Regulators Smash Global Phone Tech Support Scam Operation

A reader sends this excerpt from ZDNet: "Regulators from five countries joined together in an operation to crack down on a series of companies orchestrating one of the most widespread Internet scams of the decade. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other international regulatory authorities today said they shut down a global criminal network that bilked tens of thousands of consumers by pretending to be tech support providers. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, speaking during a press conference with a Microsoft executive and regulators from Australia and Canada, said 14 companies and 17 individuals were targeted in the investigation. In the course of the crackdown, U.S. authorities already have frozen $188,000 in assets, but Leibowitz said that would increase over time thanks to international efforts."

A Horse of a Different Color

[CanHasDIY]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other international regulatory authorities today said they shut down a global criminal network that bilked tens of thousands of consumers by pretending to be tech support providers.

... When asked if the FTC had any intention of going after the other international crime ring, responsible for bilking the world's population for trillions, the FTC officials simply replied, "Are you kidding? Those bank guys throw hella parties for us, why would we want to discourage that???"

Wait a second I never heard of this

[fustakrakich]

Are they saying Tech Support calls you?

This must be some kind of joke

Re:Wait a second I never heard of this

[mordred99]

To quote a typical slashdot meme ... "Must be Russia"

Re:Heh, I remember them

[Spottywot]

I've had them on the phone on more than occasion, the funniest time was was probably the third time they called, it was an asian sounding woman who told me my computer was sending them messages that it was infected. I asked which one as I have three, she said I could go to any one, anyway I humoured her to find out what the scam was. She took me to a remote access site (which in itself seemed perfectly legitimate), anyway at this point I'd seen enough and called her out as a scammer, her response made me laugh, 'Hey you!' She said, 'Stick the phone up your ass!' and then she hung up on me. Awesome customer service :) Glad they've been caught.

Re:Heh, I remember them

[r1348]

Stick the phone up your ass? I see you went for Premium Service...

Re:Well, I'm glad to hear they're being dealt with

[west]

Well, given the arrests, if I get another call, I'll be seriously attempted to answer something like..

Scammer: I'm calling from Microsoft and ....

Me: Wait a moment, its all over Google News in the last hour. They're raiding 23 workplaces all over India for you guys... Oh, right. Google India is probably blocking it until they're finished the raids... Wait... There, I've got it up here on my screen. OH MY GOD!

They've updated. The police have found bodies! OH MY GOD. Lots of bodies. Why? Why? Oh Jesus. [Reading] Police suspect the criminals decided to eliminate all witnesses who could testify against them. Oh My God. Jesus. 48 men and 6 women in 3 locations? Dear God, what sort of psychos are you working for? Look it up. Look it up on American Google, if you can get through.

Oh God. I'm so sorry. Oh God. This is crazy! They used machetes in one location! I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this. I'm so sorry.

Click.

Actually, I don't think I'd have the guts to pull that off. But oh boy, am I tempted.

Re:A pic of the goatse guy when you need it

[Anonymous Coward]

I would have created a Vm with the goatse guy in the background and let him have and listen to his or her reaction upon seeing it. I would then go on claiming that was the last guy who called here. Want to be next?

Re:I assisted the AFP on one call

[Macgrrl]

You joke, my husband used to do L2 corporate internet support and was on the phone to a customer on time when the police raided the premises - from memory he put it on speaker so the rest of his team could hear it.

Re:Heh, I remember them

[tehcyder]

My dear old mum got them once and had them on the phone for about an hour (she was bored).

They finally hung up when she told them she had made a mistake, and the screen she was looking at was not actually a computer monitor, just the TV.