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Fraudsters now pretend to be calling from the Indian authorities, wanting to refund victims of cold-call scams
Fraudsters running cold-call scams from India are introducing new twists to the crime to con consumers out of their money.
The reason for the change in tack is people are becoming more aware of the scam, and are less likely to fall for the original line of "we are calling from Microsoft because your computer is infected with malware".
Last month a reader informed us that he had been called by a man claiming to work for a company called Global Tech, which worked with Microsoft. This reader was warned that his PC was infected and being used to commit online crimes such as phishing attacks.
He therefore faced being taken to court and fined if he didn't pay the company to remove the malware.
Now another reader, Gordon Hart, has told us he recently received a call from someone claiming to represent the Indian authorities. The original scammers were behind bars and the caller was tracking down their victims in every country "around the world" in order to refund the fraudulent charge.
The next request from the caller was one Mr Hart felt inevitable. He was asked for his creditt-card details and email address so he could be refunded.
Mr Hart told us: "I listened with some amusement and anger. I refused to confirm any of the story he was telling me. I told him to email me with all the details he claimed to have, and told him there was no way I was giving him my credit-card details.
Mr Hart warned that the caller sounded very genuine, and his story was almost convincing so people should be aware of these new developments.
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Indian scams
It's only surprising how many gullible people there are in this country that fall for these tricks! How could anyone outside your home know what is on your computer, or even if you have a computer?
Posted by Peter, 08 Sep 2012
Scammer calls
I was called to say that they wanted to repay my money and was that ok i said yes they told me to leave them to it but i was watching them moving money around then up popped my mame but insted of putting money in they were trying to take it out and my natwest security stopped them. they then phoned me back to say that they were having trouble paying me my money i said yes i know i have been watching you and your not puting the money in your taking it out thats the problem the phone went dead I have heard from my bank that they have tryed again so now they have chainged my card
Posted by Mr M G Ferre, 09 Sep 2012
refund scam
just had an indian sounding man on the phone, stating they wanted to refund me as other customers were not happy with their service.He said I had to register with western union so the money could be transferred.I was very scepital and noticed that it appeared the money was going to go the other way...too them.I refused to give my card details and said I would look into it further and hung up
Posted by Jane Kay, 28 Sep 2012
Love it!
I love getting calls like this. I am fortunate enough to have above-average knowledge about computers so when they call me I simply string them along, wind them up and get them angry. My justification is the more of their time I can waste, the less time they'll have scamming more vulnerable people.
Posted by Russ, 03 Oct 2012
Im sick of these scams
just about every night we get calls from people claimimg to be from western Union....with strong Indian accents...always ring at 7- 8 pm. They claim that we were scammed by PC drs (another scam) and we are owed $442 from that previous scam. These latest people want us to go on to the computer....dont know what they mean but we "need to fill in a form" to be reimbursed. We are not out of pocket the stated amount...I said I have never come across anyone so keen to give us money ...they are so frustrating ringing every night.....I said well send me the form I will fill in (wouldnt do of course) but they go round and round in circles with the conversation....very annoying
Posted by karen, 23 Nov 2012
Same scam
Indian gentleman "Brad" called today from the "Microsoft Refund Department". Its at least the 6th time he's called, so this time I thought I'd see what he actually wanted to do (I usually just swear and hang up on the thieveing little ****). The angle now was that they wanted to refund us the £110 paid 2 years ago (after an unfortunately feasible cold call), as we hadn't used the additional "services" it provided. The exact date and time of the original payment were read back to me and I was given a "refund number" that I supposedly needed to quote to the accounts department. "Brad" then asked me to go and turn my computer one. When I asked why I needed to turn the computer on he said I needed to communicate with the accounts department online and he could connect me. As soon as I said there was no way I was giving them access to the computer he hung up.
Posted by Anne, 29 Nov 2012
never trust indians on telephone
tried to scam me today by saying they were refunding-accessed my computer but noticed they started putting in their address to send to not mine-do not trust indians
Posted by julie, 03 Jan 2013
refund
I just had them call to say they were refunding me for software I bought with my computer which I was overcharged for. I know this isn't right as its a company laptop and I paid for nothing! They however knew my name and address and I am now quite worried. I hung up the phone and so far they have not called back, but I am worried
Posted by j, 22 Jan 2013
microsoft refund scam
just had a call from a robert jordan indian accent iwas due a refund for software ibought with my computer iwas overcharged for knew name and address called me twice now nearly got sucked in sounded so convincing watch out people
Posted by mark, 02 Feb 2013
Microsoft refund head
Just had a call from a gent with an indian accent saying I was due 157 quid software refund for the computer I recent ly bought. He new my name and address, how I don't know. He asked me to turn on my pc so I could connect to a refund head. Held him on phone for a while waiting for pc to boot then said it needed to charge. when he calls back I intend to do the same and waste as much of the buggers time as I can. He did sound convincing and I can't help but think that he could probably convince an OAP to give him access to there computer.
Posted by n chapman, 13 Feb 2013