Katherine of Windows Department

[scegla]

Got to try the "What are you wearing" approach or "Will you marry me?" tactic... too good!!!!!!

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by bwstl01

Heads up, folks! I just got a call on my cell from "Katherine of Windows Department". She sounded very Indian and the background noise sounded like a call center. She said she was calling to warn me that my computer had notified her that some people were attempting to access my computer without my permission, I asked her how my computer knew I hadn't given them my permission? "Uh, no, this is Katherine of Windows Department". I said good-bye.

I'm old, but not THAT old...

I would get a man with a heavy Eastern European accent telling me the same thing. After his 4th call, I told him to lose my phone number or I'd cut a piece of his anatomy off. He's yet to call back and neither has anyone else running that scam.

[cpmusic]

Originally Posted by callouses

I thought if you were on the do not call registry that they couldn't bother you. But I still get calls from time to time, not from scammers necessarily, telemarketers as well.I either tell them I'm re[porting them, or put the phone down and let them talk themselve out. What I want to do is blast an air horn into the phone.

Unfortunately, phone spammers have found a way around the DNC List, and they don't have to be in India or anywhere else, in particular. As noted in a previous post, it's a matter of using VOIP and spoofing the caller ID. We get 5 to 10 calls per day with caller ID numbers we don't recognize, usually with phrases like "toll free call" or "(state name) call" or "unknown number."

Four other possibilities for unwanted robocalls:

1. Someone with whom you've done business has sold your contact information. The callers are most commonly trying to sell something like solar power systems or home improvement work, and they usually have your name and address as well as your phone number. They're often persistent to the point of being rude.

2. When you do business with a company or donate money to an organization, you are giving them permission to call you back. According to law they have to stop calling if you ask or tell them to stop, but it seems that enforcement is either weak or non-existent.

3. The caller may be looking for someone with the same last name, either for donations or past due funds. Our last name is common and we have only our first initials in the directory, so we've received calls looking for Curt and Claudia, among others. Sometimes they leave messages, sometimes they don't.

4. Someone who owes money or has other problems may be giving the caller a phony number for callbacks. We got our phone number nine years ago, and for the next three or four years we got calls from people looking for the apparent deadbeat who used to have it. About three years in, one caller left a phone number, so I called her back to let her know. She said that this other person had written her a bad check the previous month, and that the check had our phone number on it.

I always look at the caller ID, and if I don't recognize it, it goes through to voicemail. Almost none of them leaves a message, and most hang up during the outgoing message. Some even hang up before the 4th ring.

[Chicago Sandy]

I love the robo-messages that begin, “Congratulations--you’ve won...” or “This is your credit card company. There’s nothing wrong with your account, but...” Yeah, they actually say “your credit card company.” Apparently even if only one in a million people is stupid enough to fall for that, one-in-a-million is considered a good return rate in the telemarketing industry.

I too have talking caller ID, and it’s a Godsend. I never pick up a call from “Unavailable,” “Unknown Caller,” “Blocked Number,” “Telefund,” “Phone Bank Center,” “800 Service,” or “(insert state) call” or “Cell Phone (insert state)” unless I am familiar with the phone number in the readout. (About one in 50 of those are legit--and if I’m not sure, I wait for them to leave a message...most of which I immediately delete). As an aside, the talking caller ID comes up with some hilariously entertaining mispronunciations--even funnier than those from GPS robo-announcers.

[Chicago Sandy]

Just got this little e-gem from “[email protected],” mousing over which revealed a Singapore domain (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, spacing is exactly as it appears in the message):
----------
Your Account Will Be Limited

Dear customer,

Your Account Will Be Limited , Until We Here From You . To Update Your Info . Simply click on the web address below.
--------
Below which is a button marked “Update Your Info,” below that a message stating “Update Your Account” with a hot link “Update Now.”

The misspelling and strange caps/punctuation are all the more hilarious given that one of the official languages of Singapore is......ENGLISH.

[Pvee]

Years ago when sales calls were done on telephone, I received a call from a guy trying to sell me a home burglary alarm and fire alarm.

I always kept them on the phone till they gave up.

I told him I didn't think I needed one. He explained why I really did need one,
so I told him I had a Mountain lion, a gorilla and a .357 magnum revolver in my house, so I was pretty well set.

