It’s that time of the night (usually around 6:30pm) and the phone rings. A lovely Indian voice from Support On Click tells you that your computer has serious problems which must be fixed by paying them a subscription fee for a remote support session. Would you be suspicious? What if the caller told you that they were actually from Microsoft, or that they were calling on behalf of your internet provider (even mentioning BigPond by name)?
On first glance, the Support On Click website seems to be for a legitimate, remote support business. As a provider of remote support services, I understand the value of this kind of support and how it really can benefit someone with computer problems. But like most human beings, I struggle with handing over my credit card details over the phone to a company I’ve never heard of, especially when they then will gain remote access to my computer and the rest of my personal files and identity details. Does this mean that the company is in fact a scam? Well, it was worth investigating further anyway.
Google revealed many people talking about similar marketing/direct calling tactics. More than anything, that’s the part that worries me. Even if they were randomly going through the phone system drumming up business, the practice of pretending to be another company (especially Microsoft) or stating to be sanctioned by your ISP is deceitful if not illegal. But dose this make them a scam?
Their website pitches that they will deliver a remote support service in return for an agreed fee. If they do indeed provide this service, then they are a legitimate business. So, next step – is there anything in the fine print?
To save you having to read nearly 6,500 words of Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, I’ve done it for you. Here are the highlights that rang alarm bells with me:
You agree that beyond the Personal Information identified in the Privacy Policy, any information or data disclosed or sent to SUPPORTONCLICK.COM over the telephone, electronically or otherwise, is not confidential or proprietary to you. – Hmm, so I have to agree that my information is NOT confidential.
IN NO EVENT SHALL SUPPORTONCLICK.COM ANDOR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES, MATERIALS OR SOFTWARE, FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE SAME, OR INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN THE MATERIALS. – And I have to agree to a big liability waiver that says they are not responsible for anything.
f) Sharing. We will share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person. – So they will pass on my demographic details to advertisers, gee thanks.
g) Log Files. We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track user movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information. – Big brother is watching me.
And to save you the boring details, both the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions can be changed without notifying you, and it is your responsibility to visit their website and review the 6,500 words to become aware of any changes.
The internet is a very faceless way of doing business and, as seen with many email & virus scams, some people believe what they read or hear without giving it a second thought. That doesn’t mean it is wrong to do business this way though. But personally, when something like my computer is involved, I’d rather have a relationship with the people that will be fixing it, even if they then do use remote technology. At least I will have met that and built some level of trust with them. To me it would be like handing over my banking details or discussing my financial plans – you know I want to meet and trust that kind of service provider in person too.
I’m not going to leave you with a verdict on Support On Click, but at least I’ve uncovered some more of the facts to enable you to make uo your own mind. If indeed you do feel you have been scammed by this company, let me know.
-SCuffy
Off the Cuff 
I had the call in March they lost my wireless connection to my computer, thy rang back 3 weks ago pleading with me to let them sort it which i did, like a fool,i lost the whole connection to printer plus i could not re install the proframme they deleted some microsoft files an di could nto access my documents, in the end i lost aol as it deleted some of the tools i reuired , i paid £125 they took details of my credit card , this card i only ever used once, now months later i got a call from a woman asking about my mobile bill did i pay it with this credit card and wanted my date of birth and address, so they passed these details on, my laptop is now with the engineer he had to strip it down and re programme everything i am going to aks for a refund has anyone had any luck judith
i’ve been getting four-five calls a day from them, i’ve hung up each time after about 15 seconds or so, just enough time to make sure the person is from this support on click thing. I’ve even told them at least once that i know they are a scam, but they are rather persistent it seems…
Hey
I am soumi(alina). I worked for supportonclick for 6 months .But after that I resigned.
In these 6 months I learned lots about the process. And learned lots how the technicians are working. But I get shocked to know that some of the peoples think that it is a scam company. So I decided to write this blog to make it clear to every one that supportonclick is not scamming anyone in anyway. It’s true that the call from supportonclick comes out of the blue. But the main motto of these calls is just helping the people. There are few points to be noted in behalf of supportonclick
Point 1: supportonclick never demands money from anyone before they fix up the
problem completely.
