Scammer warning

Be warned - the scammers pretending to be from Microsoft are hard at work in Australia.

I received a telephone call late yesterday from someone claiming to be from Microsoft, claiming that my computer was sending error messages to Microsoft and this call was to resolve these.

I hung up.

I telephoned the telephone company, Telstra, hoping to be able to trace the call and pass that information to the police. Unfortunately they were unable to advise me of the origins of the call.

During subsequent discussions with both Telstra's Unwelcome Calls Centre and the ACCC's Scamwatch, I learned that these thieving scum are very active. The reason why they are so active is because they are finding people who fall for their b.s. and give them the details needed to perpetrate their scam.

There are a couple of points of concern with this matter.

One - why are people still falling for this? There has been report after report about this in the media. Microsoft do NOT telephone people as some sort of courtesy.

Two - all the relevant authorities are well aware of the activities of these scammers, so why is it they are unable to close them down?