"Calling From Windows" scam. How to stop the calls?

October 26, 2016 10:22 AM

I hadn't got this call in a long time, but now I'm getting at least two a day, sometimes as many as six. Both on land line and cell. You know the one - sounds like a South Asian operation, they're getting messages from my computer, blah, blah.

1) Why can't it be raided, or whatever, like the IRS phone scam was recently?

2) Have you been successful in getting them to stop calling you and, if so, how?

Obviously, the Do Not Call list is a cruel joke that has no effect here. I've tried begging them to take my number off their dialer, explaining that I'm never going to go for it and they're wasting their own time, playing along to waste time in the hope that they would cross my number off, been silent, yelled at them, told them the phone number is not associated with any computer on any list, and many other approaches. Nothing works.

I know I could just let every call go to voice mail, but I don't want to do that for Reasons. I'm specifically asking if anyone has been successful in stopping the calls all together.

posted by Right On Red to Computers & Internet (22 answers total)

Not a good solution, and I appreciate that, but you could change your number(s). It is a bit of a "go nuclear" option, but callers like this can be a bit like growing mint on your property. Once its there, you're screwed, it will not die/stop no matter what you do, and your only solution is to move (or in this case, change your number).

For the cell phone, I have Mr. Number app installed and it automatically rejects any calls from known scammers/numbers that other people have flagged as spam. Maybe that would help. You can always check in your Mr. Number log periodically to make sure it didn't reject anything incorrectly, but personally I haven't had that happen. The only calls that got rejected were scammers.

ETA: The last thing I would is engage with them in any way. I would always just hang up. You want that call to be as short as possible in case they have some 'length of call' metric where the length of the conversation results in increased calls or value to sell to other telemarking scams.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 10:39 AM on October 26, 2016

On iPhone you can block numbers, so at least the same fake number won't call twice. (Click Phone, Recents, tap the (i) on that call, Block this Caller).
That seems to have reduced spam calls somewhat.

I got a fake Windows call on my land line yesterday and pretended to also be Indian. The guy hung up on me.
posted by w0mbat at 10:50 AM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

Did you see this Ask from two days ago? Includes suggestions of apps which may help, at least on your cell.
posted by penguin pie at 11:02 AM on October 26, 2016 [5 favorites]

I just wasted their time until they got the hint.

It's obvious from their first words what's coming, so go ahead and play along. 'Oh, my computer is corrupted? What should I do?' and then lead them on from there. Whenever I got tired of any particular call, I'd hit them with 'This is a waste of time: I don't even OWN a computer at home anymore, let alone one running Windows'. I'd earlier tried telling the truth --- I don't use Windows, I have a Mac, I'm not interested in your scam --- but none of those worked like just flat-out saying 'I don't even own a computer'. (So I lied to them, sue me!)

It took about a dozen calls like that, but I haven't gotten any of the scammy calls for a couple months now, and at one point I was getting them daily.
posted by easily confused at 11:20 AM on October 26, 2016

They come in waves. I haven't found a way to get them to stop on the landline, but they'll full court press for a while, then suddenly stop. Then, in a few months, back again! So I guess wait them out?
posted by clone boulevard at 11:24 AM on October 26, 2016

On your landline, you can block certain numbers so the caller hears a fast busy signal and the phone never rings on your end. *60 will access that option, then follow the prompts. This function must be generic to landlines, as it stayed operational when I switched from POTS to VOIP. (My telephone, a Panasonic cordless, also has a number-blocking facility but it doesn't actually block a call until it has already rung once so it's not as useful.)
posted by DrGail at 11:31 AM on October 26, 2016

FWIW, Android now allows me to mark certain telephone numbers as "spam." I've also stopped receiving spam phone calls after getting rid of my landline and just using mobile.

The best way to not get these calls is to not answer the phone at all. In fact the only person who ever actually phones me is my mother. That's it. Maybe my kids' school.

So the best tactic is to just not pick up when you don't know the number.

