Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Windows virus scam alert
FOR the second day running I have taken an unsolicited overseas call from someone (called "Kevin" this time) who tries to tell me that my computer is infected with a Windows Virus. For anyone running such a risky third-rate operating system, such a suggestion would have plausibility, because "Windows" attracts viruses like no other.
I asked repeatedly where he got my phone number from. He admitted he wasn't from Microsoft but was a Microsoft Certified Service Provider (right, and I'm a Chinaman). I asked how much he knew about my computer and my operating system. I asked repeatedly how sure he was of his facts.
After I strung him along as far as I dared, I informed him that I've used Macs for 20 years and would not dream of using "Windows". I suggested his information was wrong.
I hope my name is now struck of their list of potentially gullible "Windows" users.
It was clearly some kind of scam and I pass this warning along in case anyone may inadvertently be using an operating system built on a bucket of frogs instead of industrial-strength UNIX.
I asked repeatedly where he got my phone number from. He admitted he wasn't from Microsoft but was a Microsoft Certified Service Provider (right, and I'm a Chinaman). I asked how much he knew about my computer and my operating system. I asked repeatedly how sure he was of his facts.
After I strung him along as far as I dared, I informed him that I've used Macs for 20 years and would not dream of using "Windows". I suggested his information was wrong.
I hope my name is now struck of their list of potentially gullible "Windows" users.
It was clearly some kind of scam and I pass this warning along in case anyone may inadvertently be using an operating system built on a bucket of frogs instead of industrial-strength UNIX.
Tags for Forum Posts: Mac OS X, Microsoft, UNIX, scam, virus
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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1 point for sharing a problem
1 penalty point for being guilty of MacMan smugness
(And yes I use a Mac too so hope that allows me to point up MacMan traits with impunity (and a smile).
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Not my problem Hugh, just a warning for Windows sufferers. Plus a small attempt to redress the balance: the mainstream media (I hope that's not HoL) often refer to "Computer" viruses when they really mean Windows viruses, i.e. viruses peculiar to Microsoft's vulnerable PC operating system.
It is around that particular operating system that a parasitical industry has grown up: purveyors of anti-virus software. They know they'll be in business for years as long as many people knowingly or unknowingly continue to use operating systems from Microsoft.
It is against that background that scammers attempt to perpetrate fraud.
Was my demerit point down to the inflammatory bucket of frogs?
Come across any viruses on your Mac yet Hugh? ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Jo Foster on
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Viruses? That's the least of my problems! Having struggled for 28 years with incompatibilities, incomprehensible error messages, no access to phone help, no explanations of how anything works, and being told things like "Virgin does not support Outlook", "LG does not support Vista", "You can't back up your Outlook contacts, calendars or messages", your little conversation has strengthened my determination to take the plunge. I'm getting on that bus today to Brent Cross. I fancy a Macbook Air. Transitional advice welcome. It will be a relief to spend less time climbing in and out of windows and jumping on and off "platforms". I don't like not knowing if I'm dealing with HP, Microsoft, Virgin, Firefox, Orange, LG et al.
Thank you Clive and Hugh.
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Hi Verbascum, I'm glad my little note has had at least one positive result and that you might consider a 'puter running a UNIX-class operating system. I've run Macs for 20 years, but its only since 2001 when Apple adopted UNiX that they began to be super-stable. Hugh is right, us Mac folk can be smug: although IMO they are the best its important to remember they are not perfect!
There are a number of Apple's models I'd endourage you to consider, but in all seriousness the MacBook Air would not be one of them, especially if it is either your only computer or your first Mac. Although it looks slick, its probably the least value-for-money product that Apple offers.
Some of the reason for saying that is, do you really need a portable in the first place? Apart from portability, everything is against laptops if it is your sole computer, in terms of bang for your buck. If you truly need portability, the new iPad might be sufficient. Think hard about how you use your machine and what you want to do with it first!
Both the iPhone and the iPad use variants of Mac OS X (the X, pronounced "ten" and a nod to UNIX). When Apple switched to UNIX, I knew they would never look back, they could recompile for any processor – as they later did, to Intel – their future was assured and their products would be matchless.
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Permalink Reply by andy thomas on
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Or you might consider running Linux, OpenSolaris or FreeBSD (to name but a few) on your PC instead of Windows. All of these are open source UNIX-like operating systems - the same operating systems that underpins most of the Internet - and all are available free of charge to anyone who wants to download them from their respective websites.
Support for these is through a community-based system of mailing lists, user groups and extensive on-line help and documentation, and is excellent and entirely free of charge - the idea is for users, software developers & programmers to help each other out for the benefit of everyone. Got a problem with some application? Just mail the guy who wrote it - now could you do that with a Microsoft or Adobe program?
As for portables, all of these operating systems will run on netbooks such as the Dell Mini 10, Asus EEE, etc and a lot of phones run Linux (Android, Maemo). Some like the Nokia N900 are really Linux handhelds with phone & camera features added!