He said, well the mountain lion can't call the fire department can he.

I said, Oh no, That's the gorilla's job.

He was laughing as he hung up...

[ewalling]

My wife and I have a system that works for us. We don't have cell phones (not a hardship - we don't want one!), and on the landline at home we never pick up the phone when it rings. Whoever is trying to reach us has to leave a message, which, of course, we can interrupt if it's someone we actually want to speak to. Interestingly, though, for the vast majority of calls we get, the caller hangs up as soon as they hear the generic voice inviting them to leave a message ...

[Dan Carey]

I just lead them along as far as possible, hoping that they have a ball-buster list that they share. I always ask them what to do and lead them on a bit. When they tell me to give them permissions, I just say that my security software will not allow me to comply with their wishes.
My "favorite" Security Software is the "Alfred E Neumann Total Security System"
That will have them surfing for a work-around for quite some time and get even more and more frustrated during their search. Then I give them some fictictious error report from my 'security software'

I once strung a guy along for over an hour...
I hate myself sometimes

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by callouses

I thought if you were on the do not call registry that they couldn't bother you. But I still get calls from time to time, not from scammers necessarily, telemarketers as well.I either tell them I'm re[porting them, or put the phone down and let them talk themselve out. What I want to do is blast an air horn into the phone.

i'm registered with the do not call center also. when i mention this to telemarketers they laugh at me and i just hangup. do we really have enough people working in the do not call center to follow up with this crap! i think not!! we are on our own! ha!

play music!

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by callouses

.............What I want to do is blast an air horn into the phone.

A friend of mine hooked up a signal generator to his phone line and would blast a 1kHz at maximum level whenever bothersome calls would come in.

[CoolerKing]

Originally Posted by Bill Lowther

Yeah. I got a call from "Jake from State Farm" the other day. How gullible do they think I am?
Oh...and he said he was wearing khakis.

She sounds hideous.

[Nut]

Originally Posted by bwstl01

Heads up, folks! I just got a call on my cell from "Katherine of Windows Department". She sounded very Indian and the background noise sounded like a call center. She said she was calling to warn me that my computer had notified her that some people were attempting to access my computer without my permission, I asked her how my computer knew I hadn't given them my permission? "Uh, no, this is Katherine of Windows Department". I said good-bye.

I'm old, but not THAT old...

I can't believe that ***** ratted me out........................

[bwstl01]

Originally Posted by Nut

I can't believe that ***** ratted me out........................

AHA! So, YOU'RE the one!

[Coffeeaddict]

A number of years ago a local law care company called trying to sell their services to me for the summer.. Very quickly I let my roommate know to listen from the other line and then proceeded to tell the guy that he should have called a few weeks sooner as I had just paved over my lawn. Then I asked if they did driveway sealing. Confused he said no, then I went on to try to sell him the equipment he'd need to do driveways. He hung up.

The local daily newspaper called one time looking to sell subscriptions. Roommate passes me the phone and I talk to the woman. I tell her I would happily get a subscription... If she could tell me how getting the paper would positively impact my life and make me a better person. After 40 minutes she hung up. My roommate who ran a business out of the house then gets a call on the business line - same woman selling for the local daily. He hands me the phone and she hung up within seconds.

[Dan Carey]

I got a call a very short while ago...wanting to salvage what they could from my computer before "cleaning all the bad viruses and installing their 'Protection Software' to save my computer"

I started with "How can you know all of this when my computer has been off all day?" Answer: "We've been monitoring your activity for some time know and your computer has been flagged as being suspect."

SO I said "What can I do?"

THEY said "First turn on your computer and open Windows"

I said OK...made some muttering noises...then told them that my computer was on.

THEY said "All right now...open Windows" and I said "this may take a while"
and I put the phone down and made background noises..

I finally came back and said "OK all the windows are open...but, what do they have to do with my computer?"

THEY (in disbelief) said "Why are you opening windows!?"

And it goes on from there with me acting the dumbest computer user in the world until, after about a half hour, THEY hung up on me!

It was quite enjoyable, actually. I was stuck in the ER all day and it was just what I needed to unwind. Now, who will call next?
THEY said