iYogi, scam? Relationship with Apple?

I'd be very very wary of this company.

As mentioned, they show up as the top result in a google search for some kind of Apple support. I can't tell you what search terms as I was not the one who googled, then called iYogi. The person bought me their computer in a freaked out state after the fact.

She needed to know a simple question, how to scan a document on her laptop and transfer it to her iPad. She goodled, found and called iYogi and allowed them remote access to her laptop. They pressured her into thinking this was necessary and asked her all kinds of personal information including her name, postal code and credit card. She does not own a credit card and when she told iYogi such they very harshly exclaimed "I don't believe you". They asked her for the credit card details of any other householders! She ended the call and was very shaken by the experience. She bought me the computer to uninstall their software.

In the interim she called legit Apple support and got the help she needed for free.

I am not a computer tech. I uninstalled the software, ran a malware checker and checked msconfig for unfamiliar startup applications. All seemed ok until we shut the computer down and it was "configuring 113 updates" yet there had been no little bubble saying updates were being installed whilst we had the computer running. We both thought it was a little odd.

She used her computer the next day to type a document and part way through decided to leave it for another day. This morning she went to resume her document and upon switching on her laptop it told her "Windows is configuring 103 updates". The computer loaded and restarted itself. When it finally restarted it was blank. All her documents, programs, settings.. gone. Her Windows 7 laptop desktop was resembling that of Windows 95.

I would NOT recommend anyone ever use iYogi.

One can assume they have wiped her laptop. There are no back up or restore points on the system in its current state. You could almost guarantee if she called iYogi back they'd magically "fix" her computer should she somehow have found a credit card to give them.

I have advised her to take the computer to a legitimate technician here in Australia and to call her internet provider to ensure the connection is secure. I have also suggested she call Consumer Protection. Although no money changed hands she was mislead.

My contact with Yogi has been extremely annoying. For the last 10 days they've runf at 5.30 am, not spoken when we've answered the phone then rung back at 6am. When they've rung back at 6am and we've told them that we are on the do not call list ( an Australian service) and please do not call again. This morning I asked to speak to the supervisor and gave him a serve. I was very angry. Being woken every morning by a company that seems to be just plain scamming is very, very annoying. I've tried to have their calls blocked but they ring from a number that is registered as private and therefore cannot be blocked. Has anyone managed to stop this sales terrorism?

RedfromOz wrote:

and we've told them that we are on the do not call list ( an Australian service)

See this -> https://www.donotcall.gov.au/enquiries.cfm

My Iphone 5 was charging intermittently when plugged into the wall charger. I called what I thought it was Apple technical support. They asked if I ever used my PC to charge my phone. My reply was "yes". So they asked me to connect my phone to my computer. They remoted into my computer and stated that I needed to clean my temporary files. For $119 he would transfer me to the next technical level. I asked him how temporary files on my computer prevented my phone from charging when I plugged it into the wall. He had no answer but proceeded to try to get me to buy. I did not. I went to the Apple store, they cleaned my phone connector for free. It works great.

OK I am gonna weigh in on this ages old thread. What happens is this - non computer literate folks will google "apple tech support" and right above the actual search results they will get a couple of advertisements - and that is exactly what they are. You will get Yogi and probably MyTechSupport. Clueless folks will think the ad is an actual search engine result coz they do not see the "this is an ad" bit - they just see it at the top of the list. So they call, believing they are calling Apple. These folks are NOT going to say that they are Apple, but they will just let you believe that they are, and sign you up for their $99.00 service - coz hey i found it on the interwebs so it must be true.

Is this illegal? I am not a lawyer, I do not play one one TV. I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn last night. What I can tell you is this: The REAL Apple support will support you by phone for 90 days from original date of purchase of device for free - beyond that the most they will charge is currently $19..00 - and some stuff they will support for free = apple ID issues (passwords, security questions etc) - they do not bill you for that, whereas these jokers will.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

STAY AWAY FROM iYOGi.

I am reinstalling my parents computer after a phone call to iYogi support this morning. My parents are older and not tech savvy, and they came across this phone number when doing a Google search for Apple support - (855)278-7301. The iYOGi support rep took control of my parents computer remotely and installed several backdoor programs - including a keylogger - to log and capture sensitive information. I have instructed my parents to reset all of their passwords and am installing their machine from scratch as we speak.

