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)

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

"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.

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).

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.

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).

"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.

"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 :-)

"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.

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.

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.

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."

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

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

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