Fake tech support...

[931069]

I think a family member of mine has been scammed with fake support. He said he had licenses for 3 computers, and he offered me some support from them.(I didn't take it) It was virus support, and he said it was from AppleCare (which I'm sure it only covers hardware and app guidance?) He said it costed him 500$, and they remoted into his computer and "optimized it" and "removed junk that's hidden" He also said it was from India.

Scam or real?

 

[GGJstudios]

I think a family member of mine has been scammed with fake support. He said he had licenses for 3 computers, and he offered me some support from them.(I didn't take it) It was virus support, and he said it was from AppleCare (which I'm sure it only covers hardware and app guidance?) He said it costed him 500$, and they remoted into his computer and "optimized it" and "removed junk that's hidden" He also said it was from India.

Scam or real?

Sounds like a scam to me.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sounds like a scam to me as well. Good thing you didn't take part in it.

 

[adamhenry]

Scam! Last week someone with a strong accent called and told me that I had computer problems that he could fix. I asked what kind of problem and he replied "an online problem". I asked what kind of online problem and replied that he could see the problem. I laughed and hung up. I should have played along to find out more but I was out of patience.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

Definitely a scam and who knows what else has been installed on that mac now. Could be key loggers, all sorts of stuff. So their banking and credit card accounts could be compromised, their emails could be read.

Your relative needs to wipe that mac and reinstall from scratch. Do they have backups? It would be worth paying a reputable company to do this if you are not willing to do it or are too remote. Maybe an apple store would do it?

And straightaway they need to change every password they have. But most especially anything financial related, and email.

 

[wordsworth]

Of course it's a scam. If you receive an unsolicited phone call "about your computer" and they inform you that "your computer has a problem that we can fix", then the caller is either psychic or a criminal scumbag. Clearly it's not the former.

I have had several such phone calls, and most people I know have received them too. The accent has always 'sounded Indian'. Presumably this is their more tech-savvy version of the Nigerian scam.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Here's a fun article on a similar scam...audio of the call included.

 

[GGJstudios]

Here's someone who's fighting back against such scams.