Applies To: Everyone.
Hello from Mike!
Someone tried (and failed) to scam / get access to my computer yesterday. And I had a few moments to speak to them (well it stops them talking to someone else). I show you what happened so you can be on the lookout too…
The Scam Attempt
I was at my parents the other day and my mum handed me the phone…
I instantly knew it was a scam, here is the rough outline of how the conversation went
[notes inside brackets are my notes to my mum / my thoughts / actions]
Minutes On Phone |
Them |
Mike |
0:00 | Hello, I am calling from BT | |
Oh Hi. How are you, how can I help today? [Mum this is a scam] |
||
We have noticed some error codes coming from your BT router | ||
Oh no, what error codes have you had? [Mum this is still a scam] [Mum says: “how do you know it is a scam?”] |
||
We have had error codes | ||
Oh OK, how can we stop these? [We don’t have BT broadband, and even if we did they wouldn’t phone us] |
||
Are you in front of your computer right now? Do you see error lights on your BT Hub? |
||
No not in front of the computer. Yes, I see error lights! [I am checking train times home on the computer, and we don’t have a BT Hub or any error lights.] |
||
Can you turn on your computer? | ||
Yes I can, just wait one moment [1 minute later] |
||
Are you in front of it now | ||
3:30 | Yes, it is just doing windows updates 20% [Checking the latest news on the BBC website] |
|
OK, let me know when they are done | ||
Yes I will, They are just at 50% [Looking at the latest CNN polling in the US presidential race] |
||
Is it ready? Yes? | ||
Oh the updates are just at 90% [Staring out of the window, mum went back to reading the paper] |
||
5:20 | OK OK OK are you ready? Can I give you the authorisation code? This code proves we are from BT | |
OK Yes give me the code [You are not from BT] |
||
The code is “888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062” | ||
Oh, could you just repeat that please, I think I missed a couple of digits | ||
6:10 | The code is triple 8 D for Dad, C for cat, A for Apple etc… | |
[Randomly typing noise down the phone] | ||
Have you got that, yes? | ||
yes | ||
Press Windows Key + R, type CMD… [Long winded description of running a built-in Windows program] | ||
OK, I have done that. | ||
Good now type in “ASSOC” and press enter | ||
Could you just repeat that | ||
A for Apple [ etc…] | ||
OK I have done that | ||
Do you see your ID | ||
Yes, shall I read it back to you | ||
8:05 | Yes | |
[On the screen is the same code they gave above^] [I read:] C798JU-EJD6 etc… |
||
No no no, what do you see, do you see the code I gave you? | ||
No | ||
9:01 | Hello, do you see the code | |
[silence] | ||
9:20 | Hello | |
[silence] | ||
9:32 | [Phone line goes dead] | |
*[knock knock on the bookcase] Oh the vicar is here for high tea, just one moment while I see him in [Background talking / noise for about 2/3 mins] |
* These bits didn’t actually happen but would have if he hadn’t hung up…
^ This code is a generic code on all windows computers, it is not unique.
I suspect if the call had gone on they would have connected to my computer, and then they could have done almost anything! Want to see a full-length scam in action (contains some strong language), watch here [not made by us, over 1hr long].
My advice, take five, and hang up!
Stay Safe
Mike
November 21, 2016 at 12:02 pm
I can’t find them on Yahoo or Sky, but I suspect Yahoo.
Regards
Teresa
November 22, 2016 at 2:29 pm
humm….
When you login to your email, do you go to
https://mail.yahoo.com
or
https://skyid.sky.com/signin/email
?
Thank you
Mike
November 18, 2016 at 4:06 pm
Dear Mike
How can I stop Yahoo demanding my password every time I try to get my e-mails?
Also when Yahoo was hacked and I had to change my password I lost all the ones I had not saved.
Thank you
Regards
November 21, 2016 at 11:55 am
Hello
Whrn you sign in there should be a tick box which says “Remember Me” or “Remember my username” or maybe even “Don’t ask for a password on this computer for X weeks” on mine it now says “Stay signed in” with a tick box.
Are you talking about Sky email provided by Yahoo? Or just a normal Yahoo email address??
I don’t see why they would have lost all your emails, let me know if it is the Sky or Yahoo option and I might be able to help further
Thank you
Mike
November 7, 2016 at 4:04 pm
Do I need. Programme like McAfee on a PC that has Windows 10 Defender, and do I need it on an iPad or does that have it’s own protection.
