August 30, 2010, michael warner says:

Australia - just got very similar from www.techsonline.com

August 31, 2010, J. Davis says:

The criminal is still out there allegedly representing Microsoft Systems. I just now got the warning call, I asked him phone number he was calling from. He gave me 510-722-6000. I told the criminal I'd call him back, but he said that wouldn't be necessary, just go to www.irssupport.net and follow the instructions. I told the criminal I'd check it out. Google Search brought me here. Guess my hunch was right this time, huh??? Incidentally, while on the phone with him I heard a lot of yelling and laughter in background, not like your usual Call Center or Boiler Room type noise.

September 6, 2010, Dave says:

I'm from Australia, and I have had two calls like this (both Indian callers, one female, the other male). They both claim to be calling to help with support for Microsoft Windows products (Windows 7 specifically), and the second caller (male) seem to have a fair bit of information about me, name, address, email, phone number, date of birth, etc.. and he claimed that it was all from the International Routing System whenever I click on the Send Error button in Windows. I went along with this guy to lead him on to see where this call would end up...

(bearing in mind I am a qualified computer technician, I use an Apple Mac *dur*, and I know for a fact that NO personal info is passed on to Microsoft when an error is sent)

It ended up me asking him for his phone number, and proof that I am who he claims I am, and he hung up on me!!!

Rather scary that I merely exist at all on the net, yet criminals have a lot of my personal information and could potentially gain access to much unauthorised services and credit claiming to be me!!!

September 7, 2010, SJ says:

I think they have been calling here for days. Same 'Out of Area' listing appearing on caller ID but I thought it was a solicitor I needed to get rid of. Turns out it is the same scam everyone else has described. I am very concerned about personal information being compromised since they had my name and phone number (which is not available to the public and not listed under my name).

September 16, 2010, margaret thomas says:

Just had a half hour call I didn't believe anything afte awhile but i'm concerned about my banking details they got into my conputer

September 16, 2010, Chris says:

Had this call at 2pm, indian man told me he was in London but the phone number he was calling from showed up on my caller display! 34009054. Told me I had a nasty virus on my pc and he would take me through the steps to get rid of it, to put my computer on and he would let me know what to do! Said he was from microsoft solutions and had my number from the international routing department! Said I did not believe him and he put his "supervisor" on, who was obviously the same man!! I played along for a while, it was his phone bill! Then put the phone down and googled international routing department and came up with this page. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of those who could be scammed by this scum bag.

September 20, 2010, Chris says:

Yet another call this morning from 34009054. This time the indian man said he was from another computer company, but again mentioned international routing department. I told him I know it is a scam, I have informed the police and stop calling. I shall not answer another number I do not recognise. He got abusive when I said I had informed the police and knew it was a scam.

September 23, 2010, Nico says:

Same thing happened to me. I asked how he got my number and he said that he obtained it when I bought the OS. I asked him what my OS was and he didn't know. He wanted me to go to www.irssupport.net and click on the live support button. Didn't do it but said I'd like to check with my contact at Microsoft first, Name he gave was John Atkins (not your typical name for someone from India. Called back on the phone number he gave (510-722-6000), but got a "All Lines are busy" message. Tried the Live Support button later and it tries to download an executable to your pc. Definately not something you want to do! How do we stop these guys?

September 25, 2010, Peter says:

Juts had one today - Ontario Canada - kept them onlline as long as i could .

September 27, 2010, BJC says:

http://www.teche4pc.com/ is scam

September 30, 2010, ms d says:

Its definitely a global scam. Im in the UK, i've had 2 calls from the same guy insisting i needed to visit a website as my computer was infected and it might DIE!!! How funny! My pc is like Fort knox and i knew he was full of bull as soon as he said he was affiliated with Microsoft... he was very persistent and i reckon tons of people fall for this. I only wish id kept him talking for longer!

October 4, 2010, Peter says:

Just looked up whois to see who owns it. Suprise suprise only set up this year and no contact details.BEWARE BOGUS
Domain Name: IRSSUPPORT.NET
Registrar: 1 & 1 INTERNET AG
Whois Server: whois.schlund.info
Referral URL: http://REGISTRAR.SCHLUND.INFO
Name Server: NS51.1AND1.COM
Name Server: NS52.1AND1.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 12-jul-2010
Creation Date: 12-jul-2010
Expiration Date: 12-jul-2011

October 5, 2010, Trevor Jones says:

Quite a novel scam (I got the same story about being from MS and my computer having a virus). You really only need to have an Indian accent these days to sound like an official MS technician :). I'm from Australia. I kept a woman, and then a man talking for quite a while, as I googled to this site and had a read. They were not very convincing for me; claiming that they knew the IP address of my 'main' computer; I spent some time explaining that none of the computers on the home LAN had a fixed IP address. Eventually the guy got fed up with me, yelled at me for wasting his time. I told him I didn't know how he could sleep at night; and he hung up on me.
Thanks for posting this blog!

October 6, 2010, Sarah says:

Hey unfortunately i semi-fell for the scam, and clicked on the "Live Support" thing. I refused to give her my ID number thing, and she hung up, but i still clicked on the "Start" thing. It said that i am now connected to some ISP number starting with 70.
im scared, how do i "unconnect" myself from them? Ive turned off teh computer, so are they still able to get in??

October 9, 2010, sue says:

I just got a call from Microsoft telling me they were receiving virus threats from my computer etc. The web site she (indian lady) told me to go to was irs.com. I told her that was the internal revenue service. I asked for her pho 510 722 6000 and i would call her back. She rattled some gibberish and I asked to mail me something I can read, since I cant understand her. Pho # does not work. I found this site immediatley.

October 11, 2010, vicks says:

I've just taken 3 calls from these people. They were very persistant! Even when I told them I wasn't using Windows but using a Mac OS they didn't stop. The dialogue ended with me being told that in 15 mins max. my computer would become infected.
Dangerous nasty people!

October 14, 2010, David says:

Had the same indian on, had a free hour so I kept him online. He was trying to convince me he was from Melbourne, but he couldn't tell me what time it was there. A lot of car horns in the background, definitely from India.

