Ahh, yes, the Classic Urban Legend;

1)  It happened to a friend of a friend...

      "At a company where a friend of mine works, a co-worker of his
       received one of these calls"

2)  It involved new (and untrusted technology)

      "The company name that they give is usually a big well-known
       software company, and they usually say that they are doing the
       survey because they want to give out free software. They want
       to know what would be a good time for someone to come from their
       company and install the software on your PC at your home."

      "they should have your address (we think they're getting it off
       the internet)"

3)  It involves a fairly reasonable warning or moral message

      "I want to make you all aware of the situation and the potential
       danger involved in giving out any information like this over the
       phone."

For further information, see any book by Jan Brunvald.

Coyote

At 03:24 PM 2/5/97 -0600, Michael Jarvis wrote:
>Subject: This is really going on, even in O.C.
>
>     >Be aware.....
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >There is a big scam going on where a person calls and says >that they
>     are doing a computer survey from a company.  The >company name that
>     they give is usually a big well-known >software company, and they
>     usually say that they are doing >the survey because they want to give
>     out free software. They >want to know what would be a good time for
>     someone to
>     >come from their company and install the software on your
>     >PC at your home.  They also ask questions about income, etc. >>
>     >During their questioning, they find out what time you're >usually
>     home, what kind of computer equipment you have and >all sorts of other
>     valuable information.  At a company where a >friend of mine works, a
>     co-worker of his received one of >these calls, and he was robbed the
>     very next day (of course, >when he was not home).
>     >>
>     >I received a similar call yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, I >knew
>     about this ahead of time, and we didn't provide them with >any
>     information.
>     >>
>     >I want to make you all aware of the situation and the >potential
>     danger involved in giving out any information like >this over the
>     phone.  The people sound very genuine, and >very few people are going
>     to question receiving free >software.  I would advise you, however, to
>     tell the people >that if they have your phone number, they should have
>     your >address (we think they're getting it off the internet), and
>     >they can mail you any free software they might be offering. >You may
>     even want to tell them you don't have a home >computer. Whatever
>     you're comfortable with.  Please don't >give out any information that
>     you may regret later. Pass >this information along to friends and
>     family members, as >well.  The fewer people they are able to scam, the
>     better.

--                                       
Ron 'Coyote' Lussier         /\_/\      ____             Chaco Communications
(408) 865-0657              (     )     \ _/__        10164 Parkwood Drive #8
coyote@chaco.com             \   /       \X  /       Cupertino, CA 95014-1533
(1990 VW Westfalia Camper)    \_/          \/    http://www.chaco.com/~coyote