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#1
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped
communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf .... "Peter and out." ... "Kevin and out." (Link episode) |
#2
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like "Hello. And how are you today?" It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying for it; you can have a captive audience. Oh, I'm feeling very down today. My dad died and left me all his debts. And then my computer blew up, and shattered the house, bringing down the partition wall with next door. And then an alien flew in through the window, abducted me to a mother-ship in the sky and implanted God knows what in me. I'm finding that I've acquired extraordinary powers; such as I can fly like a bird, and my eyes give out a beam of light which can cut through solid objects like a laser beam, and there's a big S carved on my front, and ... Hello, are you still there? Ed |
#3
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
"Ed Cryer" wrote
| I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like | "Hello. And how are you today?" | It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying | for it; you can have a captive audience. | The only problem with that is that it's likely you're talking to someone in India who's being paid pennies and will gladly keep you on the line for hours if there's a chance of getting you hacked. In the meantime, it's not really their time you're wasting. It's yours. It might be a good strategy for elderly people living alone, though. |
#4
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 20/07/2018 14:22, Mayayana wrote:
"Ed Cryer" wrote | I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like | "Hello. And how are you today?" | It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying | for it; you can have a captive audience. | The only problem with that is that it's likely you're talking to someone in India who's being paid pennies and will gladly keep you on the line for hours if there's a chance of getting you hacked. In the meantime, it's not really their time you're wasting. It's yours. It might be a good strategy for elderly people living alone, though. IME they're mostly not trying to hack you. They're trying to convince you that your PC is dying/seriously infected and that you need to pay them money for them to fix it and look after it in the future. -- Brian Gregory (in England). |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
In message , Brian
Gregory writes: On 20/07/2018 14:22, Mayayana wrote: [] and will gladly keep you on the line for hours if there's a chance of getting you hacked. In the meantime, it's not really their time you're wasting. It's yours. That's the rub. _If_ you have time to waste, yes, plenty of things you can do to wind them up, but I CBA any more. [] IME they're mostly not trying to hack you. They're trying to convince you that your PC is dying/seriously infected and that you need to pay them money for them to fix it and look after it in the future. It may differ from place to place and country to country. Certainly, I'm pretty sure all the ones that have called me in the last year or several have been criminals: the fact that my usual response of "hang on while I get the police on the other line" makes them hang up ... plus, they usually start with "your computer is malfunctioning" or something similar. -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf Never be led astray onto the path of virtue. |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 22/07/2018 17:18, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Brian Gregory writes: On 20/07/2018 14:22, Mayayana wrote: [] and will gladly keep you on the line for hours if there's a chance of getting you hacked. In the meantime, it's not really their time you're wasting. It's yours. That's the rub. _If_ you have time to waste, yes, plenty of things you can do to wind them up, but I CBA any more. [] IME they're mostly not trying to hack you. They're trying to convince you that your PC is dying/seriously infected and that you need to pay them money for them to fix it and look after it in the future. It may differ from place to place and country to country. Certainly, I'm pretty sure all the ones that have called me in the last year or several have been criminals: the fact that my usual response of "hang on while I get the police on the other line" makes them hang up ... plus, they usually start with "your computer is malfunctioning" or something similar. I never said they're not criminals. They are. -- Brian Gregory (in England). |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
... It may differ from place to place and country to country. Certainly, I'm pretty sure all the ones that have called me in the last year or several have been criminals: the fact that my usual response of "hang on while I get the police on the other line" makes them hang up ... plus, they usually start with "your computer is malfunctioning" or something similar. I get a fair number that don't sound like scams but are simply organisations offering to insulate my loft or walls, or to install solar cells. But my view is that *any* organisation that phones me when I haven't asked them to is guilty of the offence of "Pestering Me", irrespective of whether they are scams. Since I say "no" on principle, I'm unlikely to get caught up in a scam, but I resent having to stop what I'm doing to answer the phone to someone who is trying to sell me something. Religious groups who knock at the door tend to get a polite but very forceful "Go away, and don't bother me or any of my neighbours or anyone else" sort of response: I make it very clear that it isn't just what they are "selling" which I object to but the whole concept of going door-to-door. |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
"Mayayana" wrote in message