*I've also tried wasting the time of these scammers, but they are really really really dumb. They're also looking for people who will stay on the line. So trying to waste their time won't work, and it also forces you to use a lot of intellectual and emotional energy. Who has time for that.
posted by My Dad at 11:34 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

After I spent half an hour pretending to be a stupid old lady making the guy go back to step one of what I 'needed' to do time and time again, he eventually hung up and I haven't had a call since - about a year now.
posted by essexjan at 11:39 AM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Once I tried telling one of those fake windows guys I knew this was a scam and to leave me alone, then hung up.

Seconds later he called me back and started swearing and yelling and threatening me. UNNERVING to say the least.

So now I never answer the phone until it has rung 3 times (for some reason this usually works and you only get dead air - I read they use autodialers that dial multiple numbers, first person to answer gets the call and the rest are dropped). When I answer the phone and hear the tell-tale pause of a telemarketer, I just wait until they start talking and then hang up without saying a thing.

I dunno if my tactic has worked or not, but the number of cold calls we get has dropped enormously since I adopted it.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:50 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

They have been raided, but it's not one centralized operation. One gets raided, people go to jail, even, and then others pop up to fill the void. And with the jurisdiction issues and number spoofing, they're very hard to keep up with.

If it's a cell phone you're getting the calls on, others have suggested tools that crowdsource the numbers as they come up and block them, but it's always an arms race and it's trivial for them to just call from different numbers, so that won't block them all.

If it's a landline, you're even more screwed, though. There is precious little you can do to prevent them, and any little measures you could take are going to cost you money. The closest you'll get to keeping it under control is going to be just not to answer numbers you don't recognize, or your own number.

I wish I could tell you there was something that'd work, but my landline is something of an unintentional honeypot, and nothing I've tried has had any kind of long term effect. They taper off sometimes, but they always come back.

Sometimes, if I'm bored and in the mood to mess with them, I'll keep them on the line. (I once had my internet 'revoked' because I was too incompetent to use it.) Most of the time, though, I pick up the phone and hang it up immediately so they don't get to leave me a danged message. There's a chance I've been hanging up on stranded friends and family calling from weird numbers, though, so I can't recommend that as a policy.
posted by ernielundquist at 11:54 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I asked this a few years ago and tried out a few things, but they just kept calling. In waves, indeed.

What really worked for me was when "John Smith" called me, I let him do his little intro spiel and then I said with my happiest voice: "Hi, John Smith. I'm so happy! It's so great that you call. Well, let me tell you I've actually got news for you. [judiciously calculated pause] I Don't even own a Windows computer. So I actually think I don't need your services. Have a great day."

No guarantee,* of course.




*nor for me. I know.
posted by Namlit at 11:56 AM on October 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

When these guys call, I say, "Listen: No one in this household is ever going to be fooled by you. My husband is a web programmer and I work in social media. We are incredibly well-educated on technology and calling our household is a total waste of your time and mine. So please, save yourself some trouble and stop calling. And, by the way, since you are clearly an intelligent person who speaks multiple languages, has good telephone skills, and understands computers well, perhaps you might consider quitting this business and finding yourself an honest job? I have faith in you. I'm sure you can do it." The first time I used that spiel it stopped the calls entirely for nearly a year. Every six months to a year or so some new operation that doesn't have the memo on my house being scam-proof calls and tries it again and I say the same thing. Works like a charm. I don't even get yelled at. They just sort of laugh in an embarrassed way and hang up and stop calling.
posted by BlueJae at 1:36 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I was selling something online via eBay and started receiving texts from an obvious scammer. In a fit of defiance, I sent him back a text saying "Does it make you feel good ripping people off? You should be ashamed of yourself."

He sent back a text: "I sorry."

I never heard from him again.

I used a similar tactic with the Windows guys when they called a few weeks ago. The last thing I said before they hung up was "Your father was a hamster and your mother smelled of elderberries." They didn't call back after that.
posted by tacodave at 2:09 PM on October 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I like telling scammers that they've dishonored their family, and I ask them if they realize they're ruining people's lives. I may get more explicit and talk about the afterlife, and their place in it.

There are apps, as someone said. You can just let all your unknown calls go to voicemail--that works well.

The other thing I try to do if I get scam calls, which is extremely rare, is just say "can you wait a minute?" and just put the phone down.

