Computer Maintenance Department Archives - The Silicon Underground David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Tue, 04 Nov 2025 01:09:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://kerosin.digital/rss-chimp16321610 A security professional fights back against tech support scammers https://dfarq.homeip.net/a-security-professional-fights-back-against-tech-support-scammers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-security-professional-fights-back-against-tech-support-scammers Sun, 14 Sep 2014 14:09:59 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7371 I guess Matt Weeks is as sick as I am of tech support scammers, because he developed a way to fight back, in the form of a Metasploit module that exploits a software defect in the AMMYY remote access tool that

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]]> 7371 How I turned a junker PC into a trap for scammers https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-i-turned-a-junker-pc-into-a-trap-for-scammers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-i-turned-a-junker-pc-into-a-trap-for-scammers Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:00:54 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=6621 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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]]> 6621 Deconstructing my conversation with “Computer Maintenance Department” https://dfarq.homeip.net/deconstructing-my-conversation-with-computer-maintenance-department/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=deconstructing-my-conversation-with-computer-maintenance-department Thu, 23 May 2013 11:00:46 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=6624 My tell-all about my encounter with “Computer Maintenance Department” was a little heavy on the jargon yesterday. It occurs to me that explaining what some of the terminology means, and the problem with their reasoning, may be helpful. I’ve also

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]]> 6624 This “Computer Maintenance Department” sure doesn’t know much about computer maintenance https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-i-turned-the-tables-on-the-computer-maintenance-department-scam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-i-turned-the-tables-on-the-computer-maintenance-department-scam Wed, 22 May 2013 12:00:26 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=6622 “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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]]> 6622 “Computer Maintenance Department” called me again from India https://dfarq.homeip.net/computer-maintenance-department-called-me-again-from-india/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=computer-maintenance-department-called-me-again-from-india Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:43 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=6588 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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