Check out the scene & take the gentle plunge - it may not suit everyone but most who do never look back.
PS: much of Mac OS X is based on FreeBSD and NetBSD.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Be careful how much you promote Mac, Linux Unix etc. As I understand it, hackers and virus merchants target Windows (Microsoft ) because this OS is used by the vast majority of domestic users.
If your proselyting has the effect of getting everybody off Windows you may find the other operating systems come under attack and you may find they are not so bullet-proof as you think :-)
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This is quite true and it could happen but history has shown that security vulnerabilities in open source software get fixed very quickly - it's in everyone's interest to do this, there's a huge army of volunteer programmers across the planet able to tackle the problem, a lot of users willing to test the fixes & make sure they work and at the end of the day, the work of everyone in the OS community is open to peer review (read quality control/assurance).
This usually isn't the case with commercial software; a handful of programmers, limited in-house test facilities, refusal to let anyone else see their proprietary code, an unwillingness to invest time & money in fixing problems and even an unwillingness to admit that their product could actually be defective in some way - all of these factors combine to make commercial vendors slow in getting problems fixed, if at all.
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Hackers target the weak system (Windows) disproportionately. As Windows inevitably declines – either in absolute or relative terms, it is true that hackers may pay more attention to non-Windows machines. That is probably inevitable and its not a big concern. UNIX was originally a networked system with security designed in from the beginning, rather than bolted on later.
The more one learns about UNIX, the more one appreciates that Windows is not an OS in the mainstream of computer development. It is an intensely proprietary aberration, prevalent at present.
Mac OS X is a hybrid. The bottom half – the foundations – is bona fide UNIX and as Andy said, contains a mixture of open source OSs, especially BSD. It's known as Darwin and its code is open. So it has many of the advantages of Open Source software: Apple's improvements feed back into the Open Source community and vice versa. It's a virtuous circle.
The top half is proprietary – that's Apple's graphic interface, pioneered on the Macintosh in 1984.
The least well placed proprietary outfit to handle virus patches is Microsoft who do it on a regular cycle. For some bizarre reason, some companies like this predictability. But when a Windows virus comes along a fix is needed as soon as possible, not waiting.
Overwhelmingly, the world's Supercomputers use a UNIX variant: open source Linux. Banks use Linux behind the scenes. The servers that are feeding you the web page you are reading now are likely to be using Linux. I suspect that "Windows" will be squeezed in the coming years from Linux below and from Mac OS X above ...
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You're right about UNIX vs. Windows - UNIX was devised from the start as a multi-user networked operating system in 1969, the same year ARPANET, the pre-cursor of what we now know as the Internet, was launched. Windows is much younger and only had a proprietary Microsoft adaptation of an IBM MS-DOS network system bolted on in 1993 with Windows for Workgroups 3.1. And Bill Gates famously said at the time that the Internet was irrelevant to Windows and would never be supported by it - he had to eat his words 2 years later when Windows 95 came out with some support for it.
You're right about the world's supercomputers too - see this report and click on the 'by OS' button near the top.
And these very pages appear to be served by Solaris 10 a rock solid & reliable commercial UNIX from Sun (now Oracle). (I'm typing this on a PC running OpenSolaris, the open sourced version).
But getting back to the original top, getting a Mac is a really good move forward and way better than that well-known alternative - I hope your trip to Brent Cross was productive.
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Permalink Reply by David T on
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I too am a long-suffering Windows user (I also use Linux but that is also not without its drawbacks), but I recently had an experience which knocked all my preconceptions into a cocked hat. In the interests of fair play I feel I should report it.
After a memory failure XP became unusable. I managed to find a (geographical) contact number, and my heart sank as I realised that this was an Indian call centre. Then everything changed - so much that surprise was inadequate and I was forced to resort to astonishment.
I spoke to a delightful, friendly & knowledgable woman, who said that this would take some time, and cheerfully agreed to call me back. She did do, and spent nearly an hour trying to sort things out. At the end of this we agreed that I would try another repair process, and she would call me back in the morning.
Promptly at the time agreed she did so, and spent another half hour or so, after which it became clear that the system had been corrupted beyond repair and the only option was a clean reinstallation. She left me to do this, saying that she would call in the morning to see how I had got on.
I reinstalled, and again she called me exactly when she had said she would. I was able to tell her that this had been successful, although it would obviously take a long time to get things back to where they were.
A day or two later I got a call from her supervisor, asking me to comment on her performance.
All through this process I kept having to pinch myself - Microsoft don't do customer service!
But if this is anything to go by they have changed their tune dramatically.
And before the Mac etc. people start sneering - this was caused by a memory failure which corrupted the hard disk and could have happened to any operating system.
Finally a plug for Crucial memory - they cheerfully replaced all four modules despite two of them being several years old.
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