Point 2: the best part to note is that the technicians communicates with the user
continuously while working in the computer.
Point 3: supportonclick never asks any of the personal payment details or card details from the customers the just request the customers to make the payment by themselves only.
Point 4: they do not install any kind on unwanted software in your computer( except antivirus or antimalwar if needed).
Point 5: whoever takes the support from supportonclick definitely notice the improvement in there computer.
These are only the 5 points from a long list.
@soumi,
I appreciate your desire to defend a company for which you worked. However, I think the weight of the evidence is against you. I’m sure you’re aware that this is not the only site on the Internet concerned with supportonclick, and the story is the same in every case – “technicians” who represent themselves as being from Microsoft, Dell, Bigpond, or something similar, employing hard-sale scare tactics, and leaving systems worse than when they found them. Posts like yours come across as self-serving, and probably paid for. If, as you say, it’s a legitimate company being smeared by unscrupulous competitors – which I don’t believe for a minute, but let’s go with it – I think the only option you have is to close down the company completely and start over again, perhaps beginning by hiring honest employees from the start.
In any event, I suspect that no one who’s read the entire thread is going to believe you.
These people are a bunch of evil bleeps. They are very clever about how they scare people. What they do is to get you to look at the event viewer in administrative tools. Then they ask if there are any red circles with white crosses in them. Of course there are loads there, sometimes in the hundreds. They then say this means your computer is infected with hundreds of viruses and you must download our software which will sort it out. Of course the vast majority of these are minor program or process errors that don’t mean squat. But most people don’t realise this and many might be intimidated into paying for this filthy unnecessary service. What a bunch of evil scum bleepers!
just had a call from them, as soon as i challenged the guy on the phone he became very agressive and rude, of course i kept him on the phone and wound him up further.
but very dodgy company
Yes, they install a spyware program. Tell her to turn off her PC and leave it off, until you can get it to a shop that can clean it all out. Her exposure to identity theft depends on what type of information they will have been able to see while she was hooked up to their site and they were downloading and spying. Aside from the thing itself, this was a bad blow to my 85-year-old mother’s self confidence, and has been very, very stressful and lots of work to remedy. It makes me very angry.
My 73 year old mum who lives in the UK became a victim of these chancers yesterday – luckily she didn’t hand over her credit card details but they did take control of her PC she presumed they were British Telecom due to the call centres being in India.
Is anyone aware of any software they install as I won’t be able to check out her pc for a few days.
My mum found the whole experience very stressful and no doubt had a sleepless night
My mom was just victimized by these guys. Thank heaven she mentioned it to me soon after. I see lots of complaints on these blogs, and descriptions of what happened, but can anyone follow up with consequences? They install a program on your computer, so, what can they do with it? We’re in damage control mode right now, and any information would be of use. We have taken the computer in to a reputable shop to clean it up, but don’t know what-all information might have been vulnerable. As she ended the call, they said “you don’t need to turn off your computer, we’ll turn it off when we’re done” and sent her off to bed thinking she’d done a good thing. Charged her $289 for a “3-year contract”.
I haven’t had the chance to read everyones’ comments, but I do intend to & thanks to SCuffy for this post. My 74 year old Da fell scam to it (didn’t give them his cc info) but did give them direct access to our pc. We contacted the police & they in turn called me to let me know it was indeed a scam. I felt this was the case when three of the India Indians that I spoke with all, ALL had names like Brandon Smith & Ron Wilson & Gary Watson (they all then claimed that they were “Christians”) in India & their fathers were American & mothers from India… I wish there was a way to shut them down for good – flat out told them I knew they were a phishing group preying on those who would possibly believe their bs, but of course this got me nowhere as they would then tell me ” yes this is what we want to protect you from” I then say Noone has ever contacted us drectly when we’ve had pc issues, yes they say, this is what we provide”
Interesting – the comment on this board from “Daniel // Saturday, 11 July, 2009 at 6:57 pm” sounds VERY similar to a number of other positive comments left on other blogs (his positive “customer experiences” heavily in the minority). These virtually identical posts seem to be left by various names, all using newly-created usernames or profiles, all seem to use the same slightly awkward English and grammar that would suggest it isn’t their native tongue.
