BT Hacking Scam – Are You Near Your Computer?
This week, I have had 3 phone calls regarding what I am referring to as the BT Hacking Scam. This is probably very similar to the Microsoft Windows Log Error Scam I have written about before and I had several responses on the post.
The phone calls have all been from an Asian male with a Caucasian name. It was ‘Mark’ this morning and he introduced himself as being from the BT Internet support team. He told me that they have been noticing unusual activities on my Internet line by overseas hackers. I played along for a bit so here is an outline of our conversation.
Mark: Are you the main Internet user?
Me: Yes.
Mark: We are seeing lots of overseas hackers logging in to your computer where they can see all your activities and Internet usage. I can show you where they have been looking and to stop them. Are you in front of your computer terminal now?
Me: Yes.
Mark: Can you look at the computer keyboard and tell me what key is next to the one marked ctrl.
Me: It says alt.
Mark: What computer operating system do you use?
Me: Mac OSX.
Mark: If you look at the top right of your screen you will see a magnifying glass. Can you click on that and type the word Terminal please.
Me: OK. I’ve done that.
Mark: What does it say?
Me: What should it say?
Click…… ‘Mark’ suddenly hung up.
If you get one of these calls, whether you are on a Mac or a PC, do not let them have access to your Terminal or Command Line.
I am not even a BT subscriber so this was a quick giveaway. Many Internet Service Providers include firewalls and prevention for this kind of thing, so the BT hacking scam is just that – a scam. YOU will need to give access to your machine, although sadly, you can do this inadvertently by visiting sites that install trojans or malware. If you have any doubts, ask the caller to contact you back, after you check with your ISP, but don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from him. Unless of course his name has changed and the call script starts from the beginning…
other page
Yes! Had the same thing today. Rang me on my new landline. Good job I’m a bit savvy. Told me to go to Terminal (I have a Mac) and type stuff into it. I though “hang on” and asked him to prove that he was a BT engineer. He kept repeating that he had given me my ‘unique’ BT ID. Suspicious, as he had a very Asian accent, but a very Caucasian name like Shaun Brown. Incongruous. I said, I have never been given a BT ID so he could be quoting anything – I couldn’t check. He then started to get a bit shouty. I asked him why he was arguing with me. He said he wasn’t arguing, but he kept repeating the line about my BT ID. I then hung up.
Even if you are with another provider, they try and say that you are routed through BT lines, hence why you are being contacted by BT. It sounds plausible but it trash.
I worry about others because it would be easy to mistake him for a genuine engineer. Let’s share our experiences to help kick these pernicious fraudsters off the net!
Just had a call from “BT”, apparently some hackers are trying to get into the computer drive… I needed to press the windows button and R to bring up a run box and enter a code they wanted me too… when i said that didnt work he got very shirty with me ‘are you listening to me or typing?’ (I was typing into google to see if this was a scam, ‘call from BT about hacking’ and so many pages have appeared with comments on what I have just had.) they tried to get me to put http://www.teamviewer.com in the same box, this was a software to download to stop the systems crashing (which obviously isnt) I told the man I knew this was a scam, we never get calls from BT and the code ‘calc.exe’ which was in the run box originally was the calculator. He just hung up the phone and the number he rang on I rang back and it was a dead line.
I just had the same experience. It was very well done, I went along with it right up to the point I was being asked to download Team Viewer. It started with a very sweet voiced female caller ( i thought sounded Bajan) saying technical problems had been reported. I agreed as my internet had been down for a month. I then got passed onto an Indian sounding male, I don’t remember what name he gave. First he got me to write down an ID no, then asked me to be in front of my computer. He said my line was infected, he moved from scaring me with multiple viruses to then offering to demonstrate how many active accounts are using my internet connection. After that I began to grow suspicious but still thinking this might be legit because he kept pushing the safety and security of BT users line in a very convincing way. I followed his instructions to the point where I knew i would be at risk. I was first asked to look at system preferences, check security and privacy to see my firewall is on, then to the Spotlight Search and type Terminal, there i was told that the list of code i was looking at were unauthorised users hacking my connection. Then he instructed me to use WC3 Validator and type in each site I use most to see how may ‘errors’ were listed for that site. When gmail showed 25 ‘errors’ he said ‘Jesus Christ’ a couple of times, to add drama and urgency to the situation. (i knew this was way off BT script so my guard was well and truly up at the this point) I looked at the descriptions next to the errors listed it looked like software coding errors to me. Next I was asked to go to Team Viewer and download something so he could do his ‘level best to run a diagnostic at his end ‘ At that point i said ‘can I read what Team Viewer is please’ and asked why this platform has anything to do with BT? I then started quizzing him and said i would be foolish to download anything as I have no evidence that you are from BT, what’s the urgency I should do a bit of research and call BT back. He then said if i’m asking to terminate this phone call and end the procedure then they have no choice but to terminate my internet connectIon as instructed by state authority! As he was saying this i google BT/Team Viewer and saw it was a scam. I put the phone down. Now I;m concerned that the sites I was asked to look at might have Malware attached to them? Not sure what to do next?
