Author Topic: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!  (Read 12108 times)

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PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« on: September 27, 2014, 05:27:44 PM »
The avast! phone support scam has been going on for years now.  I personally get at least 1 call per month from clients of mine who have been bitten by these scumbags.  It shocks me that avast! allows this to happen - I just don't get it.

If you've been scammed into purchasing anything from avast! or its "affiliates", I recommend contacting your credit card provider and having the charges reversed.  This is what I recommend to my clients now.  It's the only reliable way to get a refund.

Offline Asyn

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2014, 05:32:10 PM »
If you or your clients run into this, report your experience to Adam Riley: riley[at]avast[dot]com
W8.1 [x64] - Avast Free AV 23.3.8047.BC [UI.757] - Firefox ESR 102.9 [NS/uBO/PB] - Thunderbird 102.9.1
Avast-Tools: Secure Browser 109.0 - Cleanup 23.1 - SecureLine 5.18 - DriverUpdater 23.1 - CCleaner 6.01
Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2014, 05:40:30 PM »
Thank you.  I may do that.

If I get around to it, I also am going to call the telephone support myself - posing as a hapless user - record the session, and upload it to YouTube.  That way Mr. Riley can see what's happening directly.  I will update this thread next week with a link.


Offline Asyn

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2014, 05:42:20 PM »
1. Thank you.  I may do that.
2. I will update this thread next week with a link.
1. You're welcome.
2. Please do so.
W8.1 [x64] - Avast Free AV 23.3.8047.BC [UI.757] - Firefox ESR 102.9 [NS/uBO/PB] - Thunderbird 102.9.1
Avast-Tools: Secure Browser 109.0 - Cleanup 23.1 - SecureLine 5.18 - DriverUpdater 23.1 - CCleaner 6.01
Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2014, 05:46:13 PM »
+1!
Most certainly report the incident.

Offline Eddy

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2014, 06:53:11 PM »
Report the incident(s), that is fine.

Keep in mind that (depending on where you live) recording the session and posting it on the internet can be a illegal act.

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #6 on: September 29, 2014, 12:33:56 AM »
Quote
Keep in mind that (depending on where you live) recording the session and posting it on the internet can be a illegal act.

Oh crap...  All the more reason avast! needs to deal with this themselves.  It's really disgraceful what they're allowing to happen.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2014, 12:49:00 AM by fantavastic »

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2014, 02:05:35 AM »
If you or your clients run into this, report your experience to Adam Riley: riley[at]avast[dot]com


I had the same scam from Avast. I cannot get secure line working, it said "Avast secure line has encountered a technical issue"

When I called, they said They need to remote into my computer, and quoted me $108.00 payable with a credit card for the fix.  I am really giving up in disgust with Avast. I have never been so angry with buggy software that slows computers in my life. But the phone fix scam? Sorry, that is the final straw.

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2014, 02:18:34 AM »
If you or your clients run into this, report your experience to Adam Riley: riley[at]avast[dot]com


I had the same scam from Avast. I cannot get secure line working, it said "Avast secure line has encountered a technical issue"

When I called, they said They need to remote into my computer, and quoted me $108.00 payable with a credit card for the fix.  I am really giving up in disgust with Avast. I have never been so angry with buggy software that slows computers in my life. But the phone fix scam? Sorry, that is the final straw.

I can understand your frustration and obvious disappointment.
I do hope  you report your experience as suggested. :)

Offline CraigB

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2014, 02:20:05 AM »
I had the same scam from Avast. I cannot get secure line working, it said "Avast secure line has encountered a technical issue"

When I called, they said They need to remote into my computer, and quoted me $108.00 payable with a credit card for the fix.  I am really giving up in disgust with Avast. I have never been so angry with buggy software that slows computers in my life. But the phone fix scam? Sorry, that is the final straw.
Secureline has a specific area of the forum for it's discussions, try asking here https://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=53.0 for help rather than the third party phone support.

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2014, 07:25:05 AM »
Earlier I posted a simple question, and I see that either my post didn't go through or for some reason has been deleted:

Can you please describe how the "phone scam" being mentioned here works?

I only ask because if there's a scam afoot I'd like to know what it is so I can be prepared to avoid it.

I see it's been described above as something like "I called for support and they quoted me a price to provide help"...  If that's the whole of it, it seems more like a business model than a scam.

And no, I don't think you should have to pay to get a product to work, but that's what these forums are good for.

-Noel

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2014, 03:16:38 PM »
I was having trouble getting avast set up for the first time and called in for support.  I spoke to a man with an indian accent and he asked to remote into my pc.  He opened sysinfo and went to windows error reporting and proceeded to tell me that the fault errors listed there indicated I had a virus and I needed to pay over $100 to get support. He told me that the problem was that I had Malwarebytes installed along with Avast, and that I should only have 1 antivirus software installed. 

What this guy didn't know was I know precisely what fault errors are, what malwarebytes does as opposed to Avast, and what a load of BS he was feeding me.  It was a fresh install of windows and there was no possibility of virus on the machine, I had even overwritten the boot record and formatted.  The faults were from an old soundblaster driver that I hadn't updated yet.  He was trying to scam me out of my credit card number.  No telling what would have happened if I had given it to him.

This, coupled with the fact that most mornings I wake up to a false positive telling me THREAT FOUND but the scan results button doesn't work and nothing comes up wrong on when scanning with AVAST, ESET, Malwarebytes,  Spybot, tdsskiller, rkill, adwcleaner, even combofix, and I am just totally fed up with this software. 

I regret having purchased this product and do not plan to renew when my license expires. AT this point I feel I cannot rely on Avast tech support for anything, and am totally on my own for any support issues other than what I can glean from this forum.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2014, 03:22:21 PM by Trail »

Offline Eddy

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2014, 04:17:40 PM »
Quote
It was a fresh install of windows and there was no possibility of virus on the machine
Please explain how you exactly did it.
Quote
I needed to pay over $100 to get support.
No you did not. support is free. Here on this webboard as well as through the contact form and ticket system on the avast website.

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2014, 06:22:05 PM »
why should you be interested in how he did a fresh install of windows and i have had exact same experience with man with indian accent ,remote control request, then telling me that i needed to pay over £100 to fix errors and so he could remove windows defender!  (i have it disabled permanently and use avast)  !  my windows install is always mint condition and optimised for my usage!

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Re: PLEASE STOP THE PHONE SUPPORT SCAM!
« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2014, 10:52:00 AM »
Quote
It was a fresh install of windows and there was no possibility of virus on the machine
Please explain how you exactly did it.
Quote
I needed to pay over $100 to get support.
No you did not. support is free. Here on this webboard as well as through the contact form and ticket system on the avast website.

This is not True. You are wrong. Support is not free. I called Avast support number, and the person told me I had to pay $108.00 for Avast support to dial into my computer, and fix the Avast anti virus secure line.  I have since cancelled it, and even after following Avast instructions to stop billing me, they still charge my credit card.  You sir are 100% WRONG.