Far be it from me to suggest that “David” (if that IS your real name 😀 ) may be in the employ of Mr Prateek Shah/Support On Click. Heaven forbid.
Avoid these clowns.
GUYS I HAD THE SAME CALL FROM THESE SCUM BAGS. LUCKILY I WAS HERE AND MY PARTNER HANDED ME THE PHONE BECAUSE SHE KNOWS VERY LITTLE ABOUT PCS, ANYWAY THE CALL WENT ON LIKE THIS. THEY STATED THAT THEY WERE FROM BT(MY PHONE AND BROADBAND CARRIER) AND THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY PC. SO I LET THEM WALK ME THROUGH THE COMMANDS ON THE PC AN KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR, THEN THEY ASKED ME FOR A ONE OFF PAYMENT AND I SAID OK (KNOWING THAT IT WAS SOME SORT OF HOAX) THEN THEY TRIED TO DIRECT ME TO A SITE CALLED (WWW.SOC321.COM). THEY ASKED ME TO LOG IN AND I SAID I DONT THINK SO AND HUNG UP, I PHONED MY PROVIDER AND THEY DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM AND GAVE ME A NUMBER TO CALL FOR A FRAUD SQUAD, LOOK IF YOU GET THAT CALL AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE…
Prateek, I can assure you that no posts have been deleted.
I continue to be amazed at the amount of debate that this topic has generated and will leave this as an ‘open forum’ for comments, good or bad.
-SCuffy
To MR. Prateek Shah, Head Scum, Pecon,
Your immoral marketing tactics, bullying and down right LIES! gives the Indian “companies” this reputation. My personal experience with your phone calls and what you did to my elderly father I feel your company deserves the reputaion you have and I will do everything I can to notify every radio, new channel and senior advocacy agency that I can. I encourage all others who have been “extorted” by your company do the same.
My 78 year old father in Las Vegas was cold called and told that his computer had a virus and was causing problems and affecting computers in Calif.They told him they were from Microsoft and were very convincing . They had him on the phone for 3 hours and took control of his computer and convinced him that they only way to fix the problem was to buy their support for $285 which is probably much more when converted to their currency. They continued to call him and tell him to send them e-mails requesting a refund and he would not be refunded until he did. He did twice and they are continuing to call him. I don’t know what is up with this but they will keep you on the phone as long as they can, no matter how much you swear at them. I encourage everyone to contact Microsoft and let them knowhow rampant this scam is and that this scam is targeting their reputationm Someone needs to target a criminal investigation on these bloodsuckers!
04/12/09
Got a call today from this outfit.They told me they were a “certified Microsoft company” who had indicated I had a problem with my PC which runs on XP.
I panicked and allowed them to talk me through thesequence and lo and behold there were some red warnings.”Are there more than 10″,he asked and there were.I then allowed their technician to “fix” it!!
Fifteen minutes later the original chap came back to me and began talking me through more pages from their web site.
When I saw the logos for credit cards I decided to terminate the whole idea.They then pestered me with phone calls till eventually they gave up.
I am worried though that I might have locked all the windows and front door but left an open safe at the wide open back door.
HELP Please.
I got a call at 5.45 pm today from “Ben Thompson” of “Support On Click” with a thick indian accent telling me that my computer(which he said runs on Windows Vista or XP) was about to be attacked by some type of virus I had never heard about before. He wanted me to start up my computer and he was going to walk me through a process to prevent this from happening. He also mentioned Microsoft technicians. I was very suspicious because I just had my computer updated to Windows 7 and it was checked out thoroughly. I told him my computer was in the shop for repairs so he wanted to know when I will get it back. I told him Monday. He then gave me an 800 number(1-800-698-9034) to call when I got my computer back. After that conversation ended I googled the company and found this blog. I am so grateful to you guys for speaking up about this company and what it’s doing. Thanks a lot.
