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Microsoft Windows telephone scam.

If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be a tech support operator, be careful. They may even say they are calling on behalf of Microsoft. You may be the intended target of a scam, perpetrated by criminals overseas who are attempting to hack into your computer and/or trick you into paying them.
These scammers will make some or all of the following claims:
1) They're calling on behalf of 'Windows' or 'Microsoft'.
Microsoft would never call individual customers, and certainly wouldn't offer unsolicited technical support.
2) Your PC is'about to fail' or has a virus.
Even if this were true, how would they know? This is not information that your system would broadcast to anyone except its main user: YOU.
3) They can prove you PC is broken by showing you the errors.
Typically, they use a program called 'Event Viewer' to show evidence of errors on your system. The errors shown here are inconsequential, and are not generally intended for home users to interpret.
4) They can fix your PC if you install their software.
The sofware they direct you to install is malicious, and will allow them to take control of your PC, installing keyloggers or trojans and steeling passwords.
5) You can get lifetime tech support for a one-off fee.
At best, you will lose the money paying for a service that doesn't exist. At worst, they will use your payment details to take further payments from you.
If challenged, the scammers may become abusive. If you believe you are being targeted, tell the scammer that you do not own a computer, and they should hang up.
Because the crime originates abroad, the authorites cannot easily help you if you are taken in. THe only way to fight the scammers is to raise awareness, so that it stops working. Please warn your friends and relatives. The more people who know about this, the better chance we have of preventing the scammers from succeeding.
Please Note: This was originally published in Micro Mart, September 2010 as a flyer, so all credit for this goes to them.