Got a phone call from a indian call centre claiming he was calling for microsoft.  Said there was a virus and needed remote access to perform a task that will take 20 minutres. Techmate24/7 was the name of the company.  Not sure what was going on.

That would be "James Anderson" who has called me previously.  Funny but I have just been watching him on TV with the England Cricket Team in the UAE.  He really gets about, doesn't he. The telephone number is fake, via Skype or VOIP and the call would be from India. This scam has been going on for ages and was on "You've Been Scammed", BBC1, last November. They want remote access to your coputer and will install spyware/malware to steal your info. As you ISP told you, neither Microsoft or its partners would ever 'phone you.  It would be a breach of their privacy rules.  No-one who 'phones has any knowledge of your computer. They rely on scare tactics and lack of computer knowledge.

I like how you have changed the spelling of your very authentic name from Jack Dorson to Jack Dawson, the latter does make more sense.

My wife received a call from techmate 24/7 (on behalf of Microsoft) claiming she had a virus on her laptop.  They called back again an hour later (different person) saying they were the manager and urgently needed access to her machine.

Definitely a scam...

Avoid these calls like a plague! It is a SCAM targeted at people with limited knowledge on internet security/computers. Please avoid and report if possible. Do NOT provide any details. Microsoft will never call you for access to your computer thru a 3rd party vendor.

Thank you for updates above i have Just had a Jason on the phone telling me I had a Trojan on my computer and that i shold delete file csrss.exe and he would talk me through it. i told him my laptop was at work and I was only home for lunch so I took his number which was the same as one above 02202868331 and ext 8005. after reading the comments above I am glad I did not delete this file as it is a scam to gain access to your computer.