I am a radio personality and will be talking about this on air in Spokane Wa. I talked to these jackasses last night after they spoke to my mom! I cornerd him on how he got my Phone number
Hi all,
I believe the forum moderators have been deleting my company’s attempts to reply to your comments, which I feel is unfair on us. I hope that the objectivity of this post will help it remain on this forum.
I am a Director at Pecon, having joined the company 2 months ago after returning from USA. I believe this company has a genuine product that is beneficial to its customers, and while we have had incidents in the past where our sales agents have used unethical means to sell our product, we have taken stringent measures to correct this and I can confidently say that today none of our callers claim that they are from Microsoft or overcharge our customers (if they do so they are immediately terminated). We do, however, have Microsoft-certified technicians.
Having said that, there are some assumptions that this post makes that are really not valid – for instance, the police report does not at any point mention the name of the company making these calls, and we are not the only company that provides this service – in fact some of our past employees have absconded with our software and started similar companies.
Secondly, at no point do we install viruses that collect credit card data – this is simply an unverified claim made to exaggerate the gravity of the “scam.”
Lastly, in the few cases where past employees of ours have made unethical sales, we have made a conscious effort, where given the opportunity, to make amends. Even now we stand by the policy that the grievances of any customer who feels unfairly treated will be swiftly addressed.
The hullabaloo that this post and others like it have created, on the other hand, have caused us much inconvenience and loss. Customers who have benefited from our service and were well satisfied with it for 3 or even 6 months suddenly see such reports and take their money back.
I sincerely hope that some of you will open your mind enough to check our product out before you judge us based on someone else’s incorrect conclusions – most of the posts above are from people proudly claiming that they got a call from us, saw this website, and shooed us off, and this pattern just goes on and on. Very few of the posts provide any material objections, and to most of them I could make a reply given the opportunity. As for using the remote connection to usurp your computer and personal data behind your back, we use remote support software from a California-based company (Citrix GotoAssist), and they will tell you that such a thing is not possible.
I am aware that all you are trying to do is create awareness and increase computer users’ safety and security, but I assure you our company’s objectives are much the same. We are not scammers and we are definitely not “scum” as someone above has called us. Just because we are Indian does not make us dishonest. Generalizing a few exceptional cases to defile the name of our company as a whole does not make you good reporters.
I only hope the moderators of this forum will be open-minded enough not to delete this post simply because it’s from an Indian IP address.
Sincerely,
Prateek Shah
Director
To Prateek,
I work for Microsoft and do not appreciate your company calling me and misrepresenting itself to me over the phone by saying you are contracted by MS to support Windows (12-29-09). It didnt take me long to work out the scam and the caller quickly hung up after a few questions werent going his way. Your poor attempt at defending your self is a disgrace and your company casts a dark shadow on the IT industry and those in India that make an honest living from working in IT.
You should hang your head in shame as the service you say you provide is nothing but a scam that preys on those that have not got the knowledge to know better. If you are a truly honest person you will find another occupation that doesnt bring shame on yourself, your family and your country.
I feel a right burk! I didn’t check as after Sean said he was from Microsoft and I had been having blue screen problems for which I had hit the reported button, I thought that he was legit! Silly me and I don’t know what to do now.
Any advise would be very welcome. HELP!!!
I’m very glad you have this website set up. I just got a call from Support on Click. Same story as the rest, had me look in an area of the computer that, according to my computer programmer husband, always has warnings.
I didn’t know this at the time, but I was skittish, having been scammed by a salesperson before and have heard of plenty of scams before. They said they were from Microsoft and then when I got suspicious they said that they said they had Microsoft certified techs that helped. Liars.
