'Microsoft' callers pester residents

CBNews has been flooded with letters of complaint in what appears to be yet another coldcalling scam targetting elderly expats by operators claiming to be from Microsoft.

COSTA Blanca News has been flooded with letters and email complaining about the now infamous 'Microsoft callers'.

Readers explain the operators sometimes call up to six times per day and begin their conversation in English - hence they appear to be targeting the expat market.

Another coincidence is that that the majority of complaints are coming from elderly expats - many of whom do not even have a computer!

A quick look at our 'Letters to the Editor' section will prove the point, but many residents are at the end of their tether.

Calls begin with a polite 'Hello, how are you' and proceed with a ' I'm calling you from Microsoft Technical Department'. When residents demand to be told how they got their numbers, the tone changes and some have even been verbally abused by the callers.

The purpose of what appears to be yet another scam is not clear, as at the beginning no personal details or credit card numbers are requested and callers try to keep victims on the phone as long as possible.

This could indicate a prime rate charge on you bill or even an attempt to hack into your mobile phone.

As in other cases, police always recommend hanging up immediately and checking your next bill for unsolicited primerate calls.

Some reader simply chose not to pick up the phone if the number is unknown. They have reported that sometimes it comes from number starting 121 (landline) or 652 (mobile), but always has nine digits, suggesting its coming from Spain or has you. been relayed through a Spanish Mobile number. phones and many landline phones have an easilyaccessible register for callers' numbers - you can check it on internet (simply type in the number on your browser) as several anti-scam sites will appear showing any reports on the number that has phoned you. reader Meanwhile, Mary Bevans our 90-year-old may have come up with the final scareaway. She tells CBNews (see letters) that she only gets the odd call now after she used her father's old GWR train guard's whistle and blew it as hard as she could into the telephone's microphone!