news "Ed Cryer" wrote | I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like | "Hello. And how are you today?" | It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying | for it; you can have a captive audience. | The only problem with that is that it's likely you're talking to someone in India who's being paid pennies and will gladly keep you on the line for hours if there's a chance of getting you hacked. In the meantime, it's not really their time you're wasting. It's yours. It might be a good strategy for elderly people living alone, though. My grandma used to invite JWs into the house if they called at the door. She'd go along with them and make it sound as if she was really interested and a possible convert. She also had a goof chat to them. Eventually she would come clean that she had no interest in religion at all, and was just doing it as a service to her neighbours in keeping them off the street to prevent them bothering anyone else. She said she got a fair amount of the sort of language that you wouldn't expect JWs to use :-) |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
"NY" wrote
| My grandma used to invite JWs into the house if they called at the door. | She'd go along with them and make it sound as if she was really interested | and a possible convert. She also had a goof chat to them. Eventually she | would come clean that she had no interest in religion at all, and was just | doing it as a service to her neighbours in keeping them off the street to | prevent them bothering anyone else. | | She said she got a fair amount of the sort of language that you wouldn't | expect JWs to use :-) | I'll sometimes talk to them. They're sincere. They mean well. Similarly with the Mormons. They truly hope to save others. It might be naive, but there's generosity there, twisted though it may be. |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 20 Jul 2018, Ed Cryer wrote in
alt.windows7.general: I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like "Hello. And how are you today?" It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying for it; you can have a captive audience. Oh, I'm feeling very down today. My dad died and left me all his debts. And then my computer blew up, and shattered the house, bringing down the partition wall with next door. And then an alien flew in through the window, abducted me to a mother-ship in the sky and implanted God knows what in me. I'm finding that I've acquired extraordinary powers; such as I can fly like a bird, and my eyes give out a beam of light which can cut through solid objects like a laser beam, and there's a big S carved on my front, and ... Hello, are you still there? I used to toy with junk telemarketers until I realized that I was wasting my own time, not theirs. But when I did, one of the most effective tacks was to grab a book and start reading random sentances from it at them in a conversational tone. It had the effect of responding to their spiel with nonsense answers that sounded like they should make sense. It rarely failed to keep them going for a good, long time until they finally hung up in consternation. |
#11
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On Sun, 22 Jul 2018 13:11:16 -0400, Nil
wrote: On 20 Jul 2018, Ed Cryer wrote in alt.windows7.general: I've used a technique with spam callers who start with something like "Hello. And how are you today?" It consists of completely monopolising the conversation. They're paying for it; you can have a captive audience. Oh, I'm feeling very down today. My dad died and left me all his debts. And then my computer blew up, and shattered the house, bringing down the partition wall with next door. And then an alien flew in through the window, abducted me to a mother-ship in the sky and implanted God knows what in me. I'm finding that I've acquired extraordinary powers; such as I can fly like a bird, and my eyes give out a beam of light which can cut through solid objects like a laser beam, and there's a big S carved on my front, and ... Hello, are you still there? I used to toy with junk telemarketers until I realized that I was wasting my own time, not theirs. That's exactly right. If I get a telemarketer (or almost anyone who calls me "Mr Blake" or "Kenneth" rather than Ken), I immediately say "goodbye" and hang up. |
#12
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvJQxgtJW94 You can also report the spam call at 800notes.com, so others will know that phone number may be from a scammer (or it could be spoofed by the scammer) when they do an online search on the phone number (rather than pay for all the lookup services pretending they'll give more details). For landlines and VOIP (from ISPs), you could subscribe to NoMoRobo (nomorobo.com) to get rid of the robocallers. It's free. At most, you hear one phone ring and then it stops if NoMoRobo decides it was a robocaller (not if a spam call by a human but by a robodialer). If a human caller is mis-identified as a robodialer, they are presented with a 4-digit CAPTCHA to complete their call. You can also report robodial calls to NoMoRobo to help yourself and others. Alas, while they also have an Android app, it isn't free. I do use NoMoRobo on my cell phone number, plus I added it to my aunt's home phone (Comcast Voice). You can use Google Voice (if you're in the USA or Canada). They have their own anti-spam caller blacklist. At one time, I got rid of telco (POTS) service and just had a cell phone number. I moved it to Google Voice after testing for a few months. It was the same phone number that I've had for over 40 years (except the area code changed when my area got split up into multiple area codes). It was the number that family, banks, employers, and everyone else ever got. Cost me $20 to migrate to Google Voice. I even got an Obitalk VOIP box to use with my home phone with Google Voice, and got rid of my ISP's voice service. Since then the number of spam calls has gone down a lot. In fact, I can go to voice.google.com, login, and check on the Spam folder, plus I can designate new calls