There are a growing number of cold telephone calls to users from a company known as Support on Click who are based in India and are reaching out across the globe with their scam calls.
Currently, they have setup operations in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia and are quite aggressive in their approach.
They usually inform the customer that they have been recommended by their ISP and they work alongside them to provide support by means of remote access.
They attempt to use ‘scare tactics’ in a bid to get users to sign up for their ‘computer repair’ service with statements along the line of they already know that the users computer is infected with malware and would be damaged beyond repair unless the user signs up and allows Support On Click to ‘fix’ the non-existent problem.
The calls are completely fraudulent and this company has no idea of what is or is not on a users PC.
I have had calls from these and listened to their rubbish. Now, they even stated that they could repair a PC via remote access when it had lost its internet connectivity! Now, that would be a real bonus wouldn’t it?
I use remote access to fix computers, but I need an active internet connection to do so at both ends.
Interestingly, the company’s affiliated partner is none other than PC Security Shield, better known as The Shield Deluxe 2009, which is a known fake rogue application that will also scam users.
Scams are not limited to the internet, they now also use VoIP, landlines and cell phones to phish for user’s personally identifiable information (PII) and credit card details which will lead to Identity Theft and Fraud.
Computer security is an essential component and all users should ensure that their firewall, antivirus and antispyware are updated and all Operating System patches applied.
Good security does not need to be complicated or expensive as a many of these are free to home users.
One simple tool that I always advocate is the Web of Trust add-on for Internet Explorer and Firefox, which can be customized to suit your needs and also warn you of many dangerous, malicious and fake sites.
This should be monitored and laws put in place to prevent it. What a shame if people would take the time to learn a bit about their system it would save them from scams like this. I am afraid that the people that fall victim to this sort of thing is not likely to read your great post on the subject.
Haven’t heard this one yet…thanks for the heads up.
I got a call from these people today and they tried to scare me using the line a report passed from Microsoft and that they were Microsoft Certified and could repair my alleged reported problems. I hung up as soon as I saw the pay per repair page and was having trouble with the technicians strong Indian accent. I am happy that Trend Micro will pick up any malicious activity — so beware!
@ Fool – Sadly, many do fall for this and similar scams, and collectively we can hope to spread the word so that others do not get caught out.
@ sarge1875 – You’re welcome. They certainly are persistent though and will often make several calls to harass people.
Regards,
Colin
Further reading here:
Free PC Security
Hey Fool,
Yes . . . in many cases we’re preaching to the choir. One can only hope that the word gets out to the noobs. Otherwse, they’re much like lambs going to the slaughter. (Shakes head).
thanks for the heads up I have not heard of this scam before but great job getting the word out
Thank you Sean! I am glad we can help.
28th May 2009
Just had a call from these people – have received several over past two days so decided to listen to what they had to say so they wouldn’t ring again. (I wasn’t quite sure about this call so when they asked me to turn on my PC I disconnected my internet connection to stop them from accessing my PC). Total scam. They said they had a report that I had malicious files on my computer, had me pressing “Run” and telling them how many files were present. They said they needed removing, as my computer was at great risk. I said I was dubious about following his directions as I had no idea what the consequences would be. He had very strong Indian accent and would not give me a telephone number to ring him to confirm his i.d.
He kept on about these malicious files present on my PC, but as I do have a fair bit of PC knowledge, I was aware that I was looking at files for my printer, toolbar and others. When I told him that one of these files was my Google toolbar, he simply put the ‘phone down. I then found this website when looking for PC repair scams!
Beware.
Sharon,
Good call and I am glad you were not duped into handing over money to these crooks! I am glad we were able to share this, to keep people informed about this scam.
Just got a call from the Support on Click guys. They said they were from NY. I told him I would talk to my husband and call him back. Then I asked him HOW MUCH for his services…he said $54.
I kept asking questions and he kept giving me crazy answers. Needless to say…I didn’t believe a word he said. Found your site and wanted to say thank you for all the input.
Shirley,
If you never requested the call, it’s a scam.
I got a call from these guys yesterday afternoon. they asked if my computer was running slow, it really was, so I said yes.
They provided me tech support, and the machine is considerably faster now. dunno scam or not, but i am satisfied with the service.
Daniel,
It’s a scam and you’re not the only one who has told me the same story.
I just got a call from this company at 10:30pm EDST! I kept asking the guy questions, and he was getting pretty irate with me. I finally did the thanks but no thanks and hung up. After that, I did a search and found this site. I’m glad I had enough sense not to trust them. And I’m a blonde too. Laugh. Thanks for getting the information out there.
Tracy,
I received two calls in the last 2 months and gave them a piece of my mind.