October 22, 2010, sarah says:

ca. They are still going strong. was also contacted by an indian male today with very difficult speach to understand. they will ask you to go to the irssupport website and click on chat line and then enter run. Do not it is a scam. I hung up contacted the real irssupport co and they informed me that they had not contacted me. Later after being off the phone i once again pulled up the website and to my suprise it lead me to a different page not the same as the one I had looked up when he was on the phone for me. Crazy

November 3, 2010, Wendy B says:

I just received a call from an Indian woman who knew my name and my post code here in Western Australia, and she jabbered on about Internal Routing Systems had contacted her to inform me of malicious things being downloaded into my computer. I asked her if she was selling a product or service when she said no I asked her why she called she then said go and start the computer so she could show me... I hung up on her. I am on a no call register guess that doesnt really work either.

November 8, 2010, Natalie says:

I just had a call from "Al", sounded like he was in a call centre. His accent was very strong and it was difficult to understand him. Managed to keep him on the phone for a good few minutes before he told me to "go to hell". Nice.

November 12, 2010, Jeffrey Brown says:

This scam is still ongoing. My wife got a call from them just a few days ago. Is there a way to make certain this one gets reported more broadly? There are plenty of non-technical people who might fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

November 21, 2010, Paul says:

was called yesterday in UK by "asian" male from PCTech saying they had information via IRS - International Routing Systems about virus problems with my computer when I asked him to be more specific he hung up. He knew my name and tel number but I wonder where they are getting this info from hopefullly not the ISP.

November 22, 2010, Sue says:

Should have said in my last posting that I am in the UK - so obviously a worldwide scam!. Been reading through all of the other postings. Obviously some of the other people are a lot more computer literate than me! He was definitely wanting me to open various links but most of the time I couldn't understand a word he was saying! Did keep mentioning the fact he had direct links to Microsoft and any error reports I had sent - which links in to some of the other postings - but I never sent error reports anyway! Could not trace the call back - number not left. There's a surprise. Worrying that they knew my name and number though.

Thank God for your Blog ! Thank you

November 24, 2010, Daeld says:

Australia. Just had a guy from an indian call centre who knew my name. Also claiming to be from the IRS. Said they received a message from my ISP that said that my computer had downloaded "errors and warnings" that could be slowing my computer down. Unfortunately for this fellow, I asked him what operating system he thought that I used and when I this download happened. Naturally, he said that I use Windows XP and that it happened yesterday. Unfortunately for him, I don't use Windows, I use Linux and Mac OS. (LOL) so had a bit of fun and asked him to tell me how these Errors and Warnings were going to do things to my computer. He fumbled a bit and told me it downloaded it to the motherboard (lol). I tried very hard to get him to admit it was a scam, but he was valiant and in-character to the end.

November 25, 2010, bon says:

These guys just keep calling me i keep hanging up on them as our computer had died weeks before and we were saving for a newbie so a complete waste of time to talk to them about computer viruses on my computer!!!! I can see right thru the lies suckers!!!!!

They called again today i was curious to see what they are up to so acted dumb. The Indian man with the name "John" (yeah sure LOL) said "I am from Microsoft and ur comp has all these viruses that are destroying your files" he asked me what system i am running windows 7 or xp or vista i said i have no idea which i dont thats hubbys department. He got cranky with me and kept asking i got cranky back and said I dont know.
He then said to go to a website called "onlinerepairworld" i pretended i couldnt spell it and made him say every letter. I googled it and on our brand new computer with up to date Norton said this website was not tested and could be dangerous. When i told him that he got really cranky. I told him our comp is brand new and we have up to date norton and we cant possibly have viruses he kept talking over the top of me and when he finally listened he said "oh ok" and hung up.

Im in QLD Australia and will be telling all family and friends to be aware of this scam. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY DETAILS OF YOUR COMPUTER THEY WILL PROBABLY DOWNLOAD THEIR OWN VIRUS ON IT!!!!! NEVER GIVE A CALLER OR DOORKNOCKER UR DETAILS EVER!!!!!

November 28, 2010, John A Kidd says:

Got the same scam call here in London 24 November 2010. Indian "gentleman" from the so-called "International Routing Department" told me he had been informed by my ISP that my computer had infected files and he was calling to help. I work in IT and nothing that he said made much sense at all. I asked for his name and company number so that I could call them for authentication. This indian said his name was "Alan Black" and gave me the numbers 18883135119 and 3255153544926. The arrangement was he would call back in 20 mins after I had called his organisation. I didn't call the numbers and he didn't call back. But I did call my ISP who already knew of this indian "gentleman's" reputation and confirmed it was a scam. My ISP said that had things continued the aim of scammers would have been to infect my computer themselves and then charge money to fix it. BEWARE!!! They're still out there!!!

December 2, 2010, jath says:

I just had this guy on the phone, kept him goinf or 20-30 minutes. I was surprised at how persistent he was. Apparently the IRS is a 'huge' computer owned by the US military which authorises every net transaction and has the details of every internet user in the world. And yet he couldnt give an IP address for the 'infected' machine and claimed the IP addresses were 'secretinformation'. Eventually got bored and, abused him and hung up.

December 8, 2010, Steph says:

Tonight at around 7:30pm I recieved a phone call from a man, with a very strong Indian accent claiming he was from an International Routing System in Sydney, he was very persistant in getting me to connect to the internet and follow his instructions, I asked him what the company name was and he kept saying International Routing System, I asked him what his name was and he told me Stephen Rozaro which is obviously a European name and thats how I knew he was full of shit, also he pretended he couldnt hear me. Caution: this scam is still happening and some people may not be aware of how serious this is, they will destroy your software system and corrupt all your files and also try to access all your credit card details and rob you of your hard earned money, its disgusting and we have contacted authorities and hope all will do the same that have had this call to STOP these assholes because its a dog act and it has to be stopped they make me sick and have no right to f*** people up this way, tell them to f*** off and get a real job and do things the right way not come to our country and rob us of our hard earned money and f*** us around!

December 9, 2010, TP says:

I think I just hung up on the same dude :P I always answer the landline in a very nasty voice expecting such nonsense because anyone of any importance has our mobile numbers and call those instead. Wish I could kill the landline so I can stop talking to these pricks but need it for internet. I'm in Melbourne, Australia and the convo went much the same way as the ones above - saying the call might be recorded (to make it sound legit or something), did I know my computer is infected with viruses, it has alerted the international routing system or some crap. Seriously. I do feel sorry for anyone who has a good heart and listens/acts on their calls. I know everyone wants to work and earn money but it is shameful that they are doing this to random people. Assholes!!!!!

