h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm starting to worry that my father is becoming rather gullible. Last night, he tells me about a strange phone call he got. He said he got a call from Microsoft about his computer.

I say, "you hung up on them, right?"

Nope. He fell for it. He went to his computer, followed the instructions, saw all those scary error messages in his event log that are perfectly normal on any computer. After that, I'm not sure what he did as he couldn't remember clearly. He insists he didn't go to any website, but he also says they had control of at least his mouse and were able to do some "things" with it. Normally with this scam they get you to go to a website and download AMMYY so they can get remote access. Maybe they found a different method. Their next step is to d/l a program that will encrypt your data if you don't pay them a few hundred bucks. He got to the point where they started asking him for $100 to fix his computer then he got suspicious and hung up. He also tried to shut down his computer, but had to physically power it off. That may have saved his computer. I unplugged his ethernet and we ran a virus scan and tried to restore it to a previous state before the access. I think he was able to restore it, but I can't be entirely sure as once it was done, there was an error window behind other windows on the screen that indicated it had failed to restore. This could have been from a previous attempt as we had tried a couple of times earlier. I'm thinking that window was just hidden from earlier. Anyway, I got in touch with a computer repair guy I know just in case. He suggested doing a full back up in case they do get access again and try to encrypt his data, we'll be able to reformat and restore.


A few weeks ago, my father bought a bunch of frozen meat and seafood from some guy driving by the house. Now, he does occasionally buy shrimp from a guy that comes by every once in a while, but that guy actually works on a shrimp boat and he can order ahead of time. This guy just convinced my dad that he sells to several of the neighbors. All of the meat and seafood is packaged. I don't think that it's actually bad or unsafe, I just suspect that it's either been frozen too long or it thawed out and was refrozen. I think it will be edible in stews and goulashes. Mom was not happy about having to shift everything in her freezer for over $300 of questionable meat.

But these two events are making me suspect that Dad isn't as sceptical as he once was. I read an article recently that suggests that elderly folks are actually more gullible. There seems to be some correlation to gullibility and deterioration of something called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. http://consumerist.com/2012/08/20/scientists-say-elderly-get-scammed-more-because-their-gullibility-detectors-wear-down-with-age/

I suggested to my dad that he start reading about the latest scams on a more regular basis. I'll find him a couple of good websites to check. Snopes is my usual resource, but it didn't have the "I'm calling from Microsoft" scam listed in their latest scams.

I've heard of the Microsoft scam. Is this the one you are talking about?

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/microsoft.asp

I hardly trust anyone any more. I'm not looking forward to losing that ability.

Yep. That's the one. I hope they were just trying to get money from him. But I'm very worried that they hat temporary control of his computer. I'm hoping they don't now have access to it when they want it.

I think part of the problem is not so much gullibility as a lack of knowledge of current trends, and of course they are often more trusting. Regarding the fish, does he like a bargain and was tempted?

Where I live we have fresh fish brought in a van straight from Grimsby but he has bee coming for years.

Anyway, I hope he takes your advice on board and is more careful in the future, but you need to keep a check.

Websailor

We live in an odd little village. It's a bit of a seaside slum, really. Our neighborhood is an old residential area so any "vendors" driving down the streets are probably shady.

Oh, then perhaps you should really give him a lesson, respectfully, in the ways of the world in the 21st century. if that doesn't work then you will need to think again.

Websailor

My mother has (thankfully) always been very sceptical about things she doesn't understand.

She has no bank/debit/credit card, but visits a physical bank office to withdraw money, in cash.

She has no computer.

Thus, I thought her to be safe from scamming attempts.

But talkative, young and handsome salesmen (in a local shopping mall) have managed tricking her into signing contracts that she later regretted, realizing she wasn't interested in what they were offering.

Regardless of the method, it's difficult protecting a parent turning gullible.