Scam Computer Problems Calls
Edit: 20 March 2012. I just had a phone call from “Anna”. When I asked her how it felt to work for a company, phoning people and telling them lies. She told me “I’m proud of it. Because nowadays most people don’t know it’s a lie“. Really – that’s exactly what she said.
This has just been forwarded to me from our local Neighbourhood Watch (I live in the UK) – see below. Normally I dismiss these stories as scaremongering, but I KNOW this one is true as it happened to my neighbours just a couple of days ago.
They received a phone call from someone who gave them the impression that they were calling from Microsoft, told them their computer was sending out spam messages, talked them through delving into an error reporting panel I’d never seen before to show them all the errors and then directed them to Spark Support.
I managed to convince them it was a scam. If you receive a call telling you there is something wrong with your computer, put the phone down.
Do NOT talk to these scammers and DO NOT let them take control of your computer. In fact, do not have anything to do with The Spark Support. I have just delved into their website. Their testimonials page contains links to a forum where it is clear that they have hijacked legitimate user accounts to post scam testimonials. The site they hacked contains this warning “There was a recent downtime due to issues with our backup servers followed by the corruption of some db tables from a hack attempt.”
Important note: There is a LEGITIMATE company called “Spark Support” (www.sparksupport.com). They DO NOT cold call and and are a LEGITIMATE computer support company.
This is the message forwarded to me by Neighbourhood Watch
“SCAM COMPUTER CALLS
Over the past few days we have received several reports of a Computer Support Company, cold calling people in the area asking them to log onto their computer as they have detected serious viruses on your computer or your connections are affecting neighbours. They say they are from companies like “Spark Support”, “Microsoft”, or just “Your computer support company” etc. They get you to log onto a web site where you enter in a code and then they take remote access to you computer. After they supposedly remove the offending virus they then inform you that they will now be sending you a rather large bill for the service. These Remote Access companies offer remote technical support to computer users but they charge a large fee for something that can be done easily. Should you receive such a call, DO NOT switch on your computer, take their contact details and hang up. Fraud line has recommended that you then ring the consumer company direct and complain.”
December 6, 2012 @ 2:25 pm
I sometimes hand them over to my 4 year old, he likes the interaction with the play phone activity – amazingly the indian callers stay on the line, and it wastes their time!
Other than that I will sometimes tell them to eat my shit, or suck my white c**k – though not always in that order.
April 2, 2012 @ 2:19 pm
Had an indian women call me today on my house number and she asked me if i had a computer i must have told her 3-4 times i dont have a computer, but kept going on about viruses and stuff, she asked again to turn my computer on and i said i dont have one she got angry and told me not stop wasting her time, when SHE called me!! i cant ring them back either has the number is unknown! otherwise id make sure id make their life a living hell for speaking so rudely to me! these people need stopping, if i get another call ill make sure i go along with it and annoy them 😉
February 7, 2012 @ 1:14 pm
I’ve had 3 calls over the last few months, Indian accent and the spiel is the same. I have a virus and could I go to my computer and they will talk me through a “fix”. They always ask for me by name. The 1st call almost had me but then I realized, my partner bought the computer he pays the broadband and its all in his name. How did they get my name? Now I just play along and keep them on the line for as long as I can. I eventually get told to go forth and multiply! The last call was a woman who claimed to be from “Global IT technicians” and inferred she was working on behalf of micro soft. Now I seem to have a “problem with windows”
January 31, 2012 @ 11:52 am
Beware of a company called Qmen Solutions Limited. They cold call under the name of Qmen IT Solutions telling you that you have a virus or Windows Error messages. They also say that they are from Microsoft and then they will direct you to their website which looks very impressive. They access your computer telling you that you have all sorts of errors and as for a fee of £125.00 to sort it. They contacted my wife and she believed them and after I hit the roof she got back on to them and threatened them with the police they refunded the money. We believe that they got access to her emails as they have alson been contacting friends and family.
They have rang back a couple of times since (a male with an Indian voice) but my wife now tells them to contact me. I am still waiting for them to call and get their eardrums blasted!
January 4, 2012 @ 12:24 pm
We had a phone call this morning claiming to be from IT Solutions saying we had problems with my computer. My husband said I was out and could they phone back later and speak to me. The male was Indian. He hasn’t phoned back yet………..