When they gave out their true name I did a search of them and was almost convinced that they were legit until I saw your website. Big thank you. I also didn’t believe that they would help me for free. Nobody searches out people to give free stuff away, especially no company. They wouldn’t stay in business for long.
I’m going to send out warnings about this company to all my friends and pass on the information to crimestoppers.
Thank you so much for having this information out there. You have plenty of good karma coming you way. 🙂
I just wanted to thank you for the information; I received a call from this company. I told the Indian man to call back later and googled the name of the company. Your article popped up and the information you provided was very helpful!! Thank you so much!!!!!
I was having problems with my computer this morning and could not access my E mail. As I was doing this I had a call from a chap called Chris with a heavy accent so I could not understand all he was saying. He told me that I had viruses on my pc and gave me various instructions. I eventually got to eventwvr where loads of warnings appeared. He told me he would pass information to a technician and in a half-hour the problems would be solved. Also I was to receive a FREE programme of software maintenance for 2 years.
All sounded reasonable to me although I did ask why my Norton security wasn’t covering me
Then I was given Chris’s telephone number aand told that this would only cost me £139!!!!!
Now I don’t pass out money like this and he said he would ring me tomorrow once I had thought of the value of this offer.
Now, were they accessing my computer or was it a co-incidence that I was having problems and how did they get my telephone no.?
I did a complete scan with Norton and there were no viruses.
I am mainly computer illiterate but have a suspicious nature. How much money are these character getting from this scam.? Have they just started in the UK?
I just hung up the phone with a Support On Click “representative”. They disguise themselves as service techs who have received an error report and throw around the names of Microsoft, IE, and Windows – i.e., whatever they feel will work. I am usually pretty good at sniffing out telemarketers and happened to be on my computer when I got the call and Googled the name.
In the USA, there is a gov’t list of phone numbers that telemarketers cannot call. Mine is on that list. I let the “rep” know that I can report him and he will be held responsible for calling numbers on that list. He promptly backed off and tried to get off the phone as quickly (apologizing profusely) as possible.
Thanks for the heads-up, SCuffy!
I’m another idiot who fell for it. Having only recently changed from Mac to PC I believed them , paid my money, and allowed them access.
My bank details have been changed since then but is there anything else they could do.
Hi guys
Those people are calling you just by dialing random numbers..They even dont know wheather you have any problem in your computer or not.Even if u have any problem in your pc they really dont have any exact idea about that.only thing the do is just take a chance to get a new chicken.They will tell you so many things like..”Ur Harddisk “MIGHT BE” crushed down..ur comouter is running slow and blah blah..but the very true fact is..they just try to play wid your psychology so dat they can get a hold of ur pc to show ur some temp and prefetch files wad are not at all harmfull and u can also remove it by ur own just by deleting those but they will convince you in the way so that u feel its harmful.
now coming to the payment mode..as on the name of giving support(wad is totally crap) they will access your computer and there will be an online payment mode where u need to give your bank details.now the fact is they can SEE ur all the bank details..like ur credit card number and also cvv code..so they can access your card for their use!!!And not only that they dont have any physical exisetance except in India..and they dont give any tax to Our Govt..So they are really running a scam.And Because of that QL and V. banned them from Aus.Not only that Even Canda Govt. Banned them.
Even every softwares they use to give the support are free softwares and u can download it from any software site and u can use it as per ur wish.So ultimately they are doing nothing but fooling you.
and now here comes their physical address
Pecon Software Ltd.
En-27, Salt lake Sector-V
Kolkata
West Bengal,700091
IN
Tel. +91.03340101601
@Trisha U did a nice job,Dont worry they cant access your computer till you dont allow them or listen to what they are barking.But it will be great favour for all of countrymen if you just forward this address to ur local police station so that all of we countrymen can get rid of these crappy scam.
Will wait for ur comments
I just got the very same call. Each time I questioned or queried their call they got quite aggresive. I was sceptical and let them know it. My call was transferred to someone else who was supposidly better!
