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For many of us it can be hard to imagine what kind of gullible dweebs go for this. The other week I was quite surprised to learn from family that my father had
by tdumitrescu 10y ago
For many of us it can be hard to imagine what kind of gullible dweebs go for this. The other week I was quite surprised to learn from family that my father had given money to one of these scams (the "you have computer virus" variation). This is the man who brought our first personal computer home in the early 80s, got me set up with BASIC, still keeps his Fortran code around, i.e. not technically illiterate by any means. But you know what? He's in his 80s, and though he doesn't show any signs of dementia/senility/Alzheimer's, he just doesn't have the energy and interest to keep up with all this stuff anymore, and at his age he's used to getting a lot of _legitimate_ calls from strangers working at doctors' offices, benefits agencies etc. The same man who taught me to be overly paranoid about anything a stranger asks of you now doesn't have the willpower to see through these scams - why yes, his 7-year-old malware-riddled Windows PC sure does seem like it could have a virus, and this seems like oh just a business trying to profit by cleaning your computer for you, and if they can manage it where all these anti-virus companies have failed him then great! We're really in an era where extracting money from old people has never been easier.
- amalag 10y agoMy dad is technically illiterate but all he needs is a web browser so I got him a Chromebook. It is more than enough for most people and if Google can keep it malware free it is a big accomplishment.
- nogridbag 10y agoI think that scam is particularly effective because they use gotomeeting, or similar software, to remotely control the victim's PC and then actually go through a scripted tech support session eventually running phony antivirus software which displays to the victim that there is a plethora of viruses/trojans/malware installed on the PC. For someone who has never had someone remotely control their PC, they most definitely seem like legitimate Microsoft tech support agents. I would imagine that would fool the vast majority of people sadly.
- extra88 10y agoThere's been at least one small study of a fairly specific part of the brain is damaged by aging and causes older people to become more credulous. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120816121836.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120816121836.h... https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=6456989613136191876 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=64569896131361918...