January 3, 2012 @ 11:20 pm
Well last year my dad got a phone call from an Indian saying that his computer had something wrong with it and needed to gain access my dad not being the best on computers did not know what he was on about there are 3 computers in the house so i got on the phone and i played along for a bit not doing as he said then i asked so what company do you work for he said the computer company i laughed and said what computer company he started getting cheeky so i kept asking name the company he could not so i told him to f*%k off but yesterday i got the call again he said the computer is downloading a virus i said what computer he did not answer so i asked again what company he said microsoft so i said then i will just ask my brother a symantec employee to have a look at it he hung up so i have warned all family members to hang up if people ring asking about the computer.
August 10, 2011 @ 1:47 pm
PC crashed friday and got a call today (indian voice)saying they know i have a problem? and said they were from microsoft, (they even knew my name phone number and business name!)
they tried to talk me thro what it was (but I just pretended i was following the commands on the computer screen that was dead,)and in the end asked for £95 to fix it! after I said Bill Gates was a millionare and wouldend have charged to fix his own problems they put the phone down on me. so the bas**rds prob sent me a virus killed my machine then wanted money to fix it.
so i said i would re-format my drive to cure the prob at no cost to me 🙂
August 6, 2011 @ 11:39 am
Just had a similar call. The first thing he asked me was “do I have a computer”. I told him I did have a computer (but didn’t tell him it was a Mac). He then said that they worked with Microsoft and had detected a problem with my Windows software… So I’m thinking ‘Hang on a minute, a few seconds ago you didn’t even know whether I had a computer, and it certainly isn’t running Windows’. He tried to get me to boot my computer up but I said no, and asked him for his name, and the company name. Again, he had a strong Indian accent and his English was very poor so it was hard to tell what he was saying, sounded like Henry at April Solution. Anyway, I played with him for a while until he got wound up, at which point he said he was going to get his supervisor then the line went quite so I hung up after a few mins. It was obvious from the start that it was a scam – I thought it was rather hilarious really, but I can see how some people may get taken in.
Ps. Just done a 1471 on the call and the number recorded was 0161 156 9823. Googled it and found this: http://whitton.ning.com/forum/topics/new-scam-being-tried-1
July 29, 2011 @ 4:51 pm
there are computr hackers the should stop this madness i am not giving name cuz been conned
July 27, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
are you human? 9+5=stupid human!
i live in wolverhampton, uk- i get these calls every other week, sometimes in daily succession- they ring till you answer (so it just keeps ringing) and when i answer i get this ********** (imagine a sarcastic imitation voice now) say hello, is there a mr dunny here- i answer, then he goes- there is something wrong with your computer, i’m am calling you, blar blar. now i know how to look after my computer and i certainly know that if i want something i will look for and ask for it- not take random sales from people i’m not acquainted with, with no means of recording relevant information. NOTE how they withhold their number when they(by which i mean you) hang up- instant show they have something to hide. i have had many of these calls- with no success on getting their number- i use to be nice when letting them down but once i was told to shut the fuck up! so now my typical answer is don’t call again and FUCK OFF- they still call. i hope they go to hell. cold calling should be illegal- at least from outside countries.
July 14, 2011 @ 2:10 am
Funny, but true story about http://www.24x7pchelp.com. I called their 1-877-523-2355 number to complain that one of their technicians had called me claiming to be an authorized Microsoft Service representative, and I had just discovered that I had been lied to. NOTE: Microsoft agents will NEVER call customers unless the customer asks them to call or fills in a support with phone case. Contact Microsoft Fraud Line at 1-800-785-3448 to report them. The very nice young man who answered assured me that none of their representatives would claim that. I insisted one had and gave him the technicians name and time of call. Again he insisted that they never claim to be authorized Microsoft service providers. Then I heard shouting in the background. The young man excused himself for a minute and as I listened, I clearly heard an older man with an Indian accent yelling, “If a customer asks if we are authorized Microsoft software providers, you say YES! YOU SAY YES!” When the young man returned on the phone, I said, “I see they are teaching you to lie.” He was at a loss for words. A minute later, he said he needed to go, but would call me back in 15 minutes. He never did. When I called back one hour later to reconnect with him, I was unable to, and unfortunately I hadn’t gotten his name. I suspect he was probably an innocent computer science grad who had no idea what kind of company he’s gotten in to.
July 13, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
Avoid http://www.24x7pchelp.com (also goes by name technogennie and finmaestros). There might be some decent people who work there, but they also have professional scam artists working for them (like Senior Technician Ethan Hunt), and if you get scammed you’ll have the fight of your life to get your money back. It works like this: you’ll get a call from a computer technician claiming to be a Microsoft authorized service provider, saying they have been receiving error messages from your computer for a few weeks and are phoning to resolve the problem. He will probably have an Indian accent as it appears they are operating out of a call centre in India (they also have a front office in Florida). At this point, you should take his contact information, and HANG UP. Microsoft agents will NEVER call customers unless the customer asks them to call or fills in a support with phone case. Contact Microsoft Fraud Line at 1-800-785-3448 to report them.