December 22, 2010, Mitch says:

I've had a call this evening from what sounds like a similar guy. I told him I wanted the name of the company he was from and his identification number, plus his phone number. He said his name was Nathan Johnson and that he worked for Secure all PCs and that he got his information from World routing system. He wouldnt give me his contact number or Id number and I told him I needed to check him out before speaking to him. He put his friend on the phone and she tried the same caper. Eventually she hung up as I told her I would not tell her anything without my confirming her identity. I googled and found this website. Looks like the same people. Im from Australia.

January 3, 2011, David aka Cosimo says:

I had an Indian guy try to pull this scam on me this morning also. As above, posing as a Microsoft employee. He claimed to have been receiving reports from the International Routing Centre that there were infected files on my PC and he was going to talk me through how to clean them up. Yeah, right! I think this is very dangerous, because these people are yanking people's insecurity chains to get them to let down their guard - seems to be the hacking equivalent of a judo throw!

January 5, 2011, Tom says:

I too have received a LOt of calls from about October or November, possibly earlier, sometimes a few a week.TODAY JAN 5 2011. Told them I was calling police and knew of fraud, Tell them you know it is a scam. I argued with him. Indian accent, calling himself albert, claiming to be fro Microsoft, - Online Tagmed ? - claiming to be microsoft certified. asked him for number, He gave me 08442720794. Told him no thanks and would report this fraud act. I hung up.

January 9, 2011, karen says:

I am from Australia. Received a call from someone by the name of Shawn from India apparently representing some International Windows services, rang my number on a saturaday, 8 Jan 2011, claming my computer is being affected by some viruses that bypassed all antivirus that i may have installed.

Anyway, after a long interrogation process by me I told him to go away. He was diasppointed and threatened that my computer would be damaged if I wont let him.

Just be careful.

January 13, 2011, Wendy says:

Australia
Easy fix!
I've now had three calls (that I've been home for) all about the same 'errors' on my computer last time I kept asking were she had gotten my number from And where she was calling from. Idiot actually told me she was calling from India! Then when I kept asking how'd she'd gotten my number she hung up.
This time I was asking the sane questions and didn't get any answer so asked
'what would you say if I told you I didn't have a computer?'
Admittedly had to repeat it a few times till she understood! But then beep beep beep.....
Wonder if I'll get another call?

January 19, 2011, Michelle says:

I'm in Ireland and I've been receiving these call for weeks ...no matter how rude I am to them they still ring back ...I now tell them I don't have a computor OR laptop!!!

January 21, 2011, Dave S says:

Been getting these scammer calls since early August 2010 - Just keeping winding them up - They told me I had a problem with my Windows, so I told them that I did, because it was covered in Snow - it was about 3 feet deep here at the time - I have also told them I run Windows 3.11, but they are that stupid that they still ring back - I have been working with Computers/PC since 1968 and well aware of scams, so just love winding them up, until I get told I am "Stupid" or to "F....-of" - thats what I call good customer service...
Francis (with an Indian accent) has been on the phone today - I don't have caller ID on phone, but next time they ring I will more than likly be working in a Chinese resteraunt.

January 25, 2011, bob says:

My mother went as far as to give them her computer software ID and connect to them before i could get her to stop are there any implications? I am worried that they installed some keystroke reporting program. Is there any chance of that?

January 29, 2011, Mark says:

I got the call today but she soon hung up when I said they was no such thing as a International Routing System? All those who have had there credit card debited, speak to your Bank and tell them to "chargeback" the transaction to the merchant. The banks are very interested in these scams and they may be able to trace the source merchant. To any Australians who have lost money contact the ACCC who have a reporting website where you can get assistance here: www.scamwatch.gov.au they may be able to give you some advice on checking your PC. TELL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY.

February 2, 2011, chris Kendrick says:

I had 3 of them talking to me..I couldn't understand their accents

February 11, 2011, Kevin says:

I had a call about 1 hr ago. I'm in Western Australia. Some Indian Chik claiming that shes from Australia. She said she was from microsoft International routing system, blah blah blah. I knew it was a scam so I acted stupid. she got quite agressive on the phone wanting me to type ""evenct"' or something in my run box. she kept telling me that there was a problem with my computer. No way am I doing that. I understand about remote desktop. anyway after having my fun with her I hung up. she was very Indian and very rude. I told her that I think she was scaming me and she told me I was being rude.

February 12, 2011, Ginny says:

Were any of you given www.secure allpc.com website to go to? I just told them I would call them back after I checked it out...not sure what the deal was with this...if it was legit or not...but sure sounds familiar although didnt get the same website address....he did say he was from Microsoft systems and he neeeded to fix my computer because they have been getting alot of calls from my area which leads them to believe my computer might be at risk...and it was an Indian with a very heavy accent...

February 17, 2011, Richard says:

online repiar world is scam runningallover

February 24, 2011, Julie says:

I just received a call from one these people a few minutes ago. We went through the whole process. He told me he was from Microsoft and I said how do I know you are from Microsoft. He said vehemently I am from Microsoft. I pulled up the run button on start - enter this enventwr, now press start again, enter tec, etc. Then read off the files--He kept saying my computer was infected. It was when he said go to www.tech34pc that I said thank you very much. I have my own IT person and I will have him look at it.

The thing that bothers me is that I just checked my Norton Anti-Virus. Everything came up clear. He insisted that the virus was smooth and bypasses the Norton.

My husband just said nothing gets by me because I'm a little mean to these guys. Try very mean honey...

March 1, 2011, Benny says:

I've been gettin the same phone calls all week, the funniest thing is im running kubuntu and they say they do work for microsoft lol. I just say im armish and dont own a phone then laugh and hang up :-) ps. from Australia

March 4, 2011, Cathy Hunter says:

I just got the same type of call. Indian guy saying he was from Microsoft and he was calling to help me with security problems on my computer. Same deal - lots of noise in the background, the other scammers. I annoyed him so much he finally hung up on me!
Q. How did you get my phone #
A. I can't tell you that maam.
Q. How do you know my computer has problems?
A. International Routing System.
Q. What the heck is International Routing System
A. Something at Microsoft
Q. I have more than one computer, which one are you talking about?
A. he hung up. I guess I was too much trouble LOL

This is disgusting - I've never heard of this new scam but thank goodness distrust anyone I don't know who wants at my computer. I can't believe the nerve - people actually speaking to you trying to scam you live.