as spam or otherwise choose to block them. With screening turned on, unknown callers (not in my contacts list) must say their name, my phone gets called, and I can choose to accept their call (press 1) or let it go to voicemail. Wrong number callers hang up after hearing the screening prompt or when hearing the outgoing voicemail message, so I'm not bothered with those calls. Human spammers go away at the screening prompt. Robodialers don't ring longer than about 3 times and they don't respond to the screening prompt, so they keep ringing and hang up after their 3 or 4 rings. A robodialer that makes it to the screening prompt won't know to give a name for me to hear, so I hear their robotized spiel when I press 1 and just hang up, but I get extremely few of those calls. You cannot use NoMoRobo with a Google Voice account, so no combining their blacklists. After getting the robodialer to react to your voice and transfer to a human scammer, interrupt yourself by saying there's an emergency and put them on hold. Leave them on hold. The longer they are hold, the less time they have to afflict other victims. You could interrupt them by saying, "Okay, I understand, but I'm wondering if you've heard about the power of Jesus, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah. I'd like to tell you about salvation, brother, and how you, too, can be reborn." Even if they start speaking, just keep talking while ignoring anything they say. One scam trick is to pretend they are from Microsoft who has somehow divined that your computer is infected. They'll take you to Event Viewer to have you see all the errors listed in there. Tell them there are no errors, no warnings, and all entries are info only. They'll be astonished. Keep pretending to do what they ask but don't bother and just report anything that contradicts their intent. Toy with the ****ant. You could tell them you don't have a computer. When they get pushy, say "Hey, you called a public telephone booth and I answered the call while sitting on the bench waiting for the bus." |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 7/20/2018 3:26 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: If I am sitting at my PC when the phone rings, I sometimes have my PC's Fax application answer. I told my daughter that, if she calls and hears Fax synchronization tones, she should hang up; wait a full minute; and then call again. -- David E. Ross http://www.rossde.com/ Attorney-General Sessions claims the bible favors imprisoning illegal aliens. However, God repeatedly commanded us to welcome the stranger in our land. For example, see the following: Exodus 22:20 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=2&CHAPTER=22#P2 131 Exodus 23:9 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=2&CHAPTER=23#P2 151 Deuteronomy 10:19 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=5&CHAPTER=10#P5 200 |
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 7/20/2018 1:51 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 7/20/2018 3:26 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: If I am sitting at my PC when the phone rings, I sometimes have my PC's Fax application answer. I told my daughter that, if she calls and hears Fax synchronization tones, she should hang up; wait a full minute; and then call again. By the way, I get many non-robo telemarketer calls, mostly from home-improvement contractors. Sometimes, instead of merely hanging up, I ask for the name of the contractor. Then I ask for the contractor's liceense number. I live in California, where the law requires contractors to provide their license number when requested if they are soliciting customers. Usually, the caller hangs up instead of giving me the number; but I already have the contractor's name. Now it can be interesting. I go online to http://www.cslb.ca.gov/ and do a search for the contractor, either by name or by license number. If the search shows that the license has expired or been revoked by the state, I file a complaint with the Contractors State License Board. If the license is current, I file a complaint with the FTC's "Do Not Call" registry. I also file a complaint with the Contractors State License Board if the telemarketer fails to provide the license number. I know the FTC will not start an investigation from my complaint alone. However, an accumulation of complaints can indeed result not only in an investigation but also in a fine against the telemarketer. -- David E. Ross http://www.rossde.com/ Attorney-General Sessions claims the bible favors imprisoning illegal aliens. However, God repeatedly commanded us to welcome the stranger in our land. For example, see the following: Exodus 22:20 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=2&CHAPTER=22#P2 131 Exodus 23:9 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=2&CHAPTER=23#P2 151 Deuteronomy 10:19 at http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=5&CHAPTER=10#P5 200 |
#15
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telephone hackers - can we upload something?
On 7/20/2018 6:26 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I had one of these calls yesterday - "your computer has stopped communicating with the Windows server", or something like that. I used my usual: "hang on while I get the police on the other line"; that usually makes them hang up pretty smartish. However, thinking about it afterwards, I wondered: would it be possible to devise something that could do something to their systems, while pretending to do whatever they ask? I've never gone beyond the initial call - I have always seen through them so far, it's not been difficult! - so I don't know what they ask you to _do_. I suspect it isn't likely to be possible, but it would be _so_ satisfying ... (-: Yes, have the Federal law changed to require that the telcos not allow the calling number to be changed and that it must record the actual source. -- Zaidy036 |
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