Have we been conned ?

[hardy49]

About an hour ago my husband took a phone call from a man who told him that Microsoft had received messages that there were corrupted files on our computer.My husband handed the phone to me saying that somebody from Microsoft was on the line.When I spoke to the man he said the same thing and then asked me to insert "eventvwr" in the "run"box.He then showed me a box showing a number of "warning"and"alert"messages.He said that my computer was in danger of crashing and that if we took it to a computer engineer we would be charged hundreds of pounds.He then said that by doing it online he could arrange to have the files removed for £79.99.At this time we were still under the impression that he was from Microsoft.He then asked me to type in the web page www.helppconline.com At the mention of the payment both my husband and myself got a bit concerned.My husband asked the chap how could we be sure that he was genuine and he said that everything had been verified and they were working on the computer and asked to be handed back to me.I hope I do not sound too much like an idiot but he then asked or our payment details which he needed before carrying on.With this one off payment we would be covered for everything for a year.He said the charge for our desktop computer would only be £65 as this was a special promotion.It was only when I heard the word "promotion"that I became afraid that we had been very cleverly bamboozled into taking out this subscription.
At this moment somebody is working on the computer clearing files and we had a phone call saying they would ring when they had finished.
We are pensioners and can ill aford to pay out sums of money like this but because they kept mentioning Microsoft we thought we should go along with it especially as we bank online and are worried about security.
Do you think it is genuine ?

[redcrx]

if someone is working on your PC remotely then pull the plug immediately!!!!

[jno]

no I don't. Never let anyone work on your computer remotely. Never believe anyone who calls up claiming he can fix your computer. Fowllow redcrx's advice.

[mxyzptlk]

I think you already know the answer. Of course its a con. MIcrosoft will not know you have corrupt files, much less have the time to call and tell you

[woofgang]

oh dear YES its a con. If you have given bank or credit card details, cancel the card RIGHT NOW

[ashfordshe]

I doubt very much if it is genuine - my sister had the same call a couple of weeks ago and politely told them where to get off (or words to that effect!"

[redcrx]

i presume that you are using a differnt PC to post here? if you are then please do as i said and stop the connection, turn the PC off that they have access to. The change all passwords etc on your internet banking and anything else you have passwords to. You have just given someone the opportunity to take any info they want off of your PC and youve been conned into paying them as well.

[sir.prize]

hardy49 - have a look here

http://forums.moneysa...wthread.php?t=3176592

[WELSHYORKIE]

Ashfor - my son took a call at home yesterday and was definitely not polite - the second word was definitely off and the first had four letters ending in k

[sir.prize]

... and here

http://www.phonesrevi...ming-to-be-microsoft/

[ummmm]

Oh dear.....

You need to act fast...

[Canary42]

Yes, you have been conned. Follow previous advice immediately.

[starone]

What a shame. You have been conned. I always ring off immediately if I get a call like this, although once or twice I have almost succumbed. It is so easy to believe them if you do not know much about how computers work.

[VHG]

NEVER give personal details to ANYONE who phones you up, whatever they say, whatever they threaten, however importat they say it is.

I am afraid you have been scammed and conned.

What worse is that they may have had access to your computer and stolen personal details off it.

They also have details of your credit card and may right now be buying all sorts of things with it.

[samak]

CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON

[AlBags]

Have you noticed CON is in that website address?
Foreign gentleman was it?

Don't trust ANY caller selling ANYTHING .. That's my motto : )

[boxtops]

I am really sorry to say this, but this is a scam. There is no way that Microsoft could tell remotely that something is the matter with your computer. This has been flagged up on here several times before - if they rang you, they are fishing for your money.

Get off the computer and on the phone now, and cancel that card you used to make the payment - your card reporting line will be open 24 hours.

If anyone rings you, it's unsolicited, never give anyone any money unless YOU have asked them to do it.

[TTG]

If any of the scumbags call, ask them for an email address so you can email your details. Then signup their email address for newsletters.

[pusskin]

a foreign sounding man rang me house today, and mentioned the word COMPUTER.
I slammed my phone down -- end of story.

[Old_Geezer]

Don't sit on the fence samak, what do you think?

I'm unsure the expression "cleverly bamboozled" really fits.

"helpp con line .com" ? says it all.

No offence Hardy but never trust someone who phones you up out of the blue and claims to know what your PC is doing. Obviously never give out bank or payment card details or money. Never let them control your PC over the Internet.

If in doubt use Google or your favourite search engine to look up the words "scam", and in this case "eventvwr".

If they are really "working on the computer clearing files" then get an expert to ensure they've not loaded anything nasty on your PC. But if they just claim to be working and you've not allowed them access, then just tell them to go away, in no uncertain terms.