Question (Edited): I had a rather unsettling experience with a support company called iYogi this week. I have been a customer with them for 5-years. …(A support tech) ran the scan and I immediately noticed a message, “Infected by Real Time Spy Tool.” He brought up a page that had passwords & the Task Manager page showing a bunch of programs that were stopped. The McAfee virus program had just run a scan before this tech connected to my PC. At this point he wanted me to connect to my bank & make sure my account was OK. THAT’S WHEN I PULLED THE BATTERY ON MY PC & UNPLUGGED IT.
…So this time I made a call to see if the tech worked for IYOGI. At that number I was told that IYOGI was being sued, may be headed to bankruptcy. This number was a company called Techclub. After talking with them I agreed to let them connect to my PC. They assured me they could fix the issues & clean up the PC. They started at $400 & I got them down to $199.99 for one year. They went thru a process very similar to what was normal with IYOGI. They directed me to a web page, www.fastsupport.com. … I got an E-mail contract, receipt for the payment, etc. I feel better but still feel nervous that the whole thing is a scam. ~ Larry Litle, Grand Junction
Tech+ I quickly and did not find anything that would make me trust the company. It has a , and just stuff.
iYogi was a based in India at one point. But its aggressive sales tactics caused at least one state — — to sue the India-based company.
It sounds like your recent experience is not unusual. Too bad you still decided to pay them $199.99.
I’m not going to attempt to get that money back for you, but let me try to teach you and other Tech+ readers how to take better care of yourselves when faced with questionable tech-support technicians.
First, don’t hand over your credit card to an online stranger. I mean why? At least use common sense. Anytime a strange pop-up or ad asking for money “or else” shows up on your computer screen, get rid of it. How?
- Try the simple way of closing the page by clicking the X
- If that doesn’t work, most internet browsers let you close a tab by hitting the keys Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4
- In Google Chrome, close a page by selecting the three dots in the upper right corner, then “More Tools” and then “Task Manager.” Click the page you want to close.
- If nothing else works, shut down the internet browser with Microsoft’s Task Manager: Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, select Windows Task Manager, go to “Processes” and highlight the service (ie: the internet browser) and hit “End Process.”
- And of course, if that doesn’t work, reboot your PC.
If you think a company can help you, find out all you can about the company.
- Google it, for starters. But also search for it by typing the company name and “scam” or “reviews” or “lawsuits.” To see current news, check Google News to find any recent reports. If more than a few sites are saying stay away, then stay away!
- Sites like HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List (which will ) also have company ratings AND either or offer .
- Check out the company’s site. Anyone can set up a professional looking site. But is there an “about us” page or a physical address and phone number? Use to check out the address and see what’s at the actual location.
- Check the company’s social-networking pages, its blog or its recent-news page. If those haven’t been updated for years, stay away!
- If the company is in the U.S., check with the Secretary of State’s office for active business licenses. In Colorado, the Secretary of State’s office at lets you peer at active business licenses and get more details about the company.
But I can understand why some consumers may have kept the service, especially since noted security firm Avast itself recommended them. If you find yourself in that scenario, pester the security company. They sold you on the third-party tech support so they should be held responsible.
Also, don’t forget the in-person tech help that is available — also for a fee — by legitimate local companies. Take that allegedly battered computer to your local Microsoft Stores, Apple stores, Micro Center, Best Buy, etc. At least you’ll know where to track them down if they do you wrong.
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