If you have a lapse in judgement and fall for the scam (as I did) and follow their instructions giving them remote access to your computer (you might not be aware this is what they are doing, but it is), they will use Event Viewer to show pages of files with errors. From my computer research, I now understand that “Event Viewer system logs display prominent ‘Error’ icons, which often relate to trivial matters like the failure of a process to start, but could be used by a scammer to convince someone their computer needs ‘fixing’ by running a script.” (http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/314295/windows_event_viewer_phishing_scam_remains_active/). He will also be able to read out to you your operating system product code, further deceiving you into believing he is truly an authorized Microsoft technician. In fact, he is just reading it off your screen which he has obtained remote access to without your knowledge. Then under the pretense of scanning your computer, the technician will get access to your computer through http://www.logmein123.com and is able to display, through sleight of hand, a screen saying your software warranty had expired and that you will lose all your data in 5 hours. They will say you need to renew your software (like Vista or your antivirus) to avoid a complete systems crash and will direct you to a very professional looking website, http://www.24x7pchelp.com, to make the purchases. Then they will request remote access to your computer for one hour to “fix” it and do the download of purchased “software”.
Basically, these guys are masterful at gaining your trust and use their superior computer knowledge to deceive you about the status of your Antivirus software, the state of your Operating System, and the security of your computer. They use fear of an imminent computer crash to persuade you to buy “software” you do not need. When you express doubts or reservations about what they are telling you, they assure you that they are who they say they are (authorized Microsoft professionals), that the situation is critical and that saving your computer’s data is their chief concern. If you lay down your money, their refund policy (it’s a joke, really) will not protect you and the company will likely refuse you a refund, basically standing behind these deceptive marketing and sales tactics, essentially showing you they endorse this kind of business practice–which is completely contrary to the marketing on their website. Here’s their mission statement: 24x7PC Help was founded by a bunch of enthusiastic computer professionals passionate about raising the bar on service quality with a view to provide best technical support service and with it educate the customers about their computer. If you are lucky enough to get your money back (for me it meant playing my cards very carefully and going to the top, company co-owner Shawn Ray), you will not get a full refund; they will keep a deduction of $59 USD for “instant services”.
If you go to your Credit Card Dispute Department, you will be told that you have nothing in writing, so they can’t help you – which is exactly why these scammers do the whole transaction over the phone. You will also be told ‘Buyer Beware’ which is basically an approach that blames the victim of the scam. Yes, you can call me stupid for falling for it; but the charge against the 24x7pchelp employees is far more serious: misrepresenting who they were (it’s called fraud, folks) and using deception to obtain purchases. Buyer Beware says if you’re stupid enough to fall for it, it’s your fault. I find that outrageous. Well, I for one am going to hold this company accountable for the tactics of this salesperson and am going to hold them to the high standard they advertise on their website. I will point the finger where the blame lies. I share this so that others will learn from my experience and not fall for similar scams.
Working for a more honest world.
Suzanne
July 13, 2011 @ 7:20 pm
i been getting cold calls from Sparksupport asking out for Remote Network services, migration to cloud solutions …
June 24, 2011 @ 12:38 pm
I have had five of these calls in the last month or so; always the same irate Indian who I can’t understand well. He is shouting and ranting at me that my computer is sending out threats and he must fix it ‘mam’ ‘Am I in front of my computer mam? Can I turn on my computer mam?’ etc. I told him a couple of times I have no computer and how did he know whether or not I have a computer or not, and he just keeps going on and on. I can usually tell it will be this ‘company’ as when I pick up I hear a single ringing tone before he speaks. I am trying to think of something good to do to annoy him. I usually put my five year old on the line to these kind of people, which is funny. I have had to email my mum and tell her though, as she might well think it was real. I have TPS so I have no idea why they are calling.
