scam phone calls

Al.Neri

Super Star
I just got a call off some "PC tech help" company informing me that I had contacted them to help with my pc which is running slow and/or has virus/spyware installed, which I did not.

I know they are scam calls and I wouldn't follow their advice if my life genuinely depended on it, but I'm curious as to know how they find out peoples personal details.

anyone know how they harvest their info?

I know better than to submit my real name, address, phone number and real email address and other contact info if I am registering to sites in general, so it's not from that route.

could my ISP or any legitimate online shopping site I register on (amazon, GAME, TESCO etc), be leaking out such info to 3rd party companies without my knowledge?
 

Gorman

Author Level
oO what was the name of the company? No one can give out any details unless you have agreed to it by ticking a box or whatever.
 

Al.Neri

Super Star
that's what he said the name of the company was, "PC Tech Help". I didn't hang on the line long enough to find out more, I was in a rush to head out. I had a doc appointment that I was already running late for.

I always make sure to read the TOU before signing up to a site that requires my details, and from what I can recall, I've never come across one that has said they will share my info with 3rd party sites & companies.
 

Al.Neri

Super Star
yeah, I know, I'm just trying to figure out how they get my info. they even quoted my blueyonder email address that I only use in very rare private circumstances. I can track what I have used that email address to register for very easily, so I know from checking those sites TOU's that it should not have been passed on by them. I also know I have never used it publicly to join any message boards, sport sites, gaming sites or anything like that.
 

steveuk87

Super Star
i used to work for a compony that used a little machine to auto dial numbers and before it connected could tel if it was a live or dead number.. as it gives off a slight charge if its a live number.. clever little gizmo but as for your info i got no idea :) just gotta be careful like!

Steve
 

Xavien

Enthusiast
Its very unlikely that a company would leak your info but as Gis said it can be got from the electoral roll. A few xmas's ago i had a business phone call saying that my company had advertised in their magazine and that they are ready to take payment. When i enquired what the magazine was i knew that we had no such agreement as i deal with that side of things. I was then told that if i didnt pay they would take it further to which i introduced them to some new 4 and 6 letter words. It was an obvious scam but a lesser person or maybe someone in a bigger firm would quite easily be fooled by that and would give their CC details over the phone. You have to be very very careful these days. There are alot of lazy (insert word or words here) people out there that would more then happily scam you out or into something then go out and get a proper job.

Its not just over the internet that a lot of these situations pop up these days.
 

Zeplini

Moderator
Moderator
Dont some company's sell your info unless you tick the little boxes at the end that opt you out of any third parties etc
 

Frank

Bronze Level Poster
we get auto dialled up to 5-6 times a day. Even signed up to a BT scheme which should stop it. Nowt works. We dont give out number out willy nilly either. Answerphone now screens all calls.

Spammy buggers.
 

Xavien

Enthusiast
We use to get auto dialed as well we even got the police involved but nether the phone company nor the police could trace the calls or do anything about it, eventually the childish idiots who spend their time auto dialing people stop, probably when they IQs exceed 10 or so
 

Al.Neri

Super Star
these things are all well and good, and I can understand that they can get info off electoral registers etc, but that doesn't explain how they got my email address.
 

LDUK

Master Poster
Sneaky sneaky. For people that don't know much about these things, will most likely fall into their trap.
 

JMOB

Bronze Level Poster
Selling info

Just to let you know, PC Specialist never provides database information to anyone else. Your information is safe with us.
 

Xavien

Enthusiast
I dont know how they can get your email address either but its obviously very easy as the amount of spam you can end up with sometimes is increddible.
 

LDUK

Master Poster
Ha lol, I would defo rather have fun with them. I would pretend to follow their instructions, then say "ah no, what's this?" and they'll be like "got you now sucka, pay up!" And I'll be like "actually, I got you sucka, blam!" And swiftly clunk the phone down. Actually I would push the button since my phone isn't old lol.
 
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