Fuck sakes, my 78 yr old dad fell for the biggest scam evar -NEW Update TODAY!

[jmintuck1912]

 So Mum, Dad and I go for coffee today and dad tells me that something happened in his computer that smelled SO MUCH of ransomware.

So I figure it WAS ransomware and it gave a phone number to call to get "rid" of it and unlock it. So dad calls the number and:

first of all, there are 10 voices talking 4 different languages in the background, AKA sounds of a boiler room.

Next, they got into his computer, he thinks,

No proper English,

Never heard of ransomware with a phone number attached to it until lately,

Cost was atrocious and didn't sound even remotely right

Claims to have been from Microsoft, AKA the Microsoft scam.


Actual cost of this was CAD $600!

Mom revealed to me what had happened that he hid from me earlier when I asked HER and not dad. Dad did not seem ashamed. I got so FUCKING MAD!

Dad finally "confessed to me after" to confirm this. Now he is out CAD $600.

I couldn't have been madder or my language at its worst around my parents, and I NEVER talk shit like that unless real true shit happens. I was saying pardon my French a few times.



I am so embarrassed for Mum. When Dad got that computer at his age, I KNEW dad was playing with fire,m I just knew it. Now he got burned.

I was a sitting duck on the lakeside watching this whole FUCKING affair crash and burn

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[pbleak]

Teach him some basics and all will be fine.

[jmintuck1912]

I try over and OVER again to teach him the GOD DAMN basics and he still won't catch on. Fuck sake he IS stubborn. I told him as much as

I knew and he either won't or doesn't somehow fucking catch on for God Sakes. Hell, Mum knows and smells a scam from MILES away. I told him,

no I SHOUTED at him to at least FUCKING CONTACT ME before calling a number posted on a locked computer with bars or whatever on it. Jeeez.

I would have fixed his goddamn motherfucking machine for a GODFORSAKEN LOT LESS than the CAD$600 price he paid to the fucking scammer.

I didn't feel shame as of yet, but so furious that I hollered, screamed and cursed, very much unlike most times. This is the worst fail by him that I

have evar encountered with him and his actions, or lack thereof.


I KNEW when dad got the computer that he'd be burned eventually. I FUCKING DAMN WELL KNOW NEVER PAY $600 to get my FUCKING computer "fixed".

I just had to be that fucking sitting duck by the lakeside watching the game slowly, unfold, crash and burn.

[pbleak]

Maybe put some restrictions on it like you would a kid. You can get decent software for this. Just limit him to browsing, don't allow downloads, maybe allow Skype or his favourite apps, etc.

[jmintuck1912]

Update:

I called Mum back and said that I was never more sick and tired of this shit.

To indicate this I said "Soon as dad bought the computer at his age, I thought "Here we go"! Here we go as in many more

harebrained ideas and scams. Mum said he'd try to prove that it wasn't a scam. HOW!? I was like. Mum was like "Let him

prove it somehow." I got more angry. I hope that he doesn't somehow convince her, as I seriously think it is a goddamn

scam. My Dad plays with fire, so to speak and gets his crotch burned. Every. Time.

[Moloch]

Did he by chance pay with a credit card or something he can dispute with his bank?

Scammers typically ask for Western Union or Bitcoin for this very reason...

[jmintuck1912]

Dad doesn't seem to use Bitcoin that I remotely can fathom. He has never mentioned to me that he would use it. Sounds like he paid with a V/MC type card.

ANDDDDDD

He is allowing time to elapse to prove it wasn't a fucking scam. OMFG DOES HE EVER LEARN!? NO!!!

There is a Statute of Limitations, I believe on a V/MC card dispute and I have a sinking feeling that he

won't do anything until it runs out. Harebrained things have happened before but this

TAKES THE FUCKING CAKE!

[Racey]

I have had ransome ware many times, it does not actually lock up my computer.
Bringing up task manager then kill the page or use task manager to shut down, if that fails shut down the computer using the power button.

Even after restart I clean all cache and cookies, run virus scans, and clean.
These ransomare sites mostly lock your browser, all other options with my computer are always available.
I never known it to be so serious for anyone.

Sorry about your Dad.

[jmintuck1912]

I am not all sorry crybaby about dad just yet. I am so critically mad that I could hit random people if it was socially acceptable.  I mean, wow.

