bottom for you to report them to the best of your ability to recall, since the local police can do little regarding such attacks coming from outside their jurisdiction, as your husband likely is aware.

Protect yourself from tech support scams - Microsoft Support

There are literally dozens of websites both official and not where you can report these, but by informing Microsoft via the page provided, you're actually giving the info to someone who cares about their reputation, collates what they receive to watch for patterns and also provides the intelligence they gather to the truly official agencies, as well as works with many of these internationally in order to investigate, trace and in some cases cooperate with global or local law enforcement in order to take down and or arrest those involved in some of the larger criminal gangs.

To help you understand just how involved Microsoft is in fighting cybercrime, here's the description of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, which you'll note specifically mentions technical support fraud among its areas of focus roughly halfway down the page.

Digital Crimes Unit: Leading the fight against cybercrime – On the Issues

Rob

Answer 3

Deborah,

I just did a search and found the following UK Government site that summarizes most scams, as well as has additional resources specific to the UK for reporting these listed at the very bottom.

Fraud, tricks and scams: guidance - GOV.UK

If you are truly in the UK, those options may result in more effective shut down of scam callers, though I'd expect that Microsoft will provide any you report to these as well if they're truly official.

Rob

Answer 4

Thank you Mr. Rob Koch,

We will report the scam via the link you posted.

The scammers called me twice yesterday so we immediately hung up.

Once again, many thanks.

Yours kindly, Trinquet.

Answer 5

Thank you so much.

Very reassuring to know that Microsoft does not cold call.

Once again, many thanks.