Consumer reviews and reports on scam companies, bad products and services
24x7pchelp
24x7pchelp John Cooper ( but with a very strong Indian accent) talked me into giving them control of my computer remotely and paid them over $100 by c
3rd of Jul, 2011 by User935969
I received a phone call last Saturday afternoon, just after being released from hospital so I wasn't really aware of what I was doing. A man with a very strong Indian accent said he was calling for my internet provider saying that they had had a notice on their end that I had 98.98% corruption in my computer files. He talked me into using my credit card ( I put my credit card details on the page so he had access to my password and everything) and I paid over $100 Australian for 12 months guarantee of no more pc viruses etc. Luckily I had sent my sister an sms while watching my monitor as they did their thing and she rang me straight away and told me to turn the pc off and disconnect the modem which I did immediately. The Indian actually rang me back to ask why I had terminated before he was finished. He denied that he was scamming me and I hung up on him.
I rang my internet provider and gave them his information and did the same with my credit card bank.
I don't know if I will get the money back or not but I'm not holding my breath. While typing this, he just rang me back again and I said I wasn't interested and hung up on him again.
I hope this helps somebody in the future.
Comments
4641 days ago by Suzanne
Avoid www.24x7pchelp.com (also goes by name technogennie and finmaestros). There might be some decent people who work there, but they also have professional scam artists working for them (like Senior Technician Ethan Hunt), and if you get scammed you’ll have the fight of your life to get your money back. It works like this: you’ll get a call from a computer technician claiming to be a Microsoft authorized service provider, saying they have been receiving error messages from your computer for a few weeks and are phoning to resolve the problem. He will probably have an Indian accent as it appears they are operating out of a call centre in India (they also have a front office in Florida). At this point, you should take his contact information, and HANG UP. Microsoft agents will NEVER call customers unless the customer asks them to call or fills in a support with phone case. Contact Microsoft Fraud Line at 1-800-785-3448 to report them.
If you have a lapse in judgement and fall for the scam (as I did) and follow their instructions giving them remote access to your computer (you might not be aware this is what they are doing, but it is), they will use Event Viewer to show pages of files with errors. From my computer research, I now understand that "Event Viewer system logs display prominent 'Error' icons, which often relate to trivial matters like the failure of a process to start, but could be used by a scammer to convince someone their computer needs 'fixing' by running a script." (http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/314295/windows_event_viewer_phishing_scam_remains_active/). He will also be able to read out to you your operating system product code, further deceiving you into believing he is truly an authorized Microsoft technician. In fact, he is just reading it off your screen which he has obtained remote access to without your knowledge. Then under the pretense of scanning your computer, the technician will get access to your computer through www.logmein123.com and is able to display, through sleight of hand, a screen saying your software warranty had expired and that you will lose all your data in 5 hours. They will say you need to renew your software (like Vista or your antivirus) to avoid a complete systems crash and will direct you to a very professional looking website, www.24x7pchelp.com, to make the purchases. Then they will request remote access to your computer for one hour to “fix” it and do the download of purchased “software”.
Basically, these guys are masterful at gaining your trust and use their superior computer knowledge to deceive you about the status of your Antivirus software, the state of your Operating System, and the security of your computer. They use fear of an imminent computer crash to persuade you to buy “software” you do not need. When you express doubts or reservations about what they are telling you, they assure you that they are who they say they are (authorized Microsoft professionals), that the situation is critical and that saving your computer’s data is their chief concern. If you lay down your money, their refund policy (it’s a joke, really) will not protect you and the company will likely refuse you a refund, basically standing behind these deceptive marketing and sales tactics, essentially showing you they endorse this kind of business practice--which is completely contrary to the marketing on their website. Here’s their mission statement: 24x7PC Help was founded by a bunch of enthusiastic computer professionals passionate about raising the bar on service quality with a view to provide best technical support service and with it educate the customers about their computer. If you are lucky enough to get your money back (for me it meant playing my cards very carefully and going to the top, company co-owner Shawn Ray), you will not get a full refund; they will keep a deduction of $59 USD for “instant services”.
If you go to your Credit Card Dispute Department, you will be told that you have nothing in writing, so they can’t help you – which is exactly why these scammers do the whole transaction over the phone. You will also be told ‘Buyer Beware’ which is basically an approach that blames the victim of the scam. Yes, you can call me stupid for falling for it; but the charge against the 24x7pchelp employees is far more serious: misrepresenting who they were (it’s called fraud, folks) and using deception to obtain purchases. Buyer Beware says if you’re stupid enough to fall for it, it’s your fault. I find that outrageous. Well, I for one am going to hold this company accountable for the tactics of this salesperson and am going to hold them to the high standard they advertise on their website. I will point the finger where the blame lies. I share this so that others will learn from my experience and not fall for similar scams.
Working for a more honest world.
Suzanne

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