Victim Location 98332
Type of a scam Tech Support
My computer froze and a recorded voice told me a Trojan had been detected and to call the showing phone number immediately. I could not get out of the message. I was told not to shut down/turn off the computer because the Trojan would then infect all devices; WiFi, cell phone, etc. I called the number and spoke with a person with an Indian accent by the name of John Miller. He told me everything was already infected and he would be able to "clean" things up so my computer was no longer infected. I was not asked permission for him to access my computer, but he did it anyway. He showed me where this company was accredited by Microsoft, Apple and other well known companies. He continued by telling me of a security product to purchase that they would install to protect all devices. The cost was $699.00 with the service instillation of $100.00 for a total of $799.00. He said this was a one-time fee for the product with the service for 1 year before I would need to renew the $100.00. He also said I had a 100% money back guarantee if I chose to cancel. I bought into this and he had me enter my card number into a space he provided. The transaction declined, which I thought was strange because I had the money there. He then told me I should be getting an e-mail from the bank asking if I authorized this payment. Sure enough, there was the e-mail. I was then told I would be getting a phone call the next day from the Tech Support to make sure everything was fine. When I mentioned I would not be home that day, he became concerned. I mentioned something about him being on Eastern Standard Time and it took him a couple of seconds to answer he was. I thought this was strange. After the transaction was finished, I began going over what had just happened. I looked up Microsoft and read their article on scamming. Microsoft does not post phone numbers for you to call. Then I looked up Vacillate Tech Support and read the scamming reviews. The next day I called to cancel this transaction. The support person transferred me to this John guy. When I told him I had changed my mind and wanted to cancel, he became extremely upset. He asked me why and I told him I had changed my mind. He then told me I should not have agreed to the transaction in the first place. I told him he had told me I would have a 100% total refund if I canceled. He then said I needed to pay at least half of the fee since I had agreed to the transaction. I told him I wanted my full refund, yes or no, or did I need to take further action. He finally said he would process my refund and it should show back in my bank account in 7 days. I then asked for a conformation number. I then called my bank and reported this. Since the transaction was pending, the bank will refund the $799.00 and go after the scammer. I cancelled my payment card since they had the number. I will now have to take my computer in and have it checked and cleaned by a trusted source.