June 8, 2011 @ 1:49 pm
I got scammed by 24x7pchelp(dot)com today, too. Talked to “Ethan Hunt”, senior technician. Sounded so legitimate. Said my Antivirus had expired and my trial Vista software had expired and my computer would crash in 5 hours. Showed me a list of about 300 error messages supposedly on my computer. I expressed surprise, but was taken in and fell for it and paid for $200 for a once-only software upgrade and $100 for Antivirus and gave them remote control access to my computer to work on it for 1 hr. My husband came home, got suspicious and we tried to call the Florida number – it didn’t work. I interrupted the remote control work and removed permission. we called the 1-877 number at 24×7 and enumerated the lies they had told me. Turns out my Norton was still fine for 60 days and we had purchased the Vista CDs with the computer (no trail version). They said, “Sorry, you’ve already paid for it.” I said “Forget it. I purchased based on lies, so this is fraud. You taped the conversation and MasterCard will listen to it if they investigate and I have proof the things you told me were a lie. Don’t process that payment, or you’ll be investigated for fraud.” They are refusing to refund my money saying I paid for their service and my credit card company says they don’t have a very strong case because I willingly gave my credit card and don’t have anything in writing about what the service I was paying for. I’ve cancelled my credit card to stop the professional thieves from 24x7pchelp(dot)com from getting any more of my money – now that they’ve captured my credit card information–and did system restore on my computer to get rid of any activity they did while they had access to my computer. This is a scam, folks. Take their name and number and hang up and then do your research and see that you shouldn’t call them back. They are very convincing that they are “legitimate Vista software providers” and also play on the fear thay your computer is going to crash within hours unless they perform this emergency rescue operation.
June 6, 2011 @ 9:16 am
Likewise, I received a call – the guy had an Indian accent and seemed not to understand when I told him that I run Linux, not Windows!
May 24, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
I’ve had around 4 calls in UK from people with Indian accents with a similar story. Odd since I’m on a Mac! My guess is it’s not a British Indian accent but could be wrong. Last time I got mad and said “why don’t you f***-off you thieving bitch” (twas a female this time) and hung up. They immediately phoned back and a male said “is that Mr xxx” (getting name wrong), I didn’t reply, he then said “why don’t you f***-off you”….son-of-a-bitch”, and then he hung up. He couldn’t very well call me a thief LOL. I reckon MS have let their standards slip a bit. 🙂
Sorry for those who’ve fallen for it. But never trust that anyone who calls you or sends and email is what they say they are. Never give anything useful to them nor visit a website from that. If you’ve done what they say, I’d suggest at least watching your accounts closely. It could be just a payment scam, but it’d really be safer to reformat your hard drive and re-install Windows in case they’ve installed something; you don’t know what level it could be lurking and taking CC numbers etc. in the future.
May 20, 2011 @ 2:40 am
oh forgot to mention they reckon they are from the usa yeah right what freaks me out is they know our names and everything how on earth did this happen???
May 20, 2011 @ 2:36 am
i have just had a call from a company called “call to assist” same indian people trying to convince me that they are raising an awareness on computer scammers ringing up to do the remote access thing from the likes of these people pretending to be microsoft etc etc he made himself out to be their to help avoid it but i also had challenged him to prove his legitimacy he started sketching out wouldnt provide me with all i wanted to know but i had said to him why are you trying to get me to go on to a website for help i know how to protect my own computer etc etc this happens on a weekly bases and man am i sick of it!
April 30, 2011 @ 7:06 am
I go a call from an overseas number and caller ID only showed (501) saying i have many computer errors ohh and I’m in NZ btw. I knew it was a scam since they tried it on last time and i didn’t fall for it so i just hung up but this time i played dumb to see how far i could go.
While on the phone to them and they told me there site (support2pc.info)i did a quick domain info search on the site (www.info.info)this told me i where they were registered in Kolkata, Park Circus district.
I told them they were in the location above and He immediately replied “how do you know this?” so it must be a confirmed where they are based.
It’s a big pain these people bothering us and i just feel sorry the poor people who go and buy there FAKE software.
April 23, 2011 @ 8:38 pm
I haven’t done any background research on this for a while. The original website that this post was about has now gone. I started looking into the sites posted by @#$$% on Jan 11. Interesting.
pcsupportcaretoday. com/testimonials.html and support2pc .info/testimmonial .html use the same testimonials. Take a look – the same words, the same photos, but in different order. Different photos beside each testimonial. A sort of “mix and match” of testimonials.
Support2pc is registered to Salman Khan in Kolkata in West Bengal. pcsupportcaretoday.com is registered through a proxy.
technogennie.com and 24x7pchelp.com both use the same comments.
