Call from 'Windows' - a scam?

[carpetowl]

I just received a call from a guy purporting to be from 'Windows' who told me: my computer was sending out bogus emails and it had been hacked into and all my personal details were at risk. He asked me to go to Start and then Run - at which point, I asked him to confirm all this with an email before I was going to try 'running' anything on his say-so. At this point he got quite aggressive and I hung up. Has this happened to anybody else? I found the whole experience to be quite intimidating.

[Frank97]

Yes, I've had several calls from them, it's a scam!

[Ratty2E]

It's a scam, a lot of us have had them call. As long as you did'nt give him any personal details then don't worry about it.

[jno]

scam. If it happens again, abort the conversation by telling them you haven't got a computer.

[sunny-dave]

Well known scam - they would have 'found' some fake infection on your PC and then tried to charge you to remove it.

Bastards from abroad preying on the old/innocent/worried - the real culprits in many ways are the useless Ofcom who could/should insist that these calls are blocked by the telecom companies.

[Old_Geezer]

Yes. The question pops up here on a regular basis.
MS or their representatives are not going to fund ringing you up.

[Nibble]

Scam!Scam!Scam!

Ignore them & get on with your life, if you'd done what he wanted then he'd have control of your computer. Forget it & enjoy your computer. :-)

[carpetowl]

Thanks folks - that's all very reassuring!

[rowanwitch]

Which one? is a good response tell them you a large company with over 300 could they give you the location code

[r-englefield]

Someone phoned me saying he was from Microsoft and that my computer was sending messages back to them saying I had a virus, he asked me if my computer was running slow and playing up and it was, he told me to go into something in my computer and count how may red exclamation marks in a month, there were loads, he said it was the virus, He said at a fee, he would take over my computer and fix it, about £86 I think, I said no way would I fall for that scam, he even put me on to his manager, they were so good at convincing me even though I tell everyone dont do what I did, he took over my computer for about half hour and he put on a virus software.
I was concerned after the event so I emailed Microsoft and they said it was a scam, I think they did put a legite v software on my computer but apparently it was free anyway, I still get people giving their name, it could be John, Pete anyone, they act so friendly telling me I have a virus, It cost me about £130 to take my computer back to factory settings, had to change all bank and personal data, in case they had put anything on there, You dont have to tell me how stupid I was I know!!!
They are very clever professional scammers.

[chas2008]

had a few of these, i just tell them i dont actually own a PC, confuses them a bit....they are no more than outright thiefs, only a matter of time before they ask for payment details.

[joko]

i keep them talking, waste their time, pretending i am doing as im asked, and inventing error messages etc...