In the end they told me to open the Run program and type in supportonclick.com, thankfully I didn’t , instead I typed it into my search engine and found a warning from the QLD police. I told the guy this and he went very quiet and asked where I found that. I told him and then hung up.
I called my local police station to inform them and they suggested crime stoppers too.
I got 3 calls from these pricks, I missed all of them but they got my wife really worried, my computer is always on and yet they kept telling my daughter to turn it on, I work in IT so know there is nothing wrong with my computer, I just called them on 02-80147593 and gave them a mouthful, don’t think they will call me again.
They told my wife they were from Microsoft so I’ll be letting Microsoft know this also.
i just had the exact same approach and refusal to establish any legitimacy. thanks for the info and warning
they are still trying…i just hate the way the world is going…scamming people out oif our hard earned dollars…money is hard enough to stretch without these asshokles putting fear into un suspecting users..thank god i have smelt rats like this before but calling in the middle of the day…man i am so wild!!!!
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I received a call from “Support On Click” yesterday and was dismayed to hear them tell me that my computer had a problem and to type something in on it. I asked how they got my number, and they only told me “their team” got it. After several questions that confused the caller, I handed the phone to my husband who is an Information Technician of a dozen years. He asked several simple technical questions, which they could not answer. I demanded a business number, which was a long distance number. I used my cell phone to call the number, and the person on the other end didn’t even know they were Support on Click when I asked them several questions. Finally I asked if they were SOC, they stammered an answer, and they tried to pass me to someone else. I hung up and told the person on the phone that my husband was talking to that they were full of crap.
Today I received another call from a person who couldn’t answer my questions. At first they refused to give a business number to me, then they finally gave a 1800 number to me. They absolutely refused to give a business address. I called the 800 number, and the person told me they weren’t authorized to give a business address and kept trying to change the subject back to my computer needing to be fixed. I hung up on them, because my computer is fine. They are a complete scam, and I hope noone falls for their lies.
Ok, now it’s my turn. Ahhhhh, support onclick…. Got a call from these people today at lunchtime at home. Asked me what my PC anti-virus was. I told them it was the free version. “Ahhhh no, no that is bad. You might have viruses from the free version” so he told me to look at all these files in my Microsoft Word, like Task Scheduler, Event Viewer, Shared Folders, Event Properties etc. etc. then he said click on the Windows button and press “R” simultaneously, type in the empty box http://www.soc321.com and then click on “Windows Logs” then click on “Application” and click on “continue” option and he went on and on and on like that for the next hour! something is wrong with my computer if a “WARNING” sign came up, which infact there were “WARNING” signs. This Indian guy had me answering his questions on the phone for way too long! I was getting very grouchy as I was working at home to finish 2 deadlines that day. The thing was though, everything he was saying was coming up on my computer. They then had access to my computer after I registered with them and they were clicking on all these different menus on my laptop and in the process of “clearing things up” ie. getting rid of the “WARNING” signs. They said they’d ring back in 10 mins when it was complete. There was no mention of cost as it was apparently a free service. I found this hard to believe. But they rang back and said that the process was almost complete when I then challenged them about it being free. “Well over a 3 year period it will be $360.” “Oh right, so IT’S. NOT. FREE”, I said. “You never mentioned this an hour ago.” He kept me on the line for a further 15 mins and i began to get too stressed out that too much time had passed by and I still had work to do. He then asked for my credit card details to complete the transaction. I got antsy and said “Look, how did you get my number anyway? Where are you situated?” He replied that he got my number as I was a Windows user, and that they were based in North Sydney, ph no. being 02) 8014 7593. I said “this is strange considering it’s a very bad line. You sound very far away”. He shirked this off and then asked me again for my credit card details and I’m like “Look, I can’t deal with this right now ok? I’m very stressed about this, i’ve been on the phone for over an hour, you want my money for something you said originally was a free service and I don’t have $360 in my account”. “oh well, you can pay for 12 months” he said. I’m like “NO. I can’t do this right now ok, call me back tomorrow” and I eventually hung up.
Very very strange.
