Oh no! My Microsoft license has expired! What should I do?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (206140)
Walnut Creek, California
July 15, 2017 3:57pm CST
I received an emergency call this morning telling me that my Microsoft license has expired. Actually, the exact wording was" "My license key has been expired." The voice sounded American.
I was thankful for the call, but couldn't figure out why they didn't mention me by name. I also couldn't figure out why the terse voice of the woman on the other end sounded as if it had been "cut and pasted." There were weird pauses in the message.
Fortunately, to reactivate my Microsoft, all I had to do was call an 800 number. I immediately called and gave them my credit card number, date of birth, social security number, and waist size. I'm happy to report that my Microsoft is working fine.
For those interested in making sure that their Microsoft is not about to expire (or those bolder at "messing" with scammers than I am), here's the number: 1-800-549-5301. What has been your most recent "scam du jour"?
27 people like this
29 responses
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
15 Jul 17
I wish I could tell you some exciting scammer story but I get no phone calls on my little boring cell phone and don't have a landline so..all mine are emails.
5 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
15 Jul 17
@TheHorse Oh they are always hilarious names like you may have the pleasure of meeting Mr Hilee Salasee or some such from somewhere in the back of beyond.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (206140)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Jul 17
@TiarasOceanView As soon as my $5,000,000 US arrives from Barrister Mbalo Mbalo, I will retire and take on all scammers head on.
4 people like this
@TheHorse (206140)
• Walnut Creek, California
17 Jul 17
Someone more tech savvy than me, perhaps @DaddyEvil or @JolietJake or @Owlwings, will have a solution to that one. I hate it when it's hard to find a number to get basic customer service. I assume that's by design.
3 people like this
@RubyHawk (99423)
• Atlanta, Georgia
18 Jul 17
@JolietJake I suppose not. I couldn't find it and I'm really worried.
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
16 Jul 17
I got a spam scam in the snail mail a couple of days ago telling me that some jesus dude got killed 2,000 years ago because I did something bad when I was 10. I recycled the letter but not until I'd entertained a few very evil, er, mischievous, thoughts.
PS. I don't care what others believe, but I don't particularly enjoy being proselytized.
2 people like this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
16 Jul 17
@TheHorse Yes, sigh, at least according to the snail mail. But I gave up guilt for Lent, so whatever. I'm not exactly a believer in Christian mythology anyhow, but I do believe in recycling.
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
15 Jul 17
Hmmm, I have not gotten that one yet. I dont know what the last one wanted because I kept screaming in the phone "hello" over and over till they hung up 
2 people like this
@TheHorse (206140)
• Walnut Creek, California
16 Jul 17
@andriaperry Ask them questions like "What do you think of Trump?" and see what they say.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
15 Jul 17
@TheHorse no, not yet but they call daily so I will look forward to that one and I will mash buttons instead of scream into the phone
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
16 Jul 17
No scams here. I do get calls from telemarketing telling me that I once stayed at one of their resorts, after which I hang up because I've never stayed at a resort.
2 people like this
@Genipher (5405)
• United States
15 Jul 17
I was called twice by someone from a "legal office" to let me know my brother (whom I haven't spoken to in 8 years--no drama, we just both suck at communicating) needed to be located so they could serve him papers for some court thing. Since I didn't have his phone number, I called my sister who contacted our cousin to get the scoop. Brother had no idea what was going on--there were NO court issues in his life.
So the first time they left a message on my phone. The second time they called I told them such a person did not live at our address and hung up on them.
A month or so later, my other brother got a similar call.
We both looked it up online and discovered that this is some sort of scam. I don't quite understand it...something about getting people's information and scaring them into paying fake court fees or something.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (206140)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Jul 17
Interesting. There's also the "missing person" scam. I got an e-mail "from" a friend who had "been arrested in England and needed money." We'd played a gig together the night before. Heh. Then my family got a similar phone call about me! I think I'd been arrested in Florida or something.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
16 Jul 17
I got a new one yesterday. A letter arrived informing me that I had won £650,000 in a Lottoland draw held n Zurich.
Not only was I amused that I had won in a draw that I never entered, but it also seemed strange for a draw in Switzerland to pay our in British pounds. There was a telephone number supplied to claim the prize.
