Tuesday 19th Jan. Phoned by a man speaking reasonable but rapid English with an accent indicative of the Indian sub-continent. He called himself Anthony and explained he was from “Computer Maintenance Company” which was employed by Microsoft as a “caretaker” for the computer systems. “Anthony” went on to say that the Microsoft system had detected a serious assault on my computer and that a piece of malware had been installed that could have a detrimental effect on my computer and business. Now, if I could log onto my computer he would talk me through removing this malware. (No, I did not!)
As a means of demonstrating his honesty he gave the identification number of my computer which he said could only have come from Microsoft (Microsoft sells software not computers) which he gave as: 888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D063 (No, not a number associated with my pc) which I wrote down manually. He gave his return phone number as 0800 352 6294.
I phoned my own IT maintenance who said they are getting similar calls and that a phishing scam is targeting individuals and small businesses.
Wednesday 20th Jan Anthony phoned again and asked me to log on to my computer. I told him I did not believe him and gave him a brief rendition about the data protection act.
Monday 25th Jan 08.50hr Anthony phoned again and I terminated the phone call immediately. I reported this to Action Fraud via their website.
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