I just received a call from an indian microsoft technician. He informed me that my PC is sending a ton of error messages to microsoft. Most likely it has been hacked, and he would help me by remoting in and fixing the problem for me. I just wonder… Is it my PopOs or my Manjaro PC that sends all this info to microsoft?

  • peto@lemm.eeEnglish
    27·
    8 months ago

    If it’s sending information to Microsoft then it has clearly been hacked. Likely by Microsoft. It was very nice of that young man to break protocol and blow the whistle on this whole thing. You should send him an itunes gift card as a thank you.

    • dan@upvote.au
      1·
      8 months ago

      Ah yes, I remember back in the day we had to build WINE with unofficial patches to get malware to work. How times have changed.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
      1·
      8 months ago

      I still chuckle about the fact that WannaCry the ransomware software has a WineHQ entry

  • spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    8 months ago

    A friend’s neighbor just fell for this. She received a call from the “nicest” Microsoft tech and decided she’d let them into her PC. Within 10 minutes after hanging up she received a call from her bank asking if an $800 debit was valid. It took her weeks to clean up the mess.

  • lseif@sopuli.xyz
    4·
    8 months ago

    its a dangerous virus known as ‘Linux’ which can completely replace your precious Windows installation! be careful, there is a lot of propaganda pushing free (as in communism) software

  • letsgo@lemm.ee
    51·
    8 months ago

    I once looked in Event Viewer and was gobsmacked by the number of wiruses and hackers in my compyooder.

    Microsoft are NEVER, repeat NEVER, going to call you about your computer.

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
    1·
    8 months ago

    You reminded me of those YouTube vigilantes that troll Indian scammers. One installed the remote desktop app they use and let them access a honeypot linux machine just to mock their incompetence and confusion. Then proceeded to take control of their machine steal their data and wipe out their computers. Their reactions are hilarious. It’s sad that a lot of very smart people are dragged into it by thugs that leverage debt and physical threats to force them into the scam call centers.

  • abbadon420@lemm.ee
    1·
    8 months ago

    Curious question, is it “safe” to let them enter into a VM that runs windows? And is there an easy way to record their ip (to hand over to the police)

  • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    I once played along just to waste their time. Got to the point where I had to go to a site and get my IP address.

    I told him it was 127.0.0.1, and he just said “I think you be messing with me now sir” and hung up. :D

  • Jayb151@lemmy.world
    1·
    8 months ago

    One time I kept a guy on the phone for about ten minutes just playing dumb. Then he’s like, sir, what version of Windows do you have?"

    I say, I’m not sure but it’s the one with the little penguin icon.

    We actually had a good laugh about it together