March 24, 2011, Robyn says:

Australia - Have had 3 calls in last 3 days. Two from indian man, one from a lady with an accent. They are persistant. Said from "Security Centre for Windows" and were being asked by International Routing Systems to contact me because my computer was corrupted from bad downloads. I asked how he could know that as it is illegal to "tap into" private computers. He denied this was illegal. When I asked him why my friend's mother had received a call from them and she wasn't even connected to the net, he didn't really answer. When he offered to put me thru to his supervisor to explain exactly what was wrong with my comuter, the line suddenly (but not surprisingly) went dead. Maybe they'll wipe my number from their list now. If they call back I plan to tell them I have an iMac.

March 26, 2011, derek says:

I HAVE HAD DEALINGS WITH THIS MOB TO.SINCE THE 23/3/11 THEY HAVE NOT STOPPED RINGING ME ALSO.THEY ARE VERY PERSISTENT;THEY ALSO SHOWED ME THINGS WITH THEIR CURSOR & ALL THE INFECTIONS I SUPPOSED TO HAVE I'M RUNNING FULL ANTIVIRUS FROM MCAFEE THE LADY WHOSE NAME IS SARAH PARKER SAID I NEED AN UPDATED VERSION OR PAY THEM $200. FOR THEM TO FIX IT BUT THE FIRST 12MONTHS WAS FREE.ANDAFTER PAYING IT WAS A LIFTIME GUARENTEE . SO ANYWAY I PUT IN A FAKE CREDIT CARD NO. &TWICE IT WAS DENIED OK. SO SHE GOT HER SUPERVISER AND HE SAID TO TRY IT AGAIN WHEN THAT DIDNOT HAPPEN HE SAID HE WOULD GIVE ME HIS ACCOUNT NO. AND FOR ME TO GO TO THE BANK &DEPOSITE THE MONEY;I REFUSED TO DO THAT BUT HE KEPT INSISTING SO I HUNG UP. FRIDAY 25/3 THEY MUST OF RANG AT LEAST 12 TIMES VERY ANNOYING INDEED. I'VE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH MCAFEE & MY BANK.I FOR GOT TO MENTION THA I AM FROM AUSTRALIA

March 31, 2011, *WARNING* teche4pc.com is a SCAM says:

I just got a call from them ( 31/03/2011 ) and claimed they where from south melbourne Australia, though the speaker was from india and the vioce was far and not clear in any way.Should of been crisp,very shonky.After telling me that MICROSOFT ESSENTIALS was the programme that was downloading all the viruses on my computer and so called showed me where in my system they where.They then directed me to go to their flimsy sight at teche4pc.com to download garbage to put into my system where I blatantly refused and then decided to tell him where to stick it. * WARNING, You have to be a fool to Download anything these monkeys tell you.They got my number and name correctly and so they should be prosecuted for stealing info: period. I have just send this information to Australias Scam watch to deal with the site.

April 8, 2011, nicola says:

Thank you for this blog! I just received a call, no number on my call display, stating to be from the International Routing Dept. from Windows. Similar story to the above blogs with an Indian accent. He gave me a telephone number of 315-352-0902. He knew that I had had a virus a few days ago and had my phone number...which is concerning. He wanted me to go into the computer. Very skeptical, I hung up and then found this blog. Thanks again

April 9, 2011, Isobell Parkin says:

I just received my 3rd call..I was suspicious so gave them no info. This is the Georgean Bay areaa..Thanks for being here.

April 19, 2011, ron says:

I am north of Toronto canada. just got the call from what sounded like India. he got me all the way to some Icon within www.teche4pc.com when I finally had enough and told him to call me back in 20 minutes. like Gump says.. shit happens

April 21, 2011, Carol says:

They are still scamming in Australia. I had a call today telling me I had a ''polymorphic virus' in my computer ... something to do with HP Windows via an International routing System.

April 21, 2011, Michael Foster says:

I just had a call this evening from these guys. They wanted me to install "Ammyy Admin" software from "https://www.onlinerepairworld.com/live_support.php" to allow remote access to my PC.

Or go to irssupport.net to "prove" my PC was infected as shown via the bogus "international routing system".

They initially claimed microsoft affiliation but backed off from that.

They had me go into the event log and verify there was an error as proof my PC was infected.

They couldn't name my IP address, didn't know what OS I was running nor that I had multiple machines running different OSes. They also tried having me run assoc and then offer the fact that compressed files are associated correctly:
.zfsendtotarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}

as proof of a virus install.

Loosers...

Random calls claimed to be from virus vendors should be hung up on. If you have an issue call your AV provider or your PC provider (Dell, HP etc) or if you built your own PC, Microsoft (assuming you purchased a retail copy of Windows).

These guys are annoying as they sometimes trap older people with these scams.

Regards,
Michael.

April 30, 2011, cameron says:

I'm in Australia and I just had a call from a lady (indian accent) from ".....microsoft....." informing me of the grave danger my computer was in. I had been flagged by international routing.... I asked what the ip address was that had been provided and was informed that only my phone number had been passed on to her in the service department. All sounded a bit suspicious so I googled international routing and found this forum. I stalled for time and was considering taking a few steps to gather information, as I was curious and thought it could be a bit of fun to see what they would try to do but decided to just leave it alone as I figured being only semi computer savvy I would soon be over my head. A bit frustrated at the cheek of these scam artists but thankful to those of you who took the time to post.

May 3, 2011, Brian says:

Just had the call. Same MO. Female first then the bloke. Said the usual bullshit. My pc was actually off, not plugged in or anything. "I see you are currently surfing the net" ...."no I am not"....oh....."did you recently surf the net?"......."no I was asleep!!" more crap followed, an attempt of him trying to tech speak me....no good I hung up!

May 4, 2011, Rebel Rodriguez says:

I live in Colorado and had a similar thing happpen to me with the same www.onlinerepairworld.com My fellas name was "James" and the Senior System Engineer was "Sam." They also led me to believe my computer was infected with a horrible virus and everyone in the world could hack in and see it. The call back # they gave me was 847-531-9241 and they also mentioned they were from Microsoft 35 Technical Department. Now that you have all this information you won't have to talk to them in person; unless YOU want to talk to them. Have a nice day!

May 5, 2011, Michelle says:

I am from Australia. I have just had a call from a lady with a strong Indian accent asking for the person who mainly uses the computer. She said she was from the Microsoft 35 Technical department and that we had a virus problem. I told her my husband would be back tomorrow so she said she would call again. We won't be taking the call - she was obviously taking such rubbish!

May 7, 2011, Cheryl says:

Australia- had the call from Alvin. He said he was in Melbourne when my caller ID stated overseas. He got my surname right but had my old address. When I told him my details were incorrect he called me a liar and said I was hacking into someone else's computer- he said he was going to report me!!! He said he was calling from Microsoft 35 and international routing system told him to call me. 5 mins later he called me again n said his name was Sam! Tossers!!!

