On 2015-09-18, gray_wolf wrote:

I read somewhere that they are deliberately written that way so that only the
most stupid and gullible will reply.

Kind of like the calls I get typically once every week or two,
telling me that my Windows computer is sending error messages to
Microsoft about malware infections.

I usually keep them on the phone for a quarter hour or so,
playing stupid.

"Is your computer on?"

"Yes."

"Look on your keyboard. See the "Windows" key near the bottom
left."

"I don't see one."

"Look for the CTRL key." It should be right next to that."

"The only key next to my CTRL key is the letter 'A'."

It has taken as long as a half hour for them to get around to
asking either whether my computer is a Windows one, or how old the
computer is. Both mean that whatever they were going to talk me into
doing would not work, anyway, and at that point they hang up. :-)

Even when I start out by saying that there is no way a Windows
virus could infect my computer, they don't get the clue that it is not a
Windows box. :-)

(And no -- it is not a Mac, either. FWIW. :-)

Sometimes I try to get them to tell me the IP address of the
machine which is supposedly infected and spewing out error messages and
malware. ("After all, I'm running thirteen computers, and I need to
figure out which it is.") (True that I typically have at least that many
systems running at once. *None* are running Windows. :-) They *never*
give me the IP address.

Oh yes -- There is also a constant background of others talking
on the phone to other potential victims. And the accent suggests that
the calls are originating in India.

Enjoy,
DoN.

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