Cold Caller #12 Bad Timing

Like most people I have a  phone to keep in contact with family, friends and organisations with whom I have legitimate business:  not so strange people can call to inform, sell to or defraud me.

From Facebook archives. 

7 April 2011 at 17:14 ·

My father's life is drawing gently and oh so slowly to a close. 

He's 94 so it is neither a tragedy nor a surprise, but it does mean that for the past few days I've been waiting for "the phonecall". 

Which means I’m very unsettled and giving cold calls even shorter shrift than usual.

Today 'Kevin' called (are they all called Kevin?) asking 

"Herro, am I speaking to Miss Brenda Boyed?"

On hearing his accent my first thought was

"If his mother called him Kevin then I'm Madame Chiang Kai-shek" (google her) 

and the call went along the lines of:

"Good morning Kevin.  Where are you from and why do you want to speak to me?"

"I am from Windows Computer Services and we are calling because a number of bad files and viruses have been downloaded onto your computer."

"How do you know that?"

"We have Windows Research in London."

"Yes, but how do you know what is on my computer?"

"Windows Research in London."

"Yes, but how can they read what is on my computer?"

"I am not going to work on your computer."

"You most certainly are not, but the question is how do you, or they, know what has been downloaded onto my computer?"

No reply

"OK, let's put it like this.  Who supplies me with my internet connection?"

Click burrrr

He should really have known by my tone of voice at the first question that he wasn't on to a winner.

It was an attempted scam by the way ...