I had this type of call about my computer’s security being compromised by overseas hackers. I told them I thought they were a scam.
today 16.3.2021 First received phone call saying internet will be terminated due to hacking activity, recorded voice requested press 5 and it took me to an engineer who said pretty much the same as above.Thought it was a scam immediately just ended the conversation.Engineer rang back shouting but was told I know this is a scam. Engineer hung up.
Just had the same call. My dad woke me up saying there was a fellow on the line and wanted my help with a laptop to sort it out. Instantly suspicious. I ALWAYS Google the numbers for stuff like this. But, alas that did not stop me from hoping my dad had already vetted this. So I’m on the laptop following instructions. He gives me all this rubbish about two seperate hackers. Had me open up a black screen which apparently showed me the status of my Internet with my IP address and ‘foreign address’ which showed a couple of numbers. Presumably this is how he convinces people there are hackers in your system. He kept asking me what it said on the screen and I got the general impression that anything I said would mean “they are gaining access this very moment”. Anyway I kept going, trying to ask dad if he was sure he was legit without letting on over speakerphone. We got to thd point where he wanted me to search a Web page and my dumbass did but thank GOD for my shoddy Internet because my laptop was not connected AT ALL. Poor chap tried to help me sort it but I just said I’d get another laptop. Wasted five minutes getting that but oh shoot… Wouldn’t you know it, I forgot my password. Ran upstairs to get my sister’s password. She didn’t know it either. Searched for mum’s laptop but that thing’s slow as a three legged mule. By this point I’d searched scams like this on mh phone and showed my dad a page saying BT would never c a LL you up for something like this. So I’m stalling at this point, waiting for him to find a real number in his call log, apologising prefusely to this man about our slow laptops.
“this must be so tedious for you”
“Don’t worry mam, this is my job. We are very patient, just let me know when you’re logged on to a new computer”
“ah, my pin still isn’t working”
“that’s OK, let me help you reset your pin. How many laptops do you have?”
Dad-“too many”
“my dad says too many. Look could we call you back when we have mum’s password?”
“since we’ve spent so much time on this call…”
“no I understand. It’ll take a bit though. So, how was your Christmas?”
Anyway,still no connection so it’s not even letting me reset. The guy’s getting impatient now and so am I. Dad’s still looking for a number so I just Google it and show it to him. He goes into the other room to make thd call to bt proper. At this point the guy wants me to use my dad’s phone to reset my net wetwork or something, but of course dad’s using it so I say “yeah he’s off to look for it. He’s probably left it in the shed or something.”
“is he talking to someone”
“yeah my sister, she’s helping him look. So sorry about this, he’s always doing it.”
Anyway dad comes in and he’s looking for the number he’s calling from. I just get fed up and hang up because I can’t handle two calls at once while trying not to let on to the other party. The phone rings, I hang up. It rings again, I hang up. It happens a few more times. (Very handy because it gave up the number to give to the nice lady from bt every time he rang. He was calling from two different numbers which she subsequently blocks). She says it was definately a scam and all I can say is thank god dad decided go wake me up from my lay-in for this. That was a good hour of his time I wasted and I kinda wish I’d dragged it out a bit more. Maybe regail him with a sob-story about the child I had out of wedlock with an already married man. How he’d promised he’d leave her for me but has ceased to speak to me. How lonely I feel without him, “oh woah is me, how can I cope with a child and all these debts without him!”
It would’ve been hilarious, wouldn’t made him very uncomfortable, and would’ve taken up time he’d use to scam other people. Never fall for this guys. Boy am I looking forward to telling on my dad when mum gets home
This happened to me and O fell for it