Got a call from them a few days back. Asked if my computer was running slow. the darn machine was nagging me for past few days, so I said yes. The guy was quite helpful, and solved the problem in a few minutes.
Now the machine is considerably faster. I am happy with supportonclick service. And I don’t understand, if they provide quality service in lieu of money, how can they be regarded as scammers?
Wow, I’m amazed at the number of visits that this topic has generated.
As far as I am concerned, the investigation and subsequent findings by the Queensland Police is a definitive enough answer for me. (See the followup Update on Support on Click post).
Pretending to represent Microsoft, McAfee, Dell, Bigpond etc is just plain wrong.
Yeah jus got a call from these assholes, Indian accent “Michael” says I have serious computer probs, he is in Nth Sydney ph 0280147593. Claims to be aligned with McAffee, says if I do a google to type the support on click name carefully because there are “scammers” trying to ruin his business lol but he totally denied being a scammer when I asked him. He wanted my mobile number to start with before I said bye bye
I to got a call from an Indian Accent, one ladysaying her name is mis jenifar (one guy )claiming they were from Windows.. Microsoft given the contract to her.We didnt give them ant bank details but i want to know if they can actually look into a computer as they were saying they were problems on there, got up to the bit where they were asking for money and we were like no.. They were very pushy and rude.. we said we had no money on the credit card, And they said we will call back 2morrow and u can pay it then.. But im just gonna say i know its a scam and i have spoken to crimestoppers..
Yep, I had these buggers on the phone last night in Victoria doing the hard sell with me, implying they were with Microsoft etc etc. They kept swapping me to a new ‘technician’ when my questions were I getting too tricky for them. I asked many times if they were being honest with me, but I felt they were not to be trusted. As soon as he wanted my bank details I said I would have to go check with a computer friend first. They were very, very pushy and well organised to scare the unknowing, average computer newbie. Bad, bad karma: you’d think Indians would avoid creating such karma!
They are still doing it and very plausible they are indeed adopting English sounding names such as Shaun Michael and Nick Wilson (supervisor) although speaking with a pronounced foreign, probably Indian, accent.
They persuaded me to disconnect from the internet and then “prefetch” but baulked when I asked them to send me all the details by email so I could read it at my leisure and check them out.
By wary of them and stay well away.
Like one of your previous contributors my elderly mother was cold called and persuaded into signing up. Later the same day when I realised what had happened I contacted them to cancel – whether they can provide a service or not their sales approach is thoroughly nasty and I would not want to take a chance with them.
They called back and assured us we would get a refund. However this never arrived. In following up they now claim the cooling off period has expired and they will not now be refunding our subscription after all.
They are based in India, their operatives adopt unlikely English sounding names on the phone.
My advice – steer well clear.
Tonight I had a phone call off support on click saying we have to up date our computer and we have problems with it.As we have paid $380 to fix it and to up date it. Later thinking about it I thought I will ring them and enquire on a few things but they hanged up on me then I rang back and they were very rude I thing I have been sucked in but they have all my details on my compter and bank details ……….help
This morning I have reported this as a scam to the ACCC (1300302502) and it is in fact a scam.
As I said to the bullsh*t artist from supportonclick on the other side of the phone, if he hadn’t seen or accessed my grandmothers laptop or data usage stats how did he know her pc was ‘currupt’ or ‘infected’ (his words). My grandma contacted me after he had rang back twice even after her telling him not to ring back. Eventually by using mentioning Bigpond and Microsoft the dog had an 80 year old lady scared into entering her personal details into their database. Bloody scum!
All I can say is find a local computer guy you can trust stick with him and his advice, make sure you always have your three levels of security.
1. Anti-virus and Anti-Spyware Software (Ex: Computer Associates) – the free software out there is free for a reason, just spend the $50 or so a year subscription and keep it up to date
2. a hardware firewall – a modem/router does only that, check that it yours has a Stateful Packet firewall (Ex: Linksys WAG54G for ADSL)
3. Keep you operating system (Ex: Microsoft Windows) up to date with windows firewall running.
Always remember never give your details out over the internet or phone unless you are 110% sure who you are talking to!