April 23, 2011 @ 6:58 pm
today i recived a call from this num 09234765437 sayin they where from windows and they had detected errors on my pc after chattin a while then tryin too get the sum ov 300 pounds out off me i told them no these peopl need sortin lucky that me was thinkin this aint right so wiped hard drive has anyone else hurd ov this num
April 13, 2011 @ 11:19 am
With the utterly naive numpties on this thread actually giving out their card details to these scammers, no wonder they continue to annoy those of us in the general public who don’t have straw for brains..
As the saying goes ‘A fool and his money are soon parted’.
You deserve to get scammed with such stupidity.
March 29, 2011 @ 9:15 am
I received a call from an Indian man last week claiming there were problems with my computer that could cause it to crash. I panicked and followed his instructions even making a payment through Worldpay for the problem to be sorted! He gave me a security number and a phone number which is in Ireland. I paid by credit card and the matter is currently being investigated. I still cannot believe I allowed myself to be conned in this way. If you get a call of this nature put the phone down immediately.
March 25, 2011 @ 9:34 pm
I just had a call from India and they said they were Microsoft computer counselling and it had been reported that my computer was running very slow (which it was) and they could fix the problem over the phone. He asked me what browser I used and then to imput another http address which at this point I told him I had no intention of doing this and I hung up. So beware they are still about.
March 23, 2011 @ 3:05 pm
i just had a call this morning from a computer software international – indian man said the company work with microsoft and my pc had been sending error reports and had some thing downloaded that would ruin the computer / harddrive etc. when i persistently queried that they were calling me – i hadnt reported anything and wanted more info he became quite insistant and even read out my name address and phone numbers. he then asked me to allow him remote access to my comp – i said i wasnt happy to do that and hung up – he rung me back – ansaphone picked up and he was quite shirty and very forceful that i needed to pick up and speak to him and shouldnt have hung up etc etc – i can see how easily people would be bullied into this – is there ever a genuine time you would be called out of the blue and told you have a problem they can fix????
March 7, 2011 @ 1:30 pm
wipe evry scam scammers’ campaign.
March 7, 2011 @ 11:35 am
I get these calls all the time, sometimes three times a day, occasionally late in the evening! I just hang up (after some abuse) once I establish the call’s not from a family or friend
March 7, 2011 @ 4:30 am
Hi. Just had a call from an Indian lady telling me there was something wrong with my computer. As soon as I explained I would be okay because my husband is in IT she hung up. Lol.
February 19, 2011 @ 10:09 pm
Please note that this is still happening. My elderly parents were phoned and given the message that their computer was sending error warnings and this needs fixing. Problem is my parents DO NOT have a computer and have never owned one. Needless to say, receiving a call like this is scary to the elderly. These criminals NEVER give up.
February 12, 2011 @ 2:45 pm
I have not long had a call from “your computer support company”. I wish I knew who/how these muppets get our details as I am ex directory, dont give out my landline company wise and also am registered to TPS which did help with cold calls.
Trying to get me to get my “computer” so they can sort out the problem. (something to do with emails i think he said) I told them my husband is an IT consultant so I do not believe them and told them I know its a scan. Then he put me onto a recording type machine which was odd so hung up. Did doubt myself for a second afterwards but people like this make me so angry!!!
January 27, 2011 @ 6:50 pm
we keep having these phone calls I like to deal with these as a I do any other unsolicted phone call, if you have the time and a hand free keep them talking for as long as possible, while they are talking to you they are not preying on vunerable people, it also keeps their profit margins down.its great to see how long you can keep the conversation going for.
January 11, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
hi my name is %^&* i wanted to share
my experience regarding online tech
support scam originally started of
unethical techie from kolkata india
it spread like fire and unsolicited
calls to numerous residence in australia
u.k.,ireland and new zealand …
i would urge microsoft to look into
it and checkon the following sites
as they have been phishing people
on large number
http://www.pcsupportcaretoday.com,
http://www.24x7pchelp.com
http://www.epclivesolution.com
http://www.technogennie.com
they use various gateway for payments
like paypal,authorize.net,go go pay,
ok pay etc
regards
January 7, 2011 @ 10:59 am
Just had a call from these guys – Indian accent, called from a mobile (07990987466), claimed to be from Microsoft Manchester and called Harry, but gave me a London number (02032393430) when I said that I would call them back.
January 5, 2011 @ 6:04 am
I also received a call. The Indian person went on and on about the problem that was on my computer. But when I told him that I did not have a computer he was thrown and became all disjointed and then asked if he had contacted so and so, I told him that he had not then he hung up. I went away killing myself laughing.
