November 12, 2023 at 6:38 am

They Got Revenge On A Phone Scammer And Told Them Everything Single Thing On Their Computer Screen

by Matthew Gilligan

Source: Reddit/AITA/Pixabay

Revenge on a scammer is THE BEST.

These folks think they’re going to pull a fast one over on you and BAM!, they get put in their place.

This story comes to us from Reddit’s “Malicious Compliance” page and it’s a great one!

It started when this person got a phone call…

“What is on your screen right now?”

“I received an unsolicited call earlier this morning from a gentleman named Dan.

Dan worked for Microsoft Security and was calling to let me know that my computer had been downloading malicious software, and because I was such a loyal customer he would be walking me through the steps to remove the software and fix my computer.

But they knew this guy wasn’t on the level.

In case you didn’t guess, Dan did not work for Microsoft, my computer was not infected, and he was not going to help me.

Our conversation began:

Dan: Are you near your computer right now?

Me: Yes, why?

Dan: I’d like to help you check it for issues.

Me: Okay, give me a minute.

At this point, I spend a couple minutes “finding” my laptop and getting it booted up. Really, it only took about 20 seconds, but Dan didn’t need to know this. Once I was at my laptop, Dan continued…

So they decided to play along.

Dan: What do you see on your screen right now?

Me: What was that? (I wanted to make sure I heard his question correctly)

Dan: What do you see on your screen right now?

Me: Well, I see my desktop…

At this point, Dan tried to continue with his script, but I had not told Dan everything that was on my screen, so I continued.

Me: There’s a clock in the bottom left corner, the time says 10:30AM, the date is December 3rd, 2017, there’s a WiFi signal with full bars, there’s a volume meter but I have it muted right now, there’s a battery indicator showing my laptop is 27% charged.

And one it went…

Dan tried in vain to interrupt me, but there were still more things to tell him.

Me: There’s an icon called My Computer, an icon called Recycle Bin, and icon called Google Chrome…

You can see where this is going – I proceeded to read off to Dan each and every icon, shortcut, folder, and file that was currently displayed on my screen. Dan never got a chance to get a word in edgewise.

Finally after about 4 or 5 minutes of meticulously letting Dan know exactly what was on my screen, he asked me a question:

Dan: Can you right click on My Computer?

Me: Sure, no problem. Do you know where that would be located?

Dan: It should be on your Desktop.

And on and on and on…

Me: I know, but I can’t find it. Do you remember what it was next to when I described everything to you.

Dan: It should be next to Recycle Bin.

Me: No, Google Chrome is next to the Recycle Bin.

After a few more minutes, Dan successfully navigated me into the Start Menu to open up a Run box.

Dan: Okay, there should be a field in the Run box. Is it empty?

Me: No, it has something written already.

Dan: What does it say?

Me: The first one says msinfo32, the second one says cmd, the third one says regedit…

It seemed like this scammer finally had enough.

After going through all the items in my Run box history (11-12), Dan let me know that he would need to call me back in a few minutes. Despite my pleas for help, Dan hung up. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to follow his directions so well?”

Let’s see what Reddit users had to say about this.

One person said their dad did something like this a while ago.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Another individual said this was very satisfying.

Source: Reddit/AITA

One reader made a hilarious and telling comment.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This Reddit user turned the tables on a scammer.

Source: Reddit/AITA

And one person said this person did a good thing by wasting this guy’s time.

Source: Reddit/AITA

That’s the kind of story we love to see!

Scammers, beware!