Linux is good for some things

Dr Who <> wrote:
>
> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I decide to try a different tactic.
....

A couple years back I had an IRL visit from a young woman -- possibly
Indian or Sri Lankan -- claiming "The Minister" (I didn't ask) had mandated
inspections of small businesses for viruses or otherwise signs of
hacking by the Chinese military. This may or may not have been related to
some comments I made on a BB about what I can see in the traffic on the
network of a certain ISP that may or may not be based somewhere N of
the equator.

Anyway... while there was an argument from [whomever] I managed to prevent
them entering the premises by telling them I only had "hack-proof" boxes
(openbsd).

I've noticed also than many sites trying to ssh to my gateways & login
as root characteristically run old Linux 2.4 boxes. (Some of them
even allow anon ftp access whereby you can leave an appropriate
"message" as the password). So telling [whomever] you're a Linux shop may be
less than successful in convincing them you can't be hacked and to go away.

--
To publish research in social sciences you need statistics. To do
physical modeling you need advanced calculus including differential equations.
-- Trawley Trash <>, 22 Jan 2011 13:49 -0800

Dr Who wrote :
> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I
> decide to try a different tactic.
>
>
> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most
> definitely, I can see all this"
>
> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are Linux.
>
> The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>
> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>
> Try it out on them.
>
> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>
> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for other
> things - quite a decent OS now.

Telling them you have an IBM XT (remember them? )running DOS 3.1 gets
the same response.

--
John G.

Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I decide to try a different tactic.

I let the woman ramble on for a long time about the usual crap they go on with, then hit her with the "which computer is infected" line, but that did no good as they were all infected, and I had to agree it all sounded really nasty.

The Delhi drongo thinking she had me on the hook then went on with a huge speel about software and hardware licenses blah blah blah etc etc infinitum.

My PC's were obviously a mess.

After this had gone on for a long while and she repeatedly told me all my Microsft PC were completely fucked, I asked her if she was sure about that several times.

"Yes, most definitely, they are all infected". You can see this ? "Yes, most definitely"

Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most definitely, I can see all this"

Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are Linux.

The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.

BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.

Try it out on them.

Seems to upset their apple cart some what.

Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for other things - quite a decent OS now.

On 14/10/2011 1:08 PM, John G wrote:
> Dr Who wrote :
>> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
>> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off,
>> I decide to try a different tactic.
>>
>>
>> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most
>> definitely, I can see all this"
>>
>> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are
>> Linux.
>>
>> The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>>
>> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>>
>> Try it out on them.
>>
>> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for
>> other things - quite a decent OS now.
>
> Telling them you have an IBM XT (remember them? )running DOS 3.1 gets
> the same response.
>
mention solaris and see what happens

--
X-No-Archive: Yes

On 14 Oct 2011 13:11:53 +1000, "Dr Who"
<> wrote:

I prefer to string them along for as long as possible before
apologising that my extreme computer illiterateness caused me to
mistake the microwave for a PC.

"Dr Who" <> wrote in message
news:4e979a69$...
>
> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I
> decide to try a different tactic.
>
> I let the woman ramble on for a long time about the usual crap they go on
> with, then hit her with the "which computer is infected" line, but that
> did no good as they were all infected, and I had to agree it all sounded
> really nasty.
>
> The Delhi drongo thinking she had me on the hook then went on with a huge
> speel about software and hardware licenses blah blah blah etc etc
> infinitum.
>
> My PC's were obviously a mess.
>
> After this had gone on for a long while and she repeatedly told me all my
> Microsft PC were completely fucked, I asked her if she was sure about that
> several times.
>
> "Yes, most definitely, they are all infected". You can see this ? "Yes,
> most definitely"
>
> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most
> definitely, I can see all this"
>
> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are
> Linux.
>
> The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>
> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>
> Try it out on them.
>
> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>
> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for
> other things - quite a decent OS now.

What other things are that?

John G wrote:
> Dr Who wrote :
>> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
>> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to ****
>> off, I decide to try a different tactic.
>>
>>
>> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes,
>> most definitely, I can see all this"
>>
>> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are
>> Linux. The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>>
>> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>>
>> Try it out on them.
>>
>> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>>
>> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good
>> for other things - quite a decent OS now.
>
> Telling them you have an IBM XT (remember them? )running DOS 3.1 gets
> the same response.

It doesn't matter what you tell them, as soon as they know you aren't a
victim of their scam they're no longer interested..

The trick is to convince them that you are seeing what they expect you to
see and string them along until they ask you to go to the site they use to
log into your computer. Tell them you are getting a 404. They will try to
get you into multiple alternatives. Keep telling them you really want to get
rid of your viruses and need them to help you... and they work themselves
into a frenzy trying to work out why you can't log in.

They really want those commissions when they get that close.

On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:11:53 +1000, Dr Who wrote:

> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I
> decide to try a different tactic.
>
> I let the woman ramble on for a long time about the usual crap they go
> on with, then hit her with the "which computer is infected" line, but
> that did no good as they were all infected, and I had to agree it all
> sounded really nasty.
>
> The Delhi drongo thinking she had me on the hook then went on with a
> huge speel about software and hardware licenses blah blah blah etc etc
> infinitum.
>
> My PC's were obviously a mess.
>
> After this had gone on for a long while and she repeatedly told me all
> my Microsft PC were completely fucked, I asked her if she was sure about
> that several times.
>
> "Yes, most definitely, they are all infected". You can see this ? "Yes,
> most definitely"
>
> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most
> definitely, I can see all this"
>
> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are
> Linux.
>
> The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>
> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>
> Try it out on them.
>
> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>
> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for
> other things - quite a decent OS now.

I got one of those calls once. They were totally confused when I told
them I don't have a Control Panel or 'C drive'.



--
Defenestrate Windows ®

I just say that I don't have a computer.

But I also like the idea of stringing them along as far as I can to see what
happens...

"Parko" <> wrote in message
news:j7ajtc$883$...
> On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:11:53 +1000, Dr Who wrote:
>
>> Been getting the Delhi Microsoft scammers ringing up lately and while
>> normally I would just abuse the silly buggers and tell em to **** off, I
>> decide to try a different tactic.
>>
>> I let the woman ramble on for a long time about the usual crap they go
>> on with, then hit her with the "which computer is infected" line, but
>> that did no good as they were all infected, and I had to agree it all
>> sounded really nasty.
>>
>> The Delhi drongo thinking she had me on the hook then went on with a
>> huge speel about software and hardware licenses blah blah blah etc etc
>> infinitum.
>>
>> My PC's were obviously a mess.
>>
>> After this had gone on for a long while and she repeatedly told me all
>> my Microsft PC were completely fucked, I asked her if she was sure about
>> that several times.
>>
>> "Yes, most definitely, they are all infected". You can see this ? "Yes,
>> most definitely"
>>
>> Hmm, pretty serious, and these are all Microsoft computers? "yes, most
>> definitely, I can see all this"
>>
>> Well I said, you must have rung the wrong number coz all my PC's are
>> Linux.
>>
>> The effect of that word "Linux" was immediate.
>>
>> BANG - the phone was slammed down in virtually a nano second.
>>
>> Try it out on them.
>>
>> Seems to upset their apple cart some what.
>>
>> Actually I do have one PC running the latest Ubuntu and it is good for
>> other things - quite a decent OS now.
>
> I got one of those calls once. They were totally confused when I told
> them I don't have a Control Panel or 'C drive'.
>
>
>
> --
> Defenestrate Windows ®