November 17, 2010 @ 12:15 pm
I have just been scammed by these people calling themselves Microsoft windows support. Exactly the same as above unfortunately I fell for it. They said there was an admin fee of £4.99 so I puy my visa card no in but as I could not see the amount I said I will not go any further until I see £4.99 they then said it was on the next page I said no I will cancel before I could do anything they authorised the payment as they were still in my computer. I immediately rang the bank only to be told they had put through an Alertpay authorisation for £199.99 I asked the bank what I could do they said nothing as I cannot prove anything. I emailed Alertpay.com but so far have heard nothing
November 4, 2010 @ 11:41 am
I have had at least 12 calls from various people, over the last 12 months, the latest a few minutes ago. They give different company names, and try different tactics, either to try to gain control of your computer to do god knows what, or to take you to a website, which looks as if you have viruses, ask for your card details, and clean out your bank account!!!! The latest one was definitely a call centre, be warned this is big business !!! They even threatened to cut off my telephone line.
October 25, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
I received an e- mail from a sara stating working from homr, it took me a good day to open it, and I responded, this am early 8:00 she had written me and sstated THIS IS A VIRUS!!!!!!!!!!! So I downloaded, to have a full scan done and hers was the only threat, and a Trojan generic2 plus worms and been placed into my computer, thanks to God she was stupid enough to tell me instead of leting it go on and on.
SHe is now trying again. I am protected.. but I feel quite sure I do know who is doing it and from whoms computer. Can you help me stop her? Are these not against.
D>
Scam calls about computer viruses | No Particular Purpose
October 25, 2010 @ 5:15 pm
[…] a call, like this, a couple of times a month, for the last few months, and I understand from keepsafeonthenet.co.uk that this is a scam which attempts to gain control of your (perfectly healthy) computer and charges […]
September 29, 2010 @ 8:10 am
I just had a weird phone call that just freaked me some guy (indian Decent)who said he was from some computer thecnical place , said I have problem with computer and it is very serious and important that I go sit in front of it and turn it on so he can talk me through fixing it,I said nothing is wrong with my computer and I wasnt going to do this,and he repeated in urgency 3 more times and with my same reply he would not listen to me kept ranting on the importance of him fixing it with me so I just hung up,1 min later he rings back and says mam its really important you do this and then i proceeded to tell him that my mums not here and I wont turn it on and then he hangs up WHAT THE !!!!!My sister said she to hasd a call like this from a indian person saying they were from microsoft and when she told them to send it in writing to her something was wrong he hung up.DODGY!!!!
September 22, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
Oh, forgot to say I’m in Canberra, Australia.
September 22, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
Hi, I had this same call last night and tonight. I could not understand the Indian man no matter what I asked; he was trying to get me to type in something in the RUN: box. I didn’t and he hung up on me when I kept asking him to repeat it. Tonight a foreign lady (well, bad English) called and I straight away said my husband works for a computer company (which he does) and didn’t need her help and hung up. I might say worse to the next caller.
August 25, 2010 @ 2:24 pm
COMMON SENSE PEOPLE if you full for these ridiculous sorts of scams then sham on you. As if Microsoft are going to sort out all the error reports on every p.c or laptop or even send the error reports to a second or third party to fix. Don’t let anyone have control/access to your computer, Don’t give out your bank details, ignore and delete email that sound to good to be true.
COMMON SENSE PEOPLE
August 20, 2010 @ 9:22 am
Glad I found all you guys, I am continually being pestered by these phone calls. One from Sparksupport, others from Global computer and others from so called ‘microsoft’. Had another one yesterday from an indian woman. Couldn’t understand much of what she was saying! How do these people get our phone numbers and know so much about us? Had a friend whose dad was conned by the Spark support scam and lost a lot of money.
All your comments have been really helpful to me.
Thanks so much.
August 17, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
I’ve been doing some more digging into the contents of “thesparksupport” website. They have an interesting “customer testimonials” page. As far as I can tell, all their testimonials have been copied from other websites. Here are some examples:
From The Spark Support site: “”…treated me like a good paying customer even after I told him I was a trial user.” Susan Ireland, United Kingdom
Here is the original, from another website “…treated me like a good paying customer even after I told him I was a trial user.” — Gary Watson CompanionLink User
From The Spark Support site: At last I have found a computer engineer who knows what he is doing and talks like a real human being. He also works extremely quickly, is flexible and efficient. And unlike some other companies I’ve used, he actually left my computer better than the way he found it. James Swaddled United Kingdom
Here is the original, from another website At last I have found a computer engineer who knows what he is doing and talks like a real human being. He also works extremely quickly, is flexible and efficient. And unlike some other companies I’ve used, he actually left my computer better than the way he found it.” Michael Swerdlow— Home Computer User
In fact, it seems that all of their testimonials have been copied from other sites.
