Imagine the horror when you buy antivirus software to protect your computer and personal details, only to give access to them when you accidentally call a copycat tech support site? Fortunately, one member smelt a rat before any real damage could be done…
Member Roxana Triefus told us how she was almost swindled by a fraudulent tech support team after buying an antivirus subscription from a well-known provider.
‘I bought a Norton antivirus subscription in a shop, and I went to what I thought was Norton’s activation site. There, I filled in my contact details and entered the product key, but an error message appeared. A pop-up advised me to call a number. I phoned it and granted remote access to my PC, and was then advised that it was infected with a virus, which could be removed for a £199 fee. This seemed suspicious, so I refused to pay and hung up.’
Our say on tech support scams
This is a tech support scam, where fraudsters try to gain remote access to a computer to steal financial details.
Symantec (which makes Norton software) has no record of its support team ever speaking with the member, and says it’s likely she spoke to an ‘unaffiliated and unofficial third party’. She may have unintentionally gone to a copycat website that apes the official Norton site. This has a phone service manned by impostors.
The member has since had the software safely installed and her PC checked by a firm with Which? Trusted Traders status.
Never allow remote access to a machine or hand over financial details on the basis of an unverified call. Ensure you contact companies on legitimate sites. Norton’s is support.norton.com.
When made aware of our member’s case, Symantec kindly extended her antivirus subscription for a further six months, free of charge.
Do you have further questions? Which? now has it’s own dedicated tech support service run by our in-house experts. Find out more here.
Have you been caught out by a fake tech support team or product? What happened?
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