Dear Computer Lady,
I receive almost weekly calls from some company that tells me that my computer is sending all kinds of information from windows out to the internet and they represent the Windows company and need to access my computer in order to fix the problem. This has been going on for a couple of years.
I view this as a fraud and never allow them to access my computer and have repeatedly asked them to discontinue the calls. This never happens.
Am I mistaken or is this real? If it is fraudulent how can I stop the calls?
Thanks for your helpful responses to other problems.
Hope you can help, Paul L in Utah
Dear Paul,
I get these calls too.
You are right to hang up on them, it is nothing more than a scam. Microsoft will never call you to tell you that your computer is having problems.
Often, the scammers will have you sit at your computer and bring up a screen with a long identification number that they will then read to you (it is supposed to be proof that they are getting the signal from your computer) the thing is, this number that they have you display on your screen is THE SAME ON EVERY WINDOWS COMPUTER! They try to tell you that it is a unique identification number for your computer, but it is not.
Asking them to stop calling you will do no good. They are not legitimate, law abiding companies. The only way to get them to stop calling you is to change to an unlisted telephone number.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Boston is a Web designer, Social Media Consultant and managing editor of, “Ask The Computer Lady”.
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I sometimes enjoy myself by telling these callers that I don’t have a computer, and stringing them along from there. At lest they aren’t calling anyone else while talking to me.
We don’t want an unlisted number but neither do we want nuisance calls. Our answer is to have an answering machine and caller ID. We never answer the phone unless we know who is calling and we want to speak with them. The phone is there for our convenience not for the callers.