May 9, 2011, julie says:

I live in London UK. I frequently receive " International calls". Sometimes several a day. If it is from Microsoft I either say I haven't a computer, am 90 years old or that I use a Mac. All callers have Indian accents. But others call about what utility companies I use or that they are from a research company asking lifestyle questions. I have great fun sometimes and tell them I work for the fraud squad or that they've phoned a royal palace. Sometimes I say a rude word and put the phone down. But still they call.

May 11, 2011, Kim says:

Just got the same call he said that he got my husbands name from the errors that my computer was generating to the international router and under some law they had to contact us!! He asked me to run some commands on my computer after referring me to a website (www.jktech.com) The commands were prefetch & eventvwr these showed a list of errors and warnings and then asked me to run mstsc, this was a remote desktop connection!! This is when I finally told him to take a hike and he hung up on me. Like I should have done to him!!

May 15, 2011, Mike says:

Again one scam company support-master.com, these guys think we are fool

May 18, 2011, James says:

Comment from India - see below

What you guys are talking about, But as far as I know I had a good experience with them. I was having a lot of problem with my PC and this gentleman called up from nowhere and I believed him and give him an access to my PC and go ahead with him. I even end up paying him for the next six months and they really did help me.

And after two months I saw this blog. And fearing to lose my personal information, I called a software engineer from a nearby store and get him check my PC and he didnt find anything wrong with my PC and it was absolutely fine. And I mean I dont know whether its a scam or not but I am having a perfect PC after I subscribed with their service.

May 18, 2011, jaana says:

Comment from India - see below

WITHIN A WEEK

May 20, 2011, Najangko says:

Hi mr gray.

I mean u hv a very gud blog. People sharing their experience.

June 3, 2011, Nicole says:

We also just received one of these calls, my partner knew it was scam straight away so just kept them talking asking them lots of questions. The caller was Indian, said her name was Racheal Cee, she said she was from a company from Support PC who worked for microsoft and that our computer was sending them virus messages. The phone number she gave for call back was a mobile number. After about 15 minutes my partner told her he was going to put her on to the IT expert in our house and handed the phone over to our three year old son who just loves having a chat on the phone.....

June 6, 2011, Krystal says:

I have had many calls from these people and I stuff with them every time. Things like asking for the IP address and getting given my phone number instead or being told they can not disclose that for security reasons. For a time my only internet computer was a Linux based one and that used to get them to hang up. Tried chatting them up a few times for laughs. Best one was when my SSD failed and they called and I asked them how they could help me, what sort of data recovery I could use and any other ways to get it to work with out having to to a complete reinstall.

As far as I know we haven't had a call since that last one. Might of finally got them to piss off.

June 9, 2011, Rob says:

Had a call from someone who claimed to have obtained my name and number from International Routing. The call was from 01231231566 (UK)

June 14, 2011, Don says:

IDEA! I read in an earlier post, some guy gave out a fake Credit card number (playing along) and the scammer offered a bank account number for the funds to be deposited directly. Next time you get a call from these guys, do the same thing (give a fake credit card number) and try to get them to give you the bank account number! If the bank account number is legit, it might be a potential way to find the owner of the account, where the account is located, and have the authorities in 'said jurisdiction' investigate the owner of the bank account. At least getting the real name of the account holder would be a helpful lead for the authorities in tracking these assholes and shutting them down.

June 16, 2011, steve lee says:

had a call today saying my system was infected with loads of virus's and malware which i know it is not so i hung up and was not to bothered, what does concern me is the fact that he knew my name and also that i had a pc. this got me to thinking about where the information was obtained and because of this i wondered if there could be any link through our internet service providers that could help shed some light on the matter as someone with that sort of access would know details of names and phone numbers and also that we obviously have computers. i am with pipex internet part of talk talk group, if any future posters could just provide there isp in there posting we may be able to either establish a link or rule out the possibility of a link and explore other avenues, also may be a good idea to put a warning on your facebook or other social networking page to warn friends and family. " please note that i am only asking a question and not accusing any isp of any wrong doing"

June 21, 2011, Emma says:

First thank you for all the posts on this blog - I am not alone. UK's turn today. Was called by these people this afternoon stating that the computer had been infected and they could sort it out for me. Was hoping that they would go away after I answered the phone and asked to speak with "Mrs .....". My directory listing doesn't state sex and usually when I say no to the "Mrs" (stubbornly keeping my title of "Miss") they go away. The heavy indian accent made it really hard to understand and so that I could understand what was happening (not the most up to date with computing and how it all works) had to ask him to slow down and spell the words. He stated that the problem was flagged up through the International Routing System. When I asked him how he got my telephone number he said that my father had given it to him. This set the alarm bells ringing knowing that my father wouldn't do this (he has a good relationship with his local computer fixer for getting rid of the viruses). After trying to get the address of the company and a telephone number to call to verify the company the caller told me to "Go to Hell"!

Have subsequently called BT to find out more. Nice man said they have more than likely got the telephone number from Online Directory so have now got BT to remove me from there. Hopefully this will stop some of these calls. If I get them again I will let you know!

June 23, 2011, John J says:

Try getting an address to send legal paperwork to and they will tell you that they are in Pakistan in a cow shed next to the oil fields.

June 30, 2011, Belinda Brown says:

Same call here to Australia at 12:30 today, indian man told me he was from iglobal and that they had reports from "the international routing system" that my hard drive had many errors. Interesting as I have just had apple support fix some problems for me. Would he have retrieved my details this way? Then wanted to get me to locate the "files and folders" that are affected so he could "fix" them. I told him that I didn't know how to use the computer and would he please call my husband later? Ah, joy at the thought of the waste of this mans precious time by my husband as he acts concerned while this man tries to scam us.

June 30, 2011, Brendon says:

Just got a call now from an Indian claiming to be from Microsoft and the same blurb above - my machine is infected and sending loads of traffic out. I'm from South Africa and happen to be a pc engineer. I knew this was impossible. He said it had got through my firewall and anti-virus and I must wait on hold to speak to some Microsoft Certified System Engineers to help me get rid of the problem. Said my phone wasn't by my machine etc and asked him how did he know this/get my details? He said international routing systems picked it up etc. So put the phone down and googled and voila - I find this site.

