853-273-9379

I just got a call from 853-273-9379.  A male with a non-American accent asked for my husband, but when I told him that my husband wasn’t here, he told me he was calling from (couldn’t understand the company) about our computer.  I informed him that we no longer have one.  He hung up on me.

Caller said this was about my computer. The story is that processes are shutting down in Windows because Microsoft quit providing support and updates, so they can help get those processes turned back on. This sounds like a scam - and it might be - but when I kept pressing for more information I was transferred to a "supervisor" who eventually gave me the name of the company and the website for it.  www.tech-helpline.com  Looking at the website I asked if they're really trying to sell tech support, and she admitted they were..."...but only if you find there's a big problem with your computer."   Still sounded fishy to me.  I didn't have them do it, but I am guessing they have you look at your services list and they see that many or most of them are stopped (as they normally are) - and they make you think that's a problem (which it's not)...and then they sell you their software.  So - probably a scam.

These are the scam artists that put malware on your computer making the page you are looking at turn into a "warning" that your computer is infected and will be shut down. They then get a signal from the malware and immediately call you to "fix it" for a fee. So, they are causing the problem they want you to pay them to fix. If you get the message immediately close the page if your computer is frozen because of it use your task manager to close your browser. If you can't get to it ctrl+alt+del all at once will open it.