01-22-2014, 01:47 PM
An east Indian called, claiming there was something wrong with my computer.
I listened to his entire pitch, which was quite clever.
He first wanted me to open a command prompt box and type assoc at the prompt.
That brings up the file association list in the operating system.
The second last item on the list is the following entry:
.ZFSendToTarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}
The east Indian then read the CLSID number sequence back to me, as "proof" that it was my specific computer that he was receiving problems from.
This number is in reality the exact same on all Windows machines.
But to the clueless end user, it is a neat confidence building trick.
It boiled down to that he wanted me to go to the www.deamviewer.com web site and download that particular TeamViewer clone,
so that he would be able to make a remote connection to my PC and mess with it.
I did not do that. Instead I hung up on him and call blocked the number.
He then called back 5 more times, with the call originating from a different phone number each time.
Beware of this type of call. It is a scam that will cost you a lot of money, since they effectively take your computer hostage until you pay them.
Here is a YouTube recording made by someone else of a similar scam phone call:
Read more about this particular phone scam here:
Can't catch me! The zfsendtotarget telemarketing scam
PC Support Security Scams – ZFSENDTOTARGET CLSID Trick
Scam? Using zfsendtotarget=CLSID\{ 888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062} to sound legit?
I listened to his entire pitch, which was quite clever.
He first wanted me to open a command prompt box and type assoc at the prompt.
That brings up the file association list in the operating system.
The second last item on the list is the following entry:
.ZFSendToTarget=CLSID\{888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062}
The east Indian then read the CLSID number sequence back to me, as "proof" that it was my specific computer that he was receiving problems from.
This number is in reality the exact same on all Windows machines.
But to the clueless end user, it is a neat confidence building trick.
It boiled down to that he wanted me to go to the www.deamviewer.com web site and download that particular TeamViewer clone,
so that he would be able to make a remote connection to my PC and mess with it.
I did not do that. Instead I hung up on him and call blocked the number.
He then called back 5 more times, with the call originating from a different phone number each time.
Beware of this type of call. It is a scam that will cost you a lot of money, since they effectively take your computer hostage until you pay them.
Here is a YouTube recording made by someone else of a similar scam phone call:
Read more about this particular phone scam here:
Can't catch me! The zfsendtotarget telemarketing scam
PC Support Security Scams – ZFSENDTOTARGET CLSID Trick
Scam? Using zfsendtotarget=CLSID\{ 888DCA60-FC0A-11CF-8F0F-00C04FD7D062} to sound legit?
(This post was last modified: 01-22-2014, 01:54 PM by velvetfog.)
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
- Robert A. Heinlein