I honestly can’t tell if this is a scam or not

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Here is the recording of the phone message left on my phone.

When I call the number back because… well I wanted to confirm if this was a scam or not for investigation purposes the lady on the recording says “the wait time will be 120 minutes”.

When I do a reverse phone number look up it says that 206-429-9176 is a phone number registered to Microsoft. see https://www.whitepages.com/phone/1-206-429-9176

When I google on the phone number I see scam reports.  I am now going to reach out to folks at Microsoft to see if I can get more info but if it’s a scam, it’s a lousy scam because I can barely hear the person.  If it’s a marketing offer from Microsoft, it’s a LOUSY marketing offer because I can barely hear the person.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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I think the caller is saying “subscription to 365 is expiring soon”. So if yours isn’t, then it’s probably a scam. The phone number could very well be spoofed. And this scammer would seem to be new since he doesn’t know how to adjust his microphone and not bump it into things. XD

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SueW, BobbyB

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Sounds suspiciously  like one of the infamous Indian Call Centre’s based on the discernable accent and its a common scam the old Microsoft Tech Support ploy, North America wide. You can have some fun, if you are like me; Just torment them say your on Linux and that way they cant get you to install remote access software on your PC, or I generally ask them hows the Weather in Bombay or Mumbai that generally gets them to “hang up” on you lol.

Alas, though, not everyone is as wise and Knowledgble as the “AskWoody” devotees, theres a guy on YouTube called Pleasent Green a little send up of all things scam by Phone and PC. Makes for interesting and amusing watching

OBTW Phone number spoofing is a common trick, even our caller displays cant be trusted these days.

 

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SueW, Cybertooth

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Susan Bradley wrote:

Here is the recording of the phone message left on my phone.

When I call the number back because… well I wanted to confirm if this was a scam or not for investigation purposes the lady on the recording says “the wait time will be 120 minutes”.

When I do a reverse phone number look up it says that 206-429-9176 is a phone number registered to Microsoft. see https://www.whitepages.com/phone/1-206-429-9176

When I google on the phone number I see scam reports.  I am now going to reach out to folks at Microsoft to see if I can get more info but if it’s a scam, it’s a lousy scam because I can barely hear the person.  If it’s a marketing offer from Microsoft, it’s a LOUSY marketing offer because I can barely hear the person.

Once again. what is going on with you?

I think you need to take a break.

Seriously… I think you need to take time out.

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CADesertRat, Fred

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I’m perfectly fine.  I just like pointing out to Microsoft that their marketing efforts aren’t working

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Myst, Kirsty

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Calling back such a phone number is THE dumbest thing to do.
So, you can kick me off again.

* _ ... _ *

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if I did get a scammer I was going to report on what they were scamming-so no Fred this is not dumb. It’s called investigation.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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DrBonzo

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Rick Corbett wrote:

Susan Bradley wrote:

Here is the recording of the phone message left on my phone.

When I call the number back because… well I wanted to confirm if this was a scam or not for investigation purposes the lady on the recording says “the wait time will be 120 minutes”.

When I do a reverse phone number look up it says that 206-429-9176 is a phone number registered to Microsoft. see https://www.whitepages.com/phone/1-206-429-9176

When I google on the phone number I see scam reports.  I am now going to reach out to folks at Microsoft to see if I can get more info but if it’s a scam, it’s a lousy scam because I can barely hear the person.  If it’s a marketing offer from Microsoft, it’s a LOUSY marketing offer because I can barely hear the person.

Once again. what is going on with you?

I think you need to take a break.

Seriously… I think you need to take time out.

This episode stands for the quality of the security advises of this site? Really?

* _ ... _ *

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This is the sort of message that I would automatically delete as indecipherable. It sounds like he’s talking from underwater in a swimming pool and I can’t make out more than 2-3 words total. If it’s legit and important, they can try calling back later and maybe the connection will be better.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Myst

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I automatically block these calls and delete. No hesitation whatsoever, if it’s legit, they’ll make sure to come through loud and clear. And even then, I have enough of a handle to know who has a service or product I want/need, in that case don’t call me, I’ll call you.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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Guess what guys – this WAS a legit call,

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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windbg, Myst

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Since when does Microsoft call people ?

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When they are following up on a cancelled Microsoft 365 subscription.  I had set one up a while back to test out a teams issue and then unsubscribed.  This was a follow up marketing call. They called again this morning and I took the call for investigation purposes.

It’s a sad state of vendor interaction when everyone is convinced this was a spam call, when it was a legitimate follow up call from Microsoft.

We no longer have a good solid way to verify when vendors call us.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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WSwerm, Myst, Sueska, Ascaris, Kirsty, opti1, DrBonzo, CADesertRat, Alex5723, satrow

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Susan Bradley wrote:

Guess what guys – this WAS a legit call,

And Microsoft has hired marketing personnel who do not have the right training to make themselves audible and intelligible?? I’d say that Microsoft is getting desperate.

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Sounds like the same sort of accent I would get saying they are from Dell support. They actually had a old Dell service Tag I once had. I think they probably got the information from a hack of a Dell support person and was using it to scam. I believe this was the same using Microsoft instead. Sometimes, I used to play along since I knew they were not from Dell and just spoofing their support number. They waste my time, I waste theirs.

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So I googled 206-429-9176.

First, from answers.microsoft.com there is this:

I got a call twice from 1(206) 429-9176, they claim to be microsoft 365 support. They ask for ticket number and name. Is this number even legit from microsoft?

with an answer from Stefan Blom which says:

Phone numbers for Office business support are listed in the article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/global-customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2.

The number (206) 429-9176 does not appear in the North America portion; in fact the area code does not either. Very strange!

Second from https://www.callercenter.com/206-429-9176.html there are 23 User Complaints and 14 Complaints to the FTC.

Those complaints seem to be indicative of a scam to me…

HP Compaq 6000 Pro SFF PC / Windows 10 Pro / 22H2
Intel®Core™2 “Wolfdale” E8400 3.0 GHz / 8.00 GB
HP ProDesk 400 G5 SFF PC / Windows 11 Pro / 23H2
Intel®Core™ “Coffee Lake” i3-8100 3.6 GHz / 16.00 GB

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Area code 206 is Seattle.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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What a waste of time.  I never check voicemails.

 

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Well, I always check voicemails. Why? Because I don’t pick up on certain phones at certain times of the day (I do not have CallerID). So I’ll check voicemails (if any are left!) on my time.

Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010; Group B (SaS); Former 'Tech Weenie'

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I once kept a pair of scammers on the phone for nearly an hour. They kept telling me to press the Windows key. I kept telling them that there wasn’t one on my computer. It was true, I was on my wife’s Chromebook! To top it off, I kept telling them that I was on a Chromebook! “We’ve never heard of that kind of computer”. Can’t say that I didn’t warn them.

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Cybertooth

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That seems like a fun idea, but I can think of several ways I’d rather spend an hour. 🙂

cheers, Paul

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I had a strange one with Microsoft too. They called me from 1850 940 940 which is the old Microsoft Ireland number (1850 numbers have been discontinued so it’s no longer possible to dial it). When I answered the call, a recorded message stated that it was Microsoft calling about my support case. I did have a case open with them and it was a legitimate call, but it had a few red flags that could have resulted in me not answering or hanging up immediately.

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