[geeks] Scam ware on MacOS and Linux

[Lionel Peterson]

Hike,

If this 'scammer' had a script targeting Windows, Mac, and Linux as you
claim:

"This was the first time that I heard of this scam targeting Mac and Linux
computers."

Why was the caller confused that your computer lacked a Windows key and was
again confused when you said you were on a Linux computer? Wouldn't a script
that targets all three platforms cover such contingencies?

I read nothing in your story that leads me to believe the caller had any idea
what computer platform you were running (Mac or Linux), all I see is a scammer
that refused to give up when confronted with something *not* in the script.
That's quite the opposite of 'targeting' IMHO.

Lionel

> On Jul 1, 2016, at 4:12 PM, hike <mh1272 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Lionel, you assumed facts not in evidence.
>
> Has anyone else received these type of scamming calls and the person run
> through a script that permits scamming Windows, Mac and Linux users?
> Is this new?
>
> I had never experienced this before and was asking about it.
> If this change of tactic is common knowledge, I missed it.
> If this is new, where does one report it?
>
> On Fri, Jul 1, 2016 at 4:25 PM, Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> You were not 'targeted' for your platform preference, you were simply
>> chosen
>> randomly and the scammer had no idea what your platform was.
>>
>> Why do you feel you were 'targeted'?
>>
>> You assume you were targeted for being on a Mac, yet the person that
>> targeted
>> you clearly had no idea how to get you to do their evil bidding on a
>> non-Windows device...
>>
>> Lionel
>>
>>> On Jul 1, 2016, at 2:38 PM, hike <mh1272 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Yesterday, a heavily-accented person called explaining that my computer
>> was
>>> spewing error messages to their servers.  Assuming that this was a
>>> Microsoft Support Call scam, I went along with it.  The person/scammer
>> was
>>> confusing when I told her that my keyboard didnb t have Windows symbol on
>> my
>>> keyboard.  (I was using a Mac at the time.)
>>>
>>> The person was also confused that I was running the Firefox browser.  She
>>> knew about IE, Safari and Chrome but was flummoxed with Firefox.
>>>
>>> The person insisted that I downloaded an app from www.supremo.com (?).
>> I
>>> did and, of course, when I dutifully double-clicked on the installer, the
>>> program wouldnb t run and gave an b Windows exe fileb  error and, of
>>> course,
>>> wouldnb t run.  The person was greatly confused.  She asked what kind of
>>> computer I used and I said b Linuxb .  She really was confused, put me on
>>> hold and came back and asked me to download an app at www.teamviewer.com
>> .
>>>
>>> (The Teamviewer seems to be a legitimate product for business
>> conferencing,
>>> support, etc.  From a Windows friend who succumbed to the Microsoft
>> Support
>>> scam, I know that they will use legitimate software in their scam.)
>>>
>>> This was the first time that I heard of this scam targeting Mac and Linux
>>> computers.  I was surprised.  Did I miss that in the news?  (Slashdot,
>>> MacRumors, MacInsider).  Does this need to be reported?  If so, where?
>>> _______________________________________________
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