July 4, 2011, Dave says:

I got a call from these scammers on Saturday, decided to string them along, also managed to record the last 8 minutes of there call.

I've written a blog post about the call and also included the recordings - lakeuk.blogspot.com

July 7, 2011, Patti says:

Got the same Indian caller today from the IRS saying my computer was filled with viruses and that he could fix it for me. I am in the states so they are definitely upping their game. Thanks for the posts. He had me really scared till then.

July 11, 2011, Michelle says:

They just called my 16 yr old son and tried to get him to give them a credit card number. Luckily, he knew something was up and the next time they called he called me on three-way. I informed them that this conversation was being recorded and they acted like it was ok...until I started asking questions about who owned their company. What was the exact address of headquarters and just how were you able to tie my 16 yr old son's cell phone number to an IP address unless they were the one's hacking into PC's. I'm so done with the scams from India! I'm buying my son a Macbook..ASAP!

July 12, 2011, Andy P says:

July 12th 2011. In UK Just finished a call from indian sounding guy called Jeff Anthony from PC Tech Support about my computer being full of infected files, he was a technician who would solve the problem and I have to type in INF into run box.Asked for phone number which I was given. A uk number with lady answer machine. Will leave message next. Asked him to ring back in 2 hours. Not done anything but string it along. Any safe way to get more details from these folks

July 14, 2011, Don't Taliban me!! says:

Hi,
Got a call here in Saskatchewan this am. Guy said his name was Dave Johnson from "_____ Technology". Same story as above: "... the international router had indicated my computer was badly infected with a virus..." Guy said he was from US but he sounded East Indian.
I dislike having these taliban or alqaeda types trying to get this credit card info. Its not just about the money they can get out of us, but also that these credit cards can then be potentially used to transfer illegitimate funds (ie terrorist financing type transactions).
I didn't have time to engage properly b/c I had to leave. But here are some things I've tried in the past with these telemarketing scum:
1. say just a minute and then go vacum, wash dishes; come back every few minutes and ask them some dumb question to keep them on the line and use their money.
2. go to another phone and call your telephone company. Ask them to trace the number to block it. This is criminal activity and the companies don't want their lines used in this way.
3. if you are a tekkie, set up a honey pot and see if you can mess with them that way.
4. just hang up and inform the telephone co. you've received this type of call.
I hate crooked bastards and these taliban types

July 27, 2011, Idiot says:

I actually downloaded the program they asked me to download and pressed run but not the second time when my computer asked me if I'm sure. I found this website right after that so i hanged up. How much trouble did I put myself into?

August 1, 2011, not a dumbass says:

Just got one of these calls...the guy's an idiot...again from india, telling me about my computer sending red signals, i wasn't on my computer and live with 4 others so how would he know it was mine?! he said if i turned on my computer and followed his instructions he could work out which computer it was.....scam....i left him on hold until he got the idea that I'm not an idiot!

August 3, 2011, lou says:

They are still at it. I had a call from an Indian-sounding gentleman today. I let him talk on and established that he was able to verify that I had a computer running windows and was an internet user because he got my name and phone number from what he called the 'international routing system based in California. I asked him what he would like me to do and he very kindly offered to direct me to several sites which he said would clean up my computer. I told him he was a dog shit and that terminated the conversation.

August 11, 2011, Gisela says:

I just spent 10 minutes on the phone listening to his scare tactics. Finally told him to add my name to the Do Not Call list. When I asked how he got my number he said from Microsoft Windows. He wanted me to turn on my computer. I said not likely and hung up on him.

August 16, 2011, Vicki says:

I just got a call - same deal, Indian man telling me he was from IRS and represented all Windows systems. I work in IT Services so I knew this was a wrought. When I questioned him about the validity of his claim he was very quiet - when I asked him what he wanted to do he told me to check my computer's error message. I'm in the US and here's the number he called from (253)802-0308. Thanks for putting this blog - obviously a long-standing scam.

August 17, 2011, MJ says:

These people are alive and well. He told me he was from TECHE4PC. Just received similar call that my computer is messing up international routing system. He was Indian, named Semi, wanted to take control of my computer to find out where it was coming from. Obviously ---- THEM. Whatever you do, don't do it!!!!!

August 20, 2011, Joanne says:

These con artists called me three times today, aswell as a couple of months ago.

The first caller got told where to go and that I knew it was a scam.

Then after reading a blog from another recipient of these bogus calls I decided to see if I could get a bank account from them the next time they called me.

Second call (same day) I was told the same old garbage about how my computer was infected and was I aware how bad it was. I said yes and that I was glad they had called because I wanted all the support they could give me. (my daughter was laughing so much). Sam was very keen to help and asked me to go switch the computer on and he would talk me thro what I had to do. I told him the computer wasn't here as my daughter had taken it to the library. Oh when will she be back? I don't know I said. Oh came the reply. At that point I said I don't have a credit card, do you have they bank details so that I can make the payment direct to to? Oh you don't have a credit card? No I replied. Can you give me your bank details? I asked. Oh do you have a debit card? No, I replied. Almost in a squeal he said "oh my god you don't have any plastic". No again I replied, why can't I just have your bank details? Trying to remain calm. Sam said he needed to get his senior technician to call me since I didn't have any plastic. He will call you back in 20 minutes. OK I said, I really need the support my PC is really sick I said.

Less than 5 minutes pass and I get another phone call from someone who said my computer is sending error messages and was I aware. I told him of my conversation with Sam and that I was waiting for the senior technician to call me back with the bank details so I could make the transfer. The response was, " don't you have any plastic you can pay us with"
The cheek of it. Anyway he soon hung up because I said I was waiting for the bank details.

Sure enough after about 20minutes the senior technician called me and asked me to go and switch the computer on. I told them again it was at the library with my daughter who was really sat with me on the sofa. Anyway after again explaining I didn't have any plastic cards I could pay with he proceeded to say I could not use my bank to make the transfer and that I would have to go to a Western Union branch and pay someone called SHAHZEB, and the fee would be $395 for life time support. I kept asking if they wanted CAD or US $. It took several minutes for them to tell me it was CAD. I told the caller that I found it strange that a multi billion dollar company like Microsoft would only accept payments thro a Western Union office and the recipients name was SHAHZEB and that it was to go to India. Yes! Yes! The caller kept saying. "it's our sister company". I don't know how I kept my cool because he then went on to ask what time was it with me. I told him it was 1 O' clock but didn't say whether that was morning or afternoon. I was really 4pm (I'm a UK citizen living in Saskatchewan). I asked where he was, he said he was calling from their head office, in London UK.
Well after I kept insisting my preference to pay via my bank he kept saying I couldn't. Again I said it was strange that I was having to send money to India, to which he replied well I find it strange you don't have any plastic. Again keeping my cool I said that there was too many scams going about and too many people being ripped off to trust anyone with credit or debit card details anymore. The caller disconnected the call. I wonder why!