November 7, 2016 at 6:26 pm
Hummmmm tricky, I use Windows Defender at home, but I know many people prefer a 3rd party option such as McAfee, we have a few free options liste on our Essential Downloads page on the menu at the top of this website.
As for your iPad, I am not sure maybe if you give this article a read it will point you in the right direction
http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/iosapps/is-ipad-iphone-ios-safe-xcodeghost-what-security-software-need-3453938/
Sorry i don’t have a proper answer to this
Mike
October 28, 2016 at 3:08 pm
Hello Mike.
Didn’t have any success with the music search.Maybe another time.
Another question if I may.
I have folders on my laptop cntaining photographs of my family.
All four of my grandsons are very conversant with all these gadgets
and send me photos of my great grandchilden from time to time
andI would love to put them on DVD discs to show from my television bigger screen.
Can you give me step by step guides on how to do this?
Once again, thank you.
Jim.
October 29, 2016 at 10:02 am
Hi Jim
Msuic
I think the problem with Spotify is that it wants a username not an email address. So for example it wants something like “mikeIsAwesome58” not [email protected]
Pictures to DVD
Do you have any DVD burning software installed? I forget if Windows Vista has a built in program.
I would probably suggest you download and install https://cdburnerxp.se/en/download CD Burner XP.
Once this is installed follow the wizard to “Create Photo CD” this should guide you through burning photos to DVD.
Give it a go and pop back on here if you have any questions. I should be able to guide you through the process better when I am back in the office next Tuesday so please let me know if you would like screen shots.
Thanks
Mike
October 25, 2016 at 5:14 pm
My iPhone says icloud has not been backed up for four weeks, I should plug it in and lock it – how do I lock it?
October 26, 2016 at 10:06 am
Hi Teresa
iPads backup to iCloud when they are plugged in, turned on (but with the screen off) and connected to WiFi.
In general, if you are charging the device overnight and haven’t shut it down then it should backup then.
The Lock they are referring to is just tapping the power button to turn the screen off.
Give it a try tonight, don’t shut the device down, but put it on charge, make sure the screen is off and that it has a connection to WiFi.
Let me know if you are still getting the error tomorrow.
In Settings – iCloud you can see when it last backed up so take a look tomorrow and see if it did it.
Hope this helps
Mike
[1] https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-lock-my-screen-on-the-iPhone-6-Plus-to-back-it-up-to-iCloud
October 22, 2016 at 9:15 pm
Hi Mike or Tim,
Thinking of buying an Apple iMac Desktop refurbished computer but am confused by the specs. i.e. Quad core 2.5ghz. 2.2 gb.ram, intel core i5, 500gb.hdd, etc.etc.what are the basic 3 or 4 specs I should be looking for?
Cheers Bill.
October 24, 2016 at 11:32 am
Hi Bill
I don’t really know much about the specs of iMacs, but the main things I would look for are:
– A Large hard disk (HDD) ideally over 500GB but 500 would be fine.
– A Large amount of RAM (4gb+)
– As fast a processor as possible, the one you said is probably fine, for me, more RAM is more important.
Hope this helps
Mike
October 24, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Hi Mike,
That helps a lot. I’ll check out iMacs today.
Cheers Bill.
October 25, 2016 at 10:35 am
Let me know what you pick or if you narrow down some options let us know and we can talk through what it all means
Mike 🙂
October 25, 2016 at 8:52 pm
Hi Mike,
Finally found an Apple Mac I like the look of, these are the specs.any advice would be very welcome,
1,HDD.500gb.
2, RAM, 4gb.
3, choice of processor, Intel core 1.5 or 1.7
4, choice of Core, Dual or Quad.
5, Architecture, 64Bit.
Cheers Bill.
October 26, 2016 at 10:13 am
Hi Bill
As I previously said I don’t know all that much about Apple Macs, but I would always go higher end where possible, so intel core 1.7 Quad
As a general rule, we don’t offer support on Apple Macs on here however if you get stuck you can always ask and we will do our best to help. We just don’t have one in the office to try things out on.
Let me know how you get on when it arrives!
Mike
October 26, 2016 at 5:26 pm
Cheers Mike,
Will keep the Circle informed as to my progress, watch this space.
Bill
October 19, 2016 at 10:14 am
Hi Mike
one question who paid for the phone call
Robert
October 19, 2016 at 10:44 am
Hi Robert
They called me so the cost was theirs! (they probably used some kind of VOIP* service so the cost to them would be almost 0).
Mike 🙂
* Voice Over Internet Protocol, something like Skype