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Double-check those rogue numbers

With all the talk about different ways people get scammed the older ones were still out there. Last week, it was The Grandma Scam. My problem began when it was discovered that someone tried to use a well-known computer company, like Microsoft through PCSpeedy.com They said that they were a representative and that something was wrong with my older laptop that they needed to fix. This was months after Windows XP had gone out of service and before my fight to regain the funds from the other two companies vying for the same thing. These rogue calls could be stopped.

This was far worse than what happened with the hackers at Dell and Vtech, The toy company, based in China, did not fully encrypt the personal information of its customers. As a result, they may be headed to court. At least Dell offered a solution to the buyers of its laptops with the malicious security software on it with email and on site support.

There were two rogue numbers that called within five minutes of one another. Both had the Microsoft Billing scandal in their complaint list on 800notes. In my case, it was a 'supposed' refund for past purchase. The thing that bothers me was that reported rogue numbers only get the link to the web shut off. Why not shut down this black market database?

After the some cleared, with two of those other companies, the last one never fixed my problem, so they never got paid. Here were the red flags:


  • Most of these real companies would never wait until the dinner hour or some other ungodly time to call on a weekend. With this rogue caller, from India, it puts the legitimacy of the company in question because their reach was global too.

  • They didn't call on holidays either. Microsoft never called its customers at any time, not even for issuing refunds on their products. When a consumer accepts their offer of service from these 'independent companies', $99 went to the technician off the top. Even though the terms were outlined, they can also push for additional services, like one of the other companies did. The more you call the less your refund.

  • This last company, never was able to get into my old computer and 'fix' my connection problem. They still charged $199 for this service. After five hours of trying, they gave me another tech company to call and untangle myself. My refund came through October 21, 2014 because they didn't respond to my dispute. Their harassment started January 2015 and lasted four months until my reporting them to the FCC and the FTC Do Not Call link in late May this year.


  • While the harassing calls stopped, a lot of other calls from similar companies were calling me for the same thing. By this time, the sucker list previously written about was cut back after finding some weapons added to my arsenal to shut them down. Registered complaints were like a criminal rap sheet. The number from Cape Coral, Florida on Mr. Number, had a 99% spam score and 490 reports. On Call Contol, they were the same. A previous owner that was a prank caller got reported to the FTC ten times between May and July of last year. The number from Lynchburg, VA., was the Microsoft Billing/refund complaint like the one in Florida. This last number, recognized from six months ago, was found to be a telemarketing Dental Insurance scam. The more information found on these rogue callers, the more likely they were shut down.

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