August 17, 2010 @ 11:27 am
“The Spark Support” have been spamming the comments with their number using fake email addresses – and all from the same IP address. Here are all 4 of their spam comments, plus the fake email addresses. As you can see, all have been sent from the same IP address:
Comment 1 this is spark support company number +919894137337. Email address = pilla@yahoo.co, name = inthu. IP address = 182.72.224.6
Comment 2 this is spark support company number +919894137337. Email address = ps23@yahoo.com, name = “brain” (clearly a misnomer!). IP address = 182.72.224.6
Comment 3 i called that number and claimed my money. Email address= rose@talktalk.com, name = rose. IP address = 182.72.224.6
Comment 4 num is +919894137337. Email address= rose@talktalk.com, name = rose. IP address = 182.72.224.6
August 14, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Interesting topic.
I have received three calls now (in one month)all similar saying either their IT department or Microsoft have reported problems with my computer.
I had seen a report of these scammers so when the first guy called I challenged him and said I had read about the scams and he should be ashamed of stealing from people. He cooly replied: “if I wanted to steal from you I would take it straight from your bank account!” We carried on the conversation for a while like this with me saying does your mother know you steal etc etc and he was very prepared to discuss. In the end I put the phone down.
Subsequently I have not bothered to enter into conversations and find that when they say there is a problem with your computer, I simply reply but that is weird as I don’t have one. They then say oh sorry and put the phone down.
Biggest question is : if I have received three calls in a short time, here in the UK, how many are being made?
July 30, 2010 @ 1:45 am
During my search for P.C. Health Care U.K. I came across your forum and read with dismay that I have been conned. I live in Australia and received a call one evening from an Indian man who, as someone else mentioned, was very difficult to understand. He put me onto his supervisor, she was far more professional sounding and took me through all the viruses and contaminations on my computer. I fell for it as the computer had been acting up recently and when I was shown via some page I’d never seen before how many times these viruses had corrupted the system I decided to accept their offer. She explained they had from 1 to 5 year contracts – I chose 2 years which cost $200. They did clean up the system as far as I knew, added a Nero Burning and a Norton Virus which she said was for one year but I must ring her (on a local Brisbane number) she would then call me back (from Essex supposedly!) and she would renew it for another year. I am now receiving msgs from Norton saying I only have 10 days left before the protection expires (this whole scam started on 17/6/10). A week after, this same supervisor rang me to see if everything was working well and asked to check the system again, which I did. Since then I have been unable to contact her on the number given as I want to ask why the Norton is due to expire? Now I realise I have even bigger problems and can kiss the $200 goodbye. Would love to hear if anyone else, especially in Australia, have been contacted by P.C. Health Care U.K., the supervisor called herself Michelle (Indian accent but educated).
July 14, 2010 @ 8:42 pm
Looks like someone already reported them. Their account has been suspended
July 14, 2010 @ 4:26 pm
looking at Sparksupport website – http://thesparksupport.com/subscribe.html
I see that they’re using AlertPay to transfer funds for their subscriptions. I suggest you contact AlertPay -https://www.alertpay.com/en/Default.aspx and advise them that scammers are using their payment system to commit fraud
July 12, 2010 @ 9:16 pm
Having tried this scam with my wife, who told them to ring back, I subsequently received a call from someone with an Indian accent, who told me that there were ‘bugs’ in my computer
He was almost unintelligible, and when challenged passed me on to his supervisor
When I pressed for information I was given a website address of ‘www.tsparkssupport.com’, and a “toll free” contact number of 0161 408 3638 (Manchester)
These people really do need shutting down with extreme prejudice
July 8, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Update to my previous log.
Alex Miller from Click4Rescue was the fifth call I had.
He gave me a number to call back which was a Basingstoke number but not them. When challenged he stated that he worked for Microsoft to prevent errors on computers.
I am trying to contact Microsoft. Cos’ I want to see these b^&%&s fry. This sort of scam is the lowest of the low.
July 8, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
click4rescue.com doesn’t currently exist as a website – however the domain name is registered to someone in India. Perhaps Microsoft might like to discuss this issue with the Indian Police or Government?
July 8, 2010 @ 2:27 pm
Just received calls from the operator at the “global computer” telling me that my computer had been hacked by a virus in Excel and was sending them messages and it had to be a big problem. I asked him for my IP address which of course he didn’t know.
