“World Wide Web Consortium” Scam, 020 3129 1891
A man calling himself “Steve Samuels” with a thick Asian accent phoned us this morning from a WITHHELD NUMBER and said he was from the World Wide Web Consortium, in charge of the internet.
He was going to switch off my PC because it was sending error messages. This was so absurd a concept that I laughed, which angered him. He told me that if I didn’t believe him I was to press my Windows key, but I couldn’t find it on my Mac keyboard. He then hung up, but three of his colleagues have called back with the same message in the past two hours.
The callers were aggressive and persistent. I told them I believed they were scammers, and different people then called back from 020 3129 1891 to ask how dare I call them scammers.
Although 020 3129 1891 is a London number the connection was appalling, as if I was talking to the Indian sub-continent. And mysteriously all the callers had pronounced “Indian” type accents — they could have been from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka (how about that cricket T20 last night?!) Bangladesh or anywhere.
One told me he was calling from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He certainly didn’t originate from there, and he couldn’t explain why the phone was showing a London number. In fact he seemed upset my phone was showing a caller ID at all.
I haven’t worked out what the scam is about. We never got to the stage where they asked for money, although once they learned I used a Mac they attempted to steer me to a website, teamviewer.com, which allows remote access to a computer. I wasn’t happy to go there, so I didn’t.
What was it about? I’m much too sophisticated to be taken in by a scammer (although I’m delighted to report I now have $641.89 in my FanBox account, according to my daily statement). But every day scammers are becoming cleverer and more plausible, while I become more weak-minded and susceptible.
It’s just a matter of time. My super-smart friend David was taken in by an early appearance of this now well-known scam, and as sure as eggs is eggs there will be a scammer with a higher IQ than mine plotting my downfall even as I type.
But not quite yet. I’m not ready.
March 29th, 2014 at 14:41
I had pretty much the same experience today, 29 March, although the caller sounded more like they originated from west Africa. Hopeless story ! He said his name was Edward Matthew (I love the way they randomly pick names). The phone number he gave (eventually – after getting very muddled up) appeared to be 01137 810646. However, the caller ID number was 00 40 48791 5545
April 28th, 2014 at 15:10
John, how on earth do you get a caller ID display that shows foreign numbers? I want one! ’40’ is Romania, not a country world-renowned for its probity, alas. But are there many West Africans in Romania? Slim pickings, I’d have thought.
May 27th, 2014 at 20:20
I’ve been getting these calls nearly daily for several months now. Always sound like they are coming from India, and always it is about my computer doing something horrible to “the network.” Told the guy today that I never use windows, have many, many computers, have 3 expensive security analysts checking my computers daily. I ask about their wives, education; I flirt like mad even though I’m old enough to be their grandma. Today’s caller claimed to be from Newcastle, Australia. Then he forgot and said he was from Newcastle, UK. After the first call many months ago I told all of them that I had reported them to the FBI. Nothing scares them away, and I no longer hang up on them but engage them in vapid conversation (if I have the time and the wits) to drive them nuts. What can we do about these calls. My caller ID usu. has a phone number, if any, of 000-000-1234. And I always ask: “Does your mother know you are doing this–committing fraud?” Still, nothing gets them riled. Any ideas?
July 23rd, 2014 at 02:02
Something very similar happened to me today. He (Indian accent and noisy background) said he was from the World Wide Web. I asked, “What company are you with?” he laughed and said, “I am not with a company; I am from the World Wide Web. There is a problem with your computer.” I hung up.