$600 CAD in savings MEANT for him to live off of, along with Mum. I was that sitting duck on the side of the lake watching a whole event unfold, crash and burn, meaning as soon

as Dad got that computer, something would happen. I just know all along from day one. This takes the FUCKING CAKE!

[jmintuck1912]

What gets me is that REAL Microsoft tech support is unlikely to talk in broken English.

Before the fact, I came into the info that Microsoft is illegally used by dark world to pull these scams.

I dont know if he had gotten an 800 number or what. He should have compared the number against a

REAL MICROSOFT VERIFIED PRODUCT! Thing that I severely doubt he did.

Had he seen this number discrepancy, he would have had a clearer clue to question. I don't give a damn

if he got the real verified Microsoft number off the back of a Microsoft format disk.

Another pointer, Microsoft wouldn't EVAR initiate contact through action on phone or computer unless

YOU YOURSELF initiated said contact-GET IT!?

[Zeke2345]

No offence but 78 is getting up there, my neighbor fell for the same scam and shes in her fifties. We have to realize at a certain age you are not going to see much change for the better. Share the worry but we differ on getting angry at them.
See so many people yelling at their older parents, bit of a pet peave. That and kids ripping their parents off as they become more reliant on them.
Show some patience, you are lucky to still have parents around. parental locks sound like a good idea though if he is starting to slip.

[MRKLYE]

Coming in here and bitching over not teaching your father basic internets isn't going to save anything at this point unfortunately.

I highly suggest giving him internet 101 before letting him get all his personal info stolen (if it isn't already).

[jmintuck1912]

Can't say I haven't tried with him. I have tried numerous times.

I told him about several things and still he keeps at it. If his credit

card is now stollen, I am going to say yes it WAS a scam. I was so

unsurprised at all this. He NEVER admitted scam or anything. Nope,

no scam here, he was like. Damn, should get computer security for

dummies or something like that.

[jmintuck1912]

TBH, he has a slight stroke, so he wasn't at his sharpest in the drawer, I suppose when it happened. I didn't come to think of that one, tbh.

That could be one of the underlying factors of why it didn't clue in that he was in a scam. I just knew when he got the computer an explosion

like this could happen. IDK why, but I knew he was in trouble sooner or later.

[Iseecookies]

Seen a lot of old people in libraries that are clueless about email alone. See people explain and they usually waste 10 minutes before they realize its a death trap.

[jmintuck1912]

My dad didn't actually spend the 78 or 600 on the ransomware just yet, but he had considered it seriously. I got done calling him and

told him to stick with what he knew, NORTON. I insisted on that for that is what he knows and has trusted for years. I said any paid

options should only be ones basically found in mainstream computer stores. I sure chilled out after finding out this update and told him

to cancel his credit card and watch for unusual changes and charges on them.

[aardvark15]

My dad was a victim of hackers that wanted a ransom to unlock his files.  Luckily he didn't have much on the computer worth losing and he had most things backed up.  He didn't pay a ransom, but he did take it somewhere to have his computer cleaned up, so it did cost him something, but not much.

[JesusHadAegis]

Well we cant blame our dads if they'd be in trouble in that ways. So you gotta show him around the net.

[jmintuck1912]

I found out through Mum that dad went to Best Buy and learned there that this whole fucking fiasco was indeed a scam JUST LIKE I SAID.

Then from there he went to his bank and explained what happened and the bank did paperwork for MasterCard to get the money back. MC paid at first,

so AFAIK, they can get this reversed somehow. I hope now Dad learned to FUCKING LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY SOMETHING.

IF YOU KNEW MY DAD, YOU MIGHT AS WELL TALK TO A POST.

[nickenburg]

Yes some people fall for the easiest scams ever, especially old people are easy targets.
They will believe everything because they don't know a lot about technology and doing everything online.

I know that if someone calls you and says you have a problem with ur computer that guy is full of shit, but for us computers and technology are easy, but if I look at my grandma she doesn't even know how to work with a pc or mobile phone.
While the daughter of a friend of mine who is 2 years old, knows exactly how a smartphone and tablet work.

The only thing you can do is warn them and if something like that happens again you tell them they should call you before they do anything!