Im not sure what Western Union can do with this information but I sure hope they can do something.

August 22, 2011, james fingleton wild says:

monday the 22nd of August 2011 at 1 pm Brisbane Australia.
Just finished call form P C help and suipport who in an Indian accent told me the International routing system had informed me of my infected computer.
saterday the 20th at 7pm brisbane time I had a call from microsoft saying they could fix my infected computer. The voice sounded the same as the latter caller.

I asked how he knew my computer was infected and he said it was from the error reports sent at start up. I played him for a while and he directed me to ammii.com a site hosted by bigdaddy. I then told him that I had turned off my error reports so he was lying to say they were sent. He quickly said the error reports were coming from other computers who had been infected by my machine, and to prove it he gave me my computer number.

August 23, 2011, AJ says:

I got a similar call from an indian guy who claimed he is from microsoft and calling me regarding info received from the IRS because my comp was generating a lot of traffic and is currently dowloading programs that will cause my comp to crash....... very harmful virus will take over, so he is there to help. Ironically, that same morning I was having trouble connecting to my internet so his initial argument sounded legit..... but I got really paranoid when I began to ask where he got my info and how exactly he is going to fix the problem..... he tried to ignore my questions and when I insisted on calling him back because this did not sound very legit, he gave me a UK phone# even though he said he was calling from North America..... He sounded indian but the name was spanish...... He wanted me to run "eventvwr" in order to stop the downloads and prevent virus...... Thank God for my paranoia

August 25, 2011, Ann Woodgate says:

Thank you, thank you for this site. I am in Saskatchewan and the Indian gentlement is alive and well in this neck of the woods today. Same story as the rest except that we never got as far as mentioning money because I kept querying his claims that my computer was infected and refused to go online with him. He is supposedly going to call me back tomorrow after I have 'checked with Microsoft' that he is legit. Googled International Routing System and voila, here I am. Still undecided whether to torment him some or just denounce him as a fraud and hang up. He thought I was very tech savvy so I didn't disillusion him by telling him I was a great grandmother but not a complete idiot.

August 25, 2011, Psycho says:

I just had something similar and recorded it. If you want to skip to the funny part go to 7:50.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ1wSabP9kM

August 26, 2011, JM says:

Rung twice today, countless times yesterday and a few times before that, but it's always silent on the other end of the line as if nobody's there.

Call comes from 01611569823. Why these guys are still operating is mindboggling.

September 7, 2011, aubrey says:

I had someone call and tell me they were from the "Repair Zone", and that there was a virus on my computer. She was insistent that she wasn't trying to sell me anything, but couldn't seem to explain why she had my phone number. She also clearly said that she knew we were on the 'do not call list', which I can't imagine would be cross-referenced to any sort of International Routing System. Calling from a blocked number.

September 16, 2011, Aky says:

I had some random indian chick tell me she can fix all the harmfull stuff in my cumputer too, i told her no and she threatened me saying i have your number and email address and started yelling at me and stuff.

September 16, 2011, Mike says:

I had a cold call from someone from (apparently) ibsoft services claiming that the International Routing System had informed them that many items of spam were building up in my computer and would definitely cause it to crash in a few days. I could hardly understand the first person on the line so he put me on to his supervisor, 'Sandy Watson' (both had Indian accents: after I probed a bit he said, 'I can tell you are not believing me.' He gave a phone nyumber, asked me to think about what he had said and then to phone back. I have not done so.

September 20, 2011, Dennis says:

I received 3 calls from these scumbags yesterday (9-18). It was an obvious scam from the very beginning. I finally ended the call and just hung up. So, today (9-19), I get a call from the same #, which, by the way is 253-802-0308. When I told the moron I knew what he was up to and to stop calling my house, he told me to f*** off. Unbelievably, he called back a minute later. I again told him to stop calling me, that I knew he was a scam artist and then I blocked the #.

September 20, 2011, Carolyn says:

Just got off the phone with Steve Richerd....(Indian accent) calling from IRS...working for 'windows'...I said you work for Microsoft?....he said no...lol. He insisted I have a dangerous virus that is going to crash my computer and he wants to show me how to prevent it...By this time I am very wary...I ask where he is calling from He said he was calling from Delaware...I ask for the phone number ..gives a 631 area code...(Delaware is 302...have a friend there)..he keeps saying go to My Computer on the desk top...right click and go to manage....etc etc....I finally got tired of the game and told him to go jump off a bridge....and ya!! ...how can this still be going on...can't someone catch these guys....geeezzz. And how do they get the phone #'s....I am in Canada. I wonder how many hapless people fall for this scam.

September 21, 2011, Susan says:

I just received a call from "Patrick" from the "Windows Service Center" and I could hardly understand what he was saying because of his accent (sounded like Indian accent). He was very insistent that his job is to help me get rid of the corrupted files on my Windows machine; he also invoked the International Routing System. I kept telling him I need to verify his authenticity and I don't download programs because of a phone call. I finally hung up. Thanks for posting this scam.

September 28, 2011, Karen says:

I see that this has been going on a long time. I had a call 6 months ago from a lady with an Indian accent. I told her I did not have error reports. Then I hung up. She called me back and said I did. I told her not to call me back. I contacted Microsoft itself and asked if they ever had anyone in their department running this scam. Especially from Microsoft 35. They told me no, could I please let my friends know that this is truly a scam. So I did.
Now today, I received a telephone call from an Indian gentleman from Microsoft35. Well, I just kept asking him where he was calling from and how did he know about any problems. You see, I do not download from the internet unless I have purchased something. He hung up on me.
My sister inlaw from England had the same thing happen to her father. Get this, he does not even own a computer.

September 30, 2011, Marco says:

Same here in Ontario, Canada!

Called from 618-462-3632, said he worked with Microsoft and on behalf of International routing system, wanted me to go to www.ammyy.com and a tech would fix it right now. I laughed at him when he said his name was Steve Jones, and I asked him to spell the last name and he paused, hummed and haaaed. They need to be stopped and I will help any authority to get it done...