Told the guy he was an idiot an hung up. Subsequently received 4 abusive phone calls from other Indian sound alikes. Guy told me they are based in Oxfordshire but I never stayed long enough to find out who they were.
July 7, 2010 @ 1:33 pm
This is happening here in High Wycombe (UK) – had two calls in the space of 1 month, both from an Indian sounding chap, but citing different company names. He got nowhere with us – guessed it was a scam straight away.
July 7, 2010 @ 8:21 am
My dad was called yesterday, it was a good job he is not very good at using a computer because he was unable to to what they wanted him to do and he asked them to ring back later when I was there to help him. When he told me I had an idea it was a scam.
July 5, 2010 @ 2:59 pm
I was phoned on saturday by someone saying they were from spark support, they asked me to switch on my computer and they would be able to fix potenially lethal viruses that were on there. Luckily I didn’t do want they said.
July 5, 2010 @ 1:23 pm
just had the call – indian gent asking for details and to turn on my pc – telling me i had network intrusions on my computer – when pressed he couldnt tell me what these were – when questioned he just read the same info from a page in front of him
he then passed me to a ‘supervisor’ called steve anderson who has a scandinavian accent ( norway,sweden or finnish) – i took the number 01614-083638 from him and hung up
July 3, 2010 @ 4:26 pm
Had the same call. Just ask them for your IP address, if your computer is sending them messages they will have it. I asked them and they hung up on me I was so upset lol
July 3, 2010 @ 9:45 am
I received a call from an Indian guy a short while ago. He said he was calling from India and worked for Spark Support based in Manchester. He had details of my and my wife’s names and phone nnumbers. He claimed that whilst my computer did not have a virus it did contain errors which he said had been notified (by whom?) to a “centralised id organisation”. I told him him there was no such thing as a free lunch so what was the bottom line. He thought that the cost to me would be minimal, say £25, but would depend on how many errors existed. I told him I didn’t do business without knowing the precise cost and put the phone down. He has not called again (so far). Clearly from what I have read above I did the right thing.
July 1, 2010 @ 12:57 pm
At my day job we have had 5 customers report these calls in the last week. Mainly, due to our location, silver surfers!!
It is slightly concerning that all seem to be targeted and the caller knows their name….all use BT for DSL although I am sure this is not relevent…or is it?
June 30, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
@byatis – I don’t think they install anything. I think the scam is just charging you to fix non-existent problems.
June 30, 2010 @ 6:44 pm
My mother-in-law has had the call and let them (Spark Support) have remote access to her PC – luckily she consulted me (an IT consultant) before paying £60 to have the ‘problem’ fixed.
I’ve checked over her PC and can’t see anything running or sending out anything unusual to the net – does anyone know if they do install anything while they have control of the victim’s PC?
June 28, 2010 @ 5:49 pm
@ Carole – yes, thesparksupport.com is the one
Their website has been amended. The links to the forum they hacked have been removed. There is now a “chat now” button that brings up a freeware live chat program that doesn’t connect to anything!
And……. a little more detective work. The security certificate on their site is actually registered to a site called “thenerdsupport.com” – whose content bears more than a passing resemblance to “thesparksupport.com”.
June 28, 2010 @ 11:04 am
The Spark Support has a young group of management and professional services team that delivers
quality services on time.They have the experience and capabilities to take new challenges and
opportunities.”ITS NOT SCAM”
Edit – by keepsafeonthenet owner – these are the details left by the poster of this comment –
Wills Smith
thesparksupport.com
willssmith@willssmith.com
122.174.106.205
The IP address resolves to Chennai in India. The email address is fake.
June 24, 2010 @ 11:14 pm
There are many companies in the name sparksupport and this one would be “thesparksupport” I guess
June 23, 2010 @ 10:53 am
I had a call from a representative from spark support this morning – but being a computer scientist I knew it was a sham from the start!
The idiot first tried to convince me that I had errors and warnings on my machine by going to my computer log files (which didnt show anything unusal). Subsequently, he asked me to go to the sparksupport website and asked me to select a laptop action which I knew would allow him to take control of my machine. I then challenged him by saying that there is nothing wrong with my machine and that you guys are sham – he then hung up. Im just lucky I happened to be at home today because my mother would have fallen for it!
We need to spread the word here… the call I received was an international call. STAY AWAY FROM ANYONE ASKING YOU TO SWITCH ON YOUR MACHINE. ITS A SCAM!!