Calling In
I called the company and explained to them that I had received an incoming voicemail, which I was unable to make-out. The unnamed representivie, who later identified himself as Drake Watson, had informed me that I was calling Microsoft Corporation, and my Windows license key had been expired.
He was unable to answer the few questions, as if he could not understand what I was saying and simply told me to "get in front of the computer".
I had tried again, questioning him that I thought these Microsoft license keys were not meant to be expired. Again, he couldn't understand me and his only response was, "get in front of the computer first of all".
Connecting Remotely
I logged into my computer, and the rep had me open up the Run box by pressing the Windows and R keys together. At this point, he told me to erase anything that may be in the box, and had me proceed to type: www.mswindows7.com.
As I clicked 'Ok' in the Run box, my firewall had kicked in and blocked the website, which I notified the rep about, and even informed him that it may have bee blocked by my workplace.
The rep had me go to another website called: Supremo.com, and download and install the free program. Upon installation, he had me provide him with the ID and Password that were shown in the Supremo software, and after several failed attempts due to my firewall kicking in, he had finally connected, and even claimed it was Microsoft who connected.
Showing Me Around
The rep opened System Configuration (msconfig), and showed me the stopped service; however, forced my attention only to the Microsoft's stopped services. I asked him the cause; however, he kept repeating to me: "do not worry about it". Afterwards, he had opened up the computer information, where the product ID was stored, and claimed that this is the same as the license/product key. He even opened up the "change your product key" window, to show me where the "new" product key would be placed as the new updated key.
Next, he opened up NetStat in Command Prompt, to show me the local addresses, which he defined as the "Microsoft certified" addresses, and then he drew my attention toward the foreign addresses, which he claimed were hackers that were infecting my system.
The Sketchy Sales Pitch
The rep opened up Notepad, and started to type all of the things he could do for me in addition to the license key, including: Removing the hackers with a disk defragging tool, cleaning up the junk files with programs that were already installed to my computer at no cost, and update the license key.
The catch was, there was a subscription plan, which are as follows:
$299 (2 Years)
$399 (5 Years)
$499 (Lifetime Transferable to Any Computer)
My Response
I had agreed to pay for the $500 lifetime plan, and the unnamed rep typed in Notepad how I would be paying for the service, which was by 1 $500 Steam card, or 5 $100 Steam cards.
Before hanging up the phone to obtain these cards, I asked the rep who I should ask for upon returning the call and he identified himself as Drake Watson. I told him that I would be aproximently 20 - 30 minutes to obtain the cards and would return the call asap.
Dangerous Tech
While Drake thought I was gone from the computer, he had proceeded to open User Accounts in Control Panel, and changed my account username to 315-307-5828. He then opened Command Prompt where he had changed my account password with: net user * and net administrator *, which prompted the password change.
After 20 minutes had passed, I had called back and informed him that he was deaing with the wrong person as I am a technician, and he immediately hung up after the following phrase: "So you were wasting my time."