That or I just start telling them all my personal problems. Even if it's just a recording, it's kind of satisfying just to vent.
posted by Slinga at 3:11 PM on October 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Never answer these calls. Not even to just immediately hang up. They are looking for numbers that "work". Answering and hanging up means that your number works. All they care about is getting away with their scam and all that initially requires is a person who picks up their phone. Even if you answer just to purposely waste their time, appeal to their humanity, yell at them or ask nicely for them to stop calling, it doesn't matter. To them you are a just a phone number with a live human being on the other end who is willing to take their call. They then ramp up the harassment accordingly. (I never answer numbers I don't know. If it's important they will leave a message.)
posted by marimeko at 3:33 PM on October 26, 2016

Tell them there's nobody here of that name. Even if they get your name right, lie and deny it. Especially if you are a Miss or a Ms and they commit the unpardonable sin of assuming you must automatically be married.

(Mrs Hypothetical is my stepmother, but THEY don't have to be told that...)
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 3:58 PM on October 26, 2016

I personally just screen my calls from unknown numbers (if it's important, they'll text or leave a message), but if that's not a solution you can live with, and you don't mind replying with subterfuge in kind, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd back out quickly if you claimed to be a Microsoft employee as well and asked for their employee ID number. If they persist after that that I'd just say that I'm aware of this scam, and will be reporting this number to the authorities (whether you will or not) and hang up. They're trying to use a false sense of authority against you, so I think replying in kind is only fair.

It's unfortunately not a guarantee though, so the correct answer is probably an app like Mr. Number or whatever, if you just don't want to deal with them at all. Since they are by definition operating outside the law, there's not much you can do to actually prevent them from calling, only to prevent their calls from reaching you.
posted by Aleyn at 4:28 PM on October 26, 2016

I find, "You'll need to talk to our IT department about that." gets rid of them pretty quickly. If I'm feeling malicious and have time I tell them I'll have to put them on hold, go to Youtube and play them Agadoo. None of this actually solves the problem of them calling but it makes me feel better.
posted by SometimeNextMonth at 4:58 PM on October 26, 2016

There's always the counterscript?
posted by dogsbody at 3:30 AM on October 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

One of the big reasons you'll never get off the lists is that some of these guys are actually making money simply by delivering Caller ID data to your phone. (The company they talk about in that article wasn't the only one using that scheme last I checked, either.)

It's common to advise people just not to pick up unknown numbers, but that's mostly just to keep people from being scammed. The fact that the number rings through, and usually goes to voicemail, is verification that it's live. They don't need you to actually pick up to confirm that. People who are other people's emergency contacts often answer calls from unknown numbers. It doesn't make it any worse if you do pick up, despite what a lot of people will tell you.

If you want to avoid inconvenience yourself, a tool that blocks calls based on a crowdsourced database is probably your best bet for blocking the calls.

If you're ever bored and feel like doing a community service, keeping them on the line and reporting the calls does help. The time you keep them on the phone is time they don't have to harass someone else, and reporting is low yield, but not totally worthless. The FCC does go after the worst offenders based on the reports they get. It's just that the setups they have, while relatively complex, are pretty much plug and play packages, so they're playing Whack a Mole. And the Do Not Call list does work, but unfortunately, only with legitimate businesses. It would be a whole lot worse right now without it. At least the way things are now, you know for a fact that any business calling numbers on the list is a scammer.

Ultimately, the solution would have to be a pretty high level one, with people doing real jail time and with all of the individual actors being held accountable for what's being done with their tools.
posted by ernielundquist at 8:55 AM on October 27, 2016

By the way, I just this minute signed up with Nomorobo, which is an anti-spam call-blocking service. It's free for VOIP lines, which cable-provider phone lines are. We'll see how well it works. Nomorobo was one of the winners of the FTC competition to find a way to block junk calls.
posted by w0mbat at 1:25 PM on October 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Do you know how to set up a virtual machine?

Set up an incredibly slow one and let them have at it.

There is at least some chance that your number will eventually get blacklisted from their end. I have personally not had a single one of those calls since posting that question five years ago.
posted by flabdablet at 5:36 AM on October 28, 2016