Was this "Friendly help" ?

Had a phone call during the week that offered to help me with my "slow computer".

They said Microsoft had sent them details which indicated that my computer
was slow.

They then said they could "help me" fix the problem.

they took me through lots of questions, after which they said, I could be given advice to correct the slow problem.

I was to follow their instructions to down load and install a program, and I would only have to pay something like $145 per year for the next four years.

So, I was supposed to download a program and install it on my computer, and they would send me a "key" number to install the program.

It was at this stage that I became uneasy about what they were asking, and told them that I was getting a headache, and was closing down my computer, and ending the call.

I had suspicions that they were trying to get me to buy the program by providing my credit card number. I suspected they were only trying to get my credit card number. I also told them that I wanted to get advice about their offer.

I did get advice the next morning, from two independent computer experts, who advised me not to deal with people who cold phoned in this manner, and that microsoft would not have provided such advice to independent people.

They indicated they would ring back the next day, So far, I haven't received any further phone calls from them.

I am suggesting that we should be very very careful if we
are approached in this manner.

The people who called had strong accents, and were saying they were transferring me to their supervisors before continuing the call.

This post is for the purpose of letting you know of such a practice.

Be careful of dealing with these types of cold calls.