Microsft software support - scam?

Is it likely that Microsoft would phone individuals in this manner?

No. BTW what service provider are you with?

Guys if you go on Youtube, there's tons of people that setup virtual machines on their computers just to show what these Indian scammers try to pull, they basically instruct you to download Go2Assist or something like that so they can gain remote access to your computer, they'll then go into Command Prompt, run the tree command which simply displays files on your computer and claim it to be a virus scan, they'll then type "Virus found" while the files are scrolling through and then when it's finished their typed text is shown and they trick the user into thinking their perfectly clean PC is infected, if you refuse to pay up they usually delete files, or legit install a virus since at this point they have full access.

Nobody from Microsoft will ever call you regarding viruses on your computer.

I received a phone call yesterday afternoon, from a man who sounded East European. He claimed to be from Microsoft and told me they had been receiving messages from my computer that it was heavily infected with powerful viruses and Trojans that I would be passing on to other computers via emails. He asked me to turn my computer on so he could talk me through the procedure for removing them. I didn't, pointing out to him that I had no way if knowing if the call was genuine and he could be anybody calling from anywhere. He protested that it was a genuine call, but I put the phone down.

Is it likely that Microsoft would phone individuals in this manner?

As others have said, it's a common scam. They phone me with this approach quite often (usually on a Friday afternoon). As others have said they ask you to press "Windows Key" + r to open up the Run command box and then ask you to type in a link to their website. I always act dumb and follow the instructions as slowly as possible right up to typing in the link.

At that point I say I am not doing it and when they ask why, I inform them I have a degree in the subject and ask them why they can't get a proper job.

They then put the phone down and sometimes phone back 30 seconds later with a torrent of expletives about my dear mother.

I also get the other type of calls from the Indian named John etc, who fish for details under the guise of a short survey.

As others have done, if it's a lady, I often mention that she has a sexy voice and ask if she has a boyfriend. This is partly to throw them off balance and partly because I admit to having a soft spot for quietly spoken Indian ladies.

Usually this gets me transferred to "the manager" who again proceeds to question the morals of my dear mother.

Call me a sexist dinosaur if you like, but saying what you think is a privilege reserved for someone of my age...and dinosaurs did live for a very long time.