WWW.TechonSupport.com Scam??

I've just found your query.
I received a very similar call last week and challenged the caller who immediately hung up. I dialled 1471 (Some UK phones will sometimes store the number of the caller) but the number was not stored.
I got a second call today and played along with the caller for a while to see what I could discover. After a while the caller hung up again. 1471 revealed that the call came from 001274790083 which seems to be a Bradford, England number, which corresponded pretty well with the caller's accent. Checking on the web showed this to be a "suspicious number". I contacted my ISP. The young lady seemed to be interested in the information and said that steps would be taken to circulate the information "appropriately".
I believe your actions were wise. I fancy that it was more than an attempt to sell you some worthless product. I seem to recall a report that Bradford has a reputation for this sort of thing.
This wasn't what I had in mind, but it may prove informative and amusing:
http://www.digitaltoast.co.uk/supportonclick-systemrecure-scam

Hi I had techonsupport ring me up the week before christmas 2009 to tell me that my PC is running slow he told me to go to prefetch and showed me all of these malicious software, I got taken in by all of this and he got control of my PC and cleaned it, then he asks me to go ahead and purchase 2 years service with them and get 24 hours support, I being a fool paid them £110 for 2 years service. 1 week later I get a message from my PC telling me that I have 8 outdated drivers, so I rang techonsupport on the number they gave me 01865521065 with the password and username provided and the technician took control of my computer, they rang me back when they had finished telling me that everything is fine now. I replied to him that my screen is blank he told me "not to worry" turn your machine off and back on again and it will be fine (RUBBISH) then he hung up. My computer never worked again which cost me over £200 to get another operating system and to clean the machine and re-install the OS. I have been on the phone to them for the last 4 months telling them that I do not want compensation but I do want my £110 back I paid them to avoid the damage they caused to my PC. I went from a guy called Alex Carter to mark hughes and finally to the top boss so called a Mr Addi Murse and they told me they are in the process of paying me back via paypal in which I used. I formed a complaint with paypal and paypal notifies me that they will only cover you for things that have not arrived in the post and they do not cover you for services and ebay are the same. They came up with numerous excuses of how I have,nt received my refund one of which is that my paypal is not working which is pretty laughable, as I had purchased numerous items on ebay that week using paypal. I was told to ring monday just gone and the phone number has been given to another company I have phoned B.T about this matter and they say that the only thing I can do is ring 118500 to get their number which will not exist now but if you have a call out of the blue telling you things I am going to be a lot more dilligent than I was that day, not only that but I am recovering from being a total racist, these people are doing no favours for their own kind of people which we see trying to get every penny out of us as they are starving and I am going to stick to my number 1 rule if there is a charity that needs my help it will go to either Animals or homelessness or some british charity as charity begins at home hope I have been of help do yourselves a favour and keep away from techonsupport.com all the best from a ripped off customer by techonsupport

Thanks gents who contributed so far.

I received an unsolicited phone call from Mark at "techonsupport" who suggested he was connected to Windows/Microsoft who had received error messages originating in my PC. Mark, with Asian accent, talked me through directories on my PC which showed it was seriously infected. What I apparently needed was to give remote access to their technician so that I could get 1yr/2yr free support and a clean up of my PC. After pressing it transpired that there would be an up front payment. He arranged for me to have a six digit number to use to permit remote access.

I told him I would have to make independant enquiries about his company before I would give remote access and would get in touch next week.

He seemed a little upset that I did not immediately go ahead because the access code was costing him.

This correspondance has persuaded me that it is a scam.

Maybe Mark at techon will reply and put us right.

I am using Windows Security Essentials. I hope that this will lead to a warning or block when the techonsupport site is called up.

 

 

I just had 2 calls from TechOnSupport. I was originally sucked in a bit when they said they were working on behalf of Microsoft but stopped when they asked me to go online so they could access my Vaio. I questioned where they were based and they said Oxford, they sounded like an India call centre. The guy I spoke to first was JACK DAWSON, from Thailand apparently(!). Today, a JOHN SMITH from TOS called and gave the same speil about error messages and potential threats sent to them from Microsoft. After checking out their website and this forum, I asked to speak with JD again. I said that I was liasing with Microsoft (complete bs!) about them sharing my information with TOS and he changed his story to "We have nothing to do with Microsoft!" and said he'd speak with JS about saying this to potential customers. I told him that he'd said the exact same thing to me originally where he went on to say that there were two JACK DAWSONS working for TOS.... he then hung up on me when I asked for his managers name to raise this issue. After a few more attempts of contact, he gave me the name of BERNARD MANUEL as manager. Cowboys (or Indians?!) if you ask me! I logged it with Trading Standards as I feel mentioning MS in the sales opening pitch is completely misleading and a 100%BS, given the way JD resonded to my call. I'm not sure if MS have anything to say about them?

MS does not phone individual users, its all a scam, like the Inland Revenue you are due a refund mails

This is truly a sad story but all too often true. There are plenty of forums which offer free computer support and tech help. Never believe a scam like that. It's the new form of rogue malware with the exception that it is a live person invading your computer rather than malware.

Free forum : Repair-Bots Online

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Sometimes deciding which battle to fight is the toughest battle of all..

I'm ashamed to admit I've just fallen for a similar scam but my caller was from iglobalsonline.com.  I didn't go as far as paying them any money but they took control of my pc.  They told me my Norton  security wasn't working so I said I would consult Norton about it and I didn't need their help - he got very shirty and told me my hard drive was likely to crash then cut the phone call.  I have run a full norton scan plus windows malicious software removal tool but each time I have tried to install the live onecare safety scanner the window froze.  The Norton scan didn't pick anything up so I'm hoping they were just attempting to get me to sign up as a customer and did nothing else whilst in control of my pc, but I'm still too nervous to log into my bank etc.  Beware iglobalsonline.com!! 

I'm ashamed to admit I've just fallen for a similar scam but my caller was from iglobalsonline.com.  I didn't go as far as paying them any money but they took control of my pc.  They told me my Norton  security wasn't working so I said I would consult Norton about it and I didn't need their help - he got very shirty and told me my hard drive was likely to crash then cut the phone call.  I have run a full norton scan plus windows malicious software removal tool but each time I have tried to install the live onecare safety scanner the window froze.  The Norton scan didn't pick anything up so I'm hoping they were just attempting to get me to sign up as a customer and did nothing else whilst in control of my pc, but I'm still too nervous to log into my bank etc.  Beware iglobalsonline.com!! 

I personally would not rely on Norton to tell me my computer was on. Malicious Removal Tool is ok but only updated once per month. Download and scan with each of the following malware scanners.

Superantispy-portable

Malwarebytes.org

 

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Thanks for that - have followed your advice and now feel a little easier...

I have today received a call from technical support saying they are working with Ideal world, they have told me that I have a virus on my computor and it is a major one.. I was told to go onto the web sitewww.globalonline... when i went onto it it showed up that this was a scam.. so they are on the go again,, I told the caller a foreign person that I was not going to take this any further and that I would ring microsoft  he told me to go ahead and do so that he was only trying to make it easy for me.. I put the phone down.. I did mention that I used AOL and his reply was to go onto Eol... not convincing that he did not know AOL  Please be careful of this one... I rang 1471 but the number had been witheld.