A Bogus Call From "Windows" Reveals Scam

Be wary of anyone claiming to be from "Windows"

A few weeks ago my friend Monique called me and reported that someone from "Windows" called her and said that her computer had been sending out private information about her and the person wanted her to download and install something.  She told the guy that she didn't really know much about the computer and asked if he could call back in half an hour when her husband would be in.

That's when she called me.  The big red flag for me was the fact that the guy said he was calling from "Windows."  I asked Monique if she was sure he said "windows" and not Microsoft.  She was sure.  So I came over and we waited for the phone to ring.  I was not disappointed.

When I got on the phone I asked the guy where he was calling from and he said England.  He had a bit of a non-British accent but I'm not sure what it was; possibly Indian, I'm not certain.  He confirmed he was calling from Windows and I asked him if he meant Microsoft and he repeated that he was calling from Windows, from the technical division. He said that a technician would help me solve the "problem" and it may cost money if the problem was really severe.

I pretended to play along to see what he was up to.  He wanted me to download a file from a website which would allow him to "inspect" the computer.  I was familiar with the program because it is a legitimate program similar to VLC used to log onto people's computers, usually used by technicians and engineers to take over a PC.  I deliberately frustrated him by pretending I just couldn't log onto the site, claiming it must be the virus that is interferring.  And he did get frustrated much to my pleasure.  He kept trying to get me to log onto a different website which was a redirector to the legitimate site.

If I had been a bit more keen I would have asked for his name, number and company name.  Instead, however, I just thanked him for the information and said I would reload my machine from scratch which would thereby destroy the virus.

In conclusion, let me tell you that this was indeed a scam which I looked up after the phonecall.  Here's more info from Microsoft's site.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-security/phone-call-scam-received-call-from-a-technician/6ed2b99c-20ff-468b-a69b-aec78b93f287

I'm glad Monique called me because I have not had to deal with that scam before or since then and it was good to have that experience.

That's it for now.
Happy computing!

Big Mike

Batteries LIKE To Be Used

It's true. Batteries like being used. That is how they live and thrive. I'm speaking metaphorically, of course, about the rechargeables used in laptops, cellphones and cordless phones.

Rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" over time, and this is especially bad news if the battery is never allowed to drop below, say, 90%, before it's charged again to 100% where it usually sits at 99% for days on end.

What happens is that after a while the battery will believe it needs recharging when it gets down to, say 92%. So you've hardly used it at all (maybe 5 or 10 minutes) and it's complaining that it needs recharging!

There was a lady who came into the computer shop one day and explained that she had bought this nice laptop to save space and it sat in this one spot for two years without ever being unplugged. Then one day she decided to take it with her on a trip to Vancouver on the ferry and she was stunned to find out the battery wouldn't last more than 5 minutes and it would die. She couldn't understand why it wouldn't last longer, as she had never used the laptop battery. It had always been plugged in.

I explained to her about how laptop batteries develop a memory and there is a way to reverse the damage, or at least make the situation a bit better until you can get a new one. Remove your laptop battery completely and let it sit on a shelf for three weeks. Then give it good 8 hour charge before you use it. Drain it again and set it on a shelf for a few weeks and it will drain completely just sitting there. Charge it up again with a good 8 hour charge (some battery companies suggest 15 hours). If you repeat this a few times, you old battery will come back to life to a certain extent. But the damage is already done and you should think of buying a new battery soon.

Whenever you can, consider your cellphone battery, your cordless phone battery, and your laptop battery. They really do like to be used. If you can, and it's convenient, drain them right down as low as you can before you charge them up again. Rechargeable batteries will last much longer if you treat them this way.

Moral of the story? If your laptop is going to sit plugged in for months on end, take the battery out. Just don't move it around too much because if the power chord gets loose or something, you don't want to have you machine suddenly power down because the chord was yanked out. A battery would have saved you in that case.

Bottom line: use your battery. Or, if you have a laptop that is always plugged in, remove the battery completely.