I was tempted to call to check what the scam comprised of, but did not bother. After all, it is sure to be a request for a handling fee.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
16 Jul 17
I haven't had any, but my husband is getting slammed. The call are for auto insurance. He tell them to lose the number but it doesn't work.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
17 Jul 17
@TheHorse He gets several calls a week. They are relentless.
@sabtraversa (12994)
• Italy
15 Jul 17
I need to create some sort of protection against curses, I'm often afraid the scammers will curse me if I decide to "bait" them. 
1 person likes this
@sabtraversa (12994)
• Italy
15 Jul 17
@TheHorse I've never tried, but I love the 419 Eater site and I sometimes watch YouTube videos about the scambaiting activity, such as ScamBait Central.
Do you have anti-voodoo dolls? 
I will surely need one if I plan to start baiting. 
Do you have anti-voodoo dolls? I will surely need one if I plan to start baiting. 1 person likes this
@TheHorse (206140)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Jul 17
@sabtraversa Um, my sound hole coasters have anti-voodoo properties. Nobody who has a pair has ever been a victim of voodoo.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
16 Jul 17
Oh lordy @TheHorse I get so sick of all these types of calls I could just scream; so if you hear a strange sound in Pleasant Hill, it's me from down here in Texas.
1 person likes this
and a raffle that i didn't join
@paigea (35716)
• Canada
18 Jul 17
@TheHorse One time I said I didn't have a computer and hung up, and the fellow called me back and told me I was lying and that he knew I had a computer!
I sometimes do my confused old lady act. 'Oh, I am so glad you called to help me. My computer is having problems." on and on. But generally I get bored before they do!
Once I got a call saying I won a trip to Orlando. I asked if there were any good ski resorts I could visit. I asked if I could bring my cat on my holiday, etc. She finally talked to someone else and then came back and tried to talk over me to do her spiel and then she hung up. lol It is so annoying how many of these scams there are.
"
way to go, now the account can not only be matched against your personal information and phone number, but now, also your DNA. closing all the loop holes.
@FourWalls (62329)
• United States
15 Jul 17
Did you include a sample of your DNA? 
I've noticed that I've been getting a rash of e-mails from "Amazon" and "iTunes Store" (one of which I do have an account with, the other I don't), saying things like "thank you for your order of $382.74" or something like that. Obviously if I don't have an account with one I didn't order $382.74 worth of stuff from them, did I?
I've noticed that I've been getting a rash of e-mails from "Amazon" and "iTunes Store" (one of which I do have an account with, the other I don't), saying things like "thank you for your order of $382.74" or something like that. Obviously if I don't have an account with one I didn't order $382.74 worth of stuff from them, did I?1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
15 Jul 17
The way that one UK cellular network (out of 4 or so!) is throttling data since new regulations came into force on 15-June forcing all carriers in the European Union to provide calls, text and data at THE SAME RATE as if the user was at home when in any of the EU member countries.
As you know one of my bug bearers with O2 is currently there Roaming in the EU which we all know that they throttle. On the 15th June 2017, EU made changes that all the EU networks had to offer cross roaming free of charge, so you can use your own allowanc
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
15 Jul 17
@TheHorse A number of cell phone providers operate in each of the countries in the EU. Up until 15-June, each company imposed punitive rates on calls made when roaming off-net to one of the other countries' companies.
The EU said, "henceforth, any cell phone operator in any country in the EU shall provide cell phone service to a customer of any other cell phone company in any other country at exactly the same rates as that customer would pay if he were in his own house or place of work on his home network".
One provider has taken to throttling the data rates their customers can get when they roam onto another network in another part of the EU. Not only that, this company's Contract (pre-pay) customers get throttled more aggressively than do the same company's Pay-As-You-Go (post-pay) customers.
It is a rip-off of the highest order, punishing the company's own long-standing high-usage customers.
Shocking!
1 person likes this
@librarygeek1980 (3137)
• United States
16 Jul 17
Man, all I ever get are the calls from my senators office, and the occasional one from a car I have never owned saying my warranty is up... guess I just aint pissing off enough call centers, lol
1 person likes this
