caller id Archives - The Silicon Underground

That time I told a tech support scammer my name was Naim

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 11:00:38 +0000

The other night my phone rang. The caller ID said some state I don’t ever get calls from, so I knew what was going to happen when I picked up the phone. I didn’t have much time, but I answered anyway.

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“Windows Technical Support” ups its game–and so do I

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:00:28 +0000

It was bedtime and the phone rang. “Unknown name,” my Caller ID said, and the phone number was “1.” Sounds legit, right? No? I picked it up anyway. There was an audible delay after I said, “Hello.” “Hello?” a distant

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Some tips for trolling fake technical support calls

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 00:54:49 +0000

I did a little more digging after getting yet another fake technical support phone call last week, and I’ve done some thinking on my own. If you want to troll these criminals when they call you, here are some ideas.

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Mr. Genius Man from “Windows Technical Support” gets nasty

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 11:00:03 +0000

I got another “Windows Technical Support” call on Friday evening. My caller ID said Minneapolis, and since I have coworkers in Minneapolis, I answered. But the guy on the other end was a long way from Minneapolis and probably doesn’t

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How I turned a junker PC into a trap for scammers

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:00:54 +0000

As my regulars will be aware, for the past few weeks I’ve been getting lots of phone calls from “Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department.” What I’ve found during these phone calls is that debating with them does no good, and

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This “Computer Maintenance Department” sure doesn’t know much about computer maintenance

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:26 +0000

“Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department” (1-645-781-2458 on my caller ID) called again. Lots of people are aware of these phone calls. They call, make vague claims about receiving a report that your computer is running slow and giving you errors,

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“Computer Maintenance Department” called me again from India

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:43 +0000

So, “Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department” called me again last night. This time I decided to mess with him a bit more. This is the second time. (No, “Peggy” wasn’t his real name, nor did he identify himself as “Peggy,”

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Somebody just tried to hack me

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:15:43 +0000

Caller: “I calling from technical support. We found issue with your PC.” Me: “What company are you with?” Caller: “CSA is the name of my company.” Me: “What’s our business relationship?” Caller: “We found issue with your PC. Our technicians

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Things I wish I’d known about AT&T U-Verse before I signed up

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:43:06 +0000

As I wrote earlier this week, I’m a new AT&T U-Verse customer. Prior to that, I was using old-school POTS with a DSL connection. Between the phone service, DSL, and long-distance calls, I was spending around $75 a month. So

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Being more interested in growth than being Lutheran? Hardly.

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:06:32 +0000

On Monday, a group of protesters gathered outside the Vatican, er, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road.

Their complaint: Issues, Etc., a popular radio show on the LCMS's unpopular talk radio station, got cancelled without warning, and the host and producer were fired.

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