September 30, 2011, Kathleen says:

Same here in BC, Canada!
The person, "Michael Warne" (Indian accent) claimed to be from MicroAssist and/or Soft Info Tech and gave an actual call-back number 213-438-9748.
In Canada, please register this or other fraud complaints with Canadian Anti Fraud RCMP at 1-888-495-8501. They will follow up

October 5, 2011, P Klimstra says:

2 calls in the last week from this outfit. I suspect from the accents they're East African. I've amused myself for 5-10 minutes with both "gentlemen"...less time for them to prey on the gullible. The first I told to F Off, the second hung up on me as I shouted "IRS?!? I PAY MY TAXES WHY YOU CALL ME?!?" over and over again.

October 12, 2011, Stacey says:

I just received a similar call...Called me three times to see if I called the management to verify the validity of his call. When I did call the number he gave me it was not in service. Thanks for this post! It seems ridiculous to me that a scam like this has such longevity. What I don't understand is how he knew information about my computer...had me run a command called assoc and verified (I did not tell him anything) the 3rd last line of the output (clsid????) not sure what that is...
I live in Victoria BC

October 13, 2011, Richard says:

2nd call of this kind in 2 months!
1st time played the `What is a computer` sketch,and they hung up,today felt bit more like doing some fishing..
so went along wtih their instructions,funny that ,they said I had Windows XP,and I am running Windows 7...
anyway, they told me this and that,and after listing file associations in a command window,claimed that
.zfsendtotarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062} was a unique value only I and they would know...

Its not..BTW :-)
I got bored then and had to go...
dont be caught out!
I am in the UK.

October 17, 2011, Raman Singh(india) says:

Hi i would like to tell all of u about such a company.. They had there script ready for all Saying the Global routing system is causing lot off traffic and so you need to buy there services....Maven infotech is such a company who calls users in australian names and tells them stories about sydney and uk offices(actually its all in india)..and then they warn about viruses for which you need to buy there useless services..ifixyrpc and onlinetechsupport r 2 of the many fake websites that they will lead you to and start making all nonsense promises..so beware next time when u get such a call next time..

October 19, 2011, toobizee says:

Aha! I just got a call too - scam is still going strong I suppose. My caller said he was from Microsft 35 Technical Team and my computer has a virus and is uploading all my personal files to the Internet. He tried the same things ... wanted me to go to certain address, etc. When I said I'd call him right back, I needed the ph number the call terminated...

October 25, 2011, Jenny says:

An update to my recent remarks...paypal's resolution of the case was swift! A new wrinkle on this is that they may be targeting paypal accounts. I just wish that I had found this first.
Ran my machine in safe mode and could find no evidence of any of the programs. Fingers crossed. Still searching for a good safe program to remove malware.
Many thanks again for this.

October 26, 2011, Spencer says:

In canada here. Received a call from 19999100103. An indian man on the line. I told him I was doing everything he asked but was actually playing videogames. Haha, He got very upset with me. He kept telling me to hang up but I wouldnt. He eventually did. What a douche.

November 10, 2011, Tony says:

Yep he called me too - 8am... told I told him couldn't understand him, asked if anyone was there could speak English properly, so then he passed me to two of his 'cousins'... told them I couldn't understand them either... until the inevitable "bugger off" from them ended the call... nice people, not!

November 24, 2011, Daniela says:

They called me (Switzerland)today.Wa s first worried, because I had (being a user with little knowledge) in the past days downloaded several programms I was not so sure whether I could trust them. The Indian told me to type eventvwr. Then asked me to go on www.ammyy.com. I told him to identify himself per email and then stopped the call.

December 5, 2011, LB says:

Scam is still active. Definitely a person of Indian descent claiming to be from Microsoft. Claims he is calling because my computer is downloading virus infected files without my knowledge. When asked where he received my phone number he indicated that it was from the International Routing Service. Told him I would take care of it and hung up. Be aware

December 12, 2011, JK says:

Had a call this afternoon. My internet connection was down so I couldn't google "International Routing System" while he was on the call, but I've dealt with some of these scammers through work before. I finally told him I'm not going to talk to him any longer, and hung up and he called back! Persistent apparently. I'm in Western Canada.

December 20, 2011, steele says:

HAHAHA...I just had some random ring me too..lucky i have some idea about computers.
I strung him on for 25mins giving him false names,numbers and pretending to be very concerned and i needed his help and how grateful i was of it. He told me my cc #'s didn't exist so i asked for his...When he wouldn't give it to me i asked for a bank account to deposit $5000 in for him n his company for doing such great work. I got the western union spiel so i then told him i was just playing him for the last half hour and i knew exactly what he was up too. I laughed so hard..he lost it and started yelling some Indian crap at me..I reverse ip'd the website he gave me and it was registered in the uk to a fictitious person..surprise surprise...

January 2, 2012, Geof says:

SamE happened to me today. Unfortunately for him, my pc did get a nasty Trojan this morning and I was rebuilding it when he called!

January 6, 2012, Carol says:

Just received call from Microsoft 35 ingenial, Virtual Global Solutions, about an international routing system problem on my computer. I have over 1000!! viruses on my computer & unless I get on my computer immediately I will be spending $1000 for a new computer! My Internet explorer is throwing out many error messages (many people laughing, talking in the background). LOL I played along for a few minutes, why didn't norton catch this? Oh, according to him, norton doesn't catch international viruses!

I told Mr India, who said his name was Jack Lee, He was full of bull! I didn't believe a word he was saying! He was scamming me! But this guy just kept on, turn on your computer, I'll show you. You'll be glad you did. I hung up.

Sad thing, some people will believe this.....

January 24, 2012, Elke says:

Someone just called me with an Indian accent purporting to be from Global Routing Systems giving me a unique serial number and informed me my computer had infected files, which he would help me to remove.
I smelled a rat and asked him how he was able to associate my telephone number with my computer. I got an unlikely story and when I told him that I did not believe him, he passed me on to his supervisor - a man by the name of Stuart Lewis.
Lewis said he worked for Microsoft 35 Technical Department who was working with Windows Global Routing Systems, and that this company had been hired by Microsoft to take care of Windows global servers.
He said he needed to remove virus infected files and critical error programs from my computer otherwise he would send a report to the GRS Department who would give me 24 hours to remove the files. If I did not remove the files I would receive a fine and in case I did not pay the fine, the matter would be passed on to the legal department who would pursue me through the courts.

Although my phone showed that the call came from abroad, after some prompting he gave me his contact number as 0844 800 2400, and his address as Victoria Street, London!