If you are in Australia and feel like giving these pricks a mouthfull (02) 8014-7593
Good luck
Keith
I HAVE BEEN SCAMMED TODAY WHICH COST ME £120 I AM WORRIED BECAUSE THAY COULD CONTROL MY COMPUTER,
WHAT CAN I DO NOW ABOUT THIS
Hi.
I have a friend who has just (hopefully) cancelled a payment of £170 due to be taken from her credit card by these people. The issues discussed above are hauntingly familiar so I won’t repeat them – one thing strikingly different from the above posts is that my friend had been inundated with pop-ups prior to supportonclick calling her. These were of the ‘there are serious problems with your computer’ variety and, when the company called, they said it was because she had been ignoring their warnings. Clearly, she has acquired some spyware at some point (although she rarely visits anywhere other than e-bay) and somehow, supportonclick have gotten hold of her home phoner number, strange indeed due to the fact that in asny online correspondancem she will only ever provide her mobile number, in order that her aged mother will not have to deal with any cold calling on the home phone. My ultimate concern is, where has the spyware come from and how have they got her home number? Her phone/broadband provider is TalkTalk. A few months ago, I spent a long time on the phone to India (on here behalf) to rectify a problem with her broadband service and, while I am not implying any kind of foul play on their part, it would be interesting to know if anyone above, or reading this is contracted to the same company and has found themselves in a similar set of circumstances.
Regards, Rob
I to got a call from an Indian Accent claiming they were from Windows.. We didnt give them ant bank details but i want to know if they can actually look into a computer as they were saying they were problems on there, got up to the bit where they were asking for money and we were like no.. They were very pushy and rude.. we said we had no money on the credit card, And they said we will call back 2morrow and u can pay it then.. But im just gonna say i know its a scam and i have spoken to crimestoppers..
I’m a daffy duck who paid £275 to them,I’m asilver surfer so when they rang and said they were from microsoft i believed them as i was having problems.My bank won’t stop the transaction , trading standards said they can’t do any thing as there based in India and the police wasn’t interested.I was mugged and feel aright mug.
I got the same call last evening. After talking to the agent for a few moments, I went to their website. I did not sign up, but, I am now worried that they have my IP address. What can they do with this info?
I had mailed Dell about a blue screen problem. The next day I had a call from support on click. I asked them if they were with Dell and because of the East Indian accent I thought it was Dell. To make a long story short they tried to bill me for a 5 year contract at $405. That’s when I found out it wasn’t Dell and my laptop is useless.
I got one call and told them I was not willing to let any one log into my computer execpt my son. Got a phone number didn’yt work when I rang it.
My wife got a call called me asked her to get info she got two phone numbers. Rang both ended up in India speaking with same bloke.
Same as Bank scam as far as I’m concerned.
I work at a retail computer store an have had a number of customers call and say this so far. I have called Crime Stoppers and they are aware of it at this stage but took no further action. This is something that should be making the news as its a huge risk for a lot of people who really have no idea how the world of computers works
Well dont I feel like an idiot. I gave them access to my computer and paid the fee. I have asked them for a refund, because the guy on the phone was really rude, I have cancelled my credit card, and I am now going through and changing all my passwords.
I cancelled my credit card an hour after I paid, does anyone know if the money would of gone through already??
I am really worried now, what did they take from my computer.
Who else can I contact, and how else can I get my money back??
Silly Person, I would contact Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 and let them know.
-SCuffy
My 70+ yr old mother got a call from them a couple of days ago. They said that Microsoft had given them a contract to sort out her PC which was causing problems in the Internet (sending bad files to the server). Luckily she has heard enough Internet horror stories from me to know that it was a scam. She also knows that I use Logmein to look after her PC for her. She wrote down all their details, said no thanks and called me – thank goodness!
Thanks for the information !!!
Why don’t you take some action ???
teach them a good lesson!!