Keyloggers are VERY dangerous - they document every keystroke you make and record them to a hidden file. If installed correctly, they run in the background and you can't even see the Windows process or Keylogger configuration without typing a very specific keystroke combination. Your usernames/passwords for all websites, such as your bank, etc, are logged as well. Unfortunately these types of identity theft issues are here to stay, so be smart. Never find a support phone number through Google, always go directly to the website (www.apple.com) and then browse for a support phone number or Contact Us link. iYOGI is very deceptive as their support website says apple.iyogi.com, which my parents didn't catch.

Be smart and be safe everyone.

I recently ended up calling Iyogi accidentally. When i searched for apple care phone number on my cellphone it comes out as the first paid ad. I did not realize it at that point. I spoke to the guy for about half hour, gave him name email id phone number etc, which apple care should already have it based on your apple ID. My Macbook Pro is relatively new, so the 90 day warranty should cover it. He kept saying his database shows that the warranty has expired and i need to pay $180 to get it fixed. I asked him to verify the serial number on my mac and he dodged it by saying the laptop was bought in the mid of june this year, basically giving me all the information i gave him earlier and which address it was shipped to. I asked him to transfer me to his supervisor who could fix the issue because apple should be providing 90 day free support, he said everyone will have access to the same database so only way to move forward was for me to pay $180. I wanted it fixed remotely and didnot want to go to apple store to fix it. Finally, after much arguing he said since his database is showing it is expired, i might go to the nearest apple store where they might even fix it for free. Normally incase apple care is not able to support something remotely they will set up an appointment with the local store which this guy did not offer to do. Overall there were too many red flag which i did not notice until i got off the phone.

Calling the real applecare number they fixed it for free and i was only on the call for 10 mins!

Unfortunately, I found this website after I had already purchased their yearly service contract for over $300. This company is incredibly good at hiding their true colors and I’ve looked extensively for information about this company and I’m only finding reviews written about iYogi, BY iYogi. I believe that they are writing their own reviews because of the grammar and spelling in each of the reviews. They dont seem to be written by someone whose english is their first language.

I digress, our original reason for posting this review: We purchased their service a little over a year ago and have been waiting for it to be over. They constantly call for renewal period, but WE ARE NOT INTERESTED. During that year we had to hire a separate online computer repair company, WWW.safepcfix.com to properly repair our computer. After the second time of having to hire another company to repair the original virus issue we hired them for, we signed up with the year contract with the other company. iYogi consistently failed to diagnose and repair multiple issues with our computer. These were issues that all stemmed from one source. SafePCFix informed us that they run into issues where other computer repair companies do not completely 100% remove the virus infections, causing them to come back stronger in the future. After constant issues and having to cancel iYogi, we now have working computers.

During our tenure with these guys they would tell us we had more problems with our computer than what we actually had. We had to contact another repair service to repair the machine and fix the mistakes they made. This happened on a couple of occasions. We decided it was far better to purchase the actual service agreement from a US based company (ie the one above.) Their technicians were easy to understand and explained the problems that iYogi caused with our machine.

Buyer beware.

to be sure, call your banks and change all your credit cards with new password

and add new security question ,

DO NOT use your computer for online banking and other stuff before making sure its clean

TO BE SAFE call and cancel all ur credit cards ...

add new security questions...

Make sure ur computer or devise is secure now , don't use that hard drive or usb they asked u to use for back up or any things like that .

i had a same experience , I'm SURE i called apple customer service but seems like my phone was hack , those ppl answer an i thought I'm giving all my info to apple customer service, they never mentioned their name during 2 hrs conversation.

thanks god didn't make and keep any home made **** in my laptop lol

If any of you are wondering about IYOGI from a legal perspective I can offer the definitive answer -

I recieved a call from someone from Iyogi today and they DID NOT give their name as Iyogi upon my answering.

They introduced themselves as APPLE TECHNICAL SUPPORT!!!!!

I was actually expecting a call from the real tech support so I thought this was the call. They proceeded to get me to log onto my imac and blabbered on about having lots of malicious software on my computer. I started to become a bit suspicious at this point but it was when they directed me towards google and then asked me install the TEAMVIEWER software to link with them that I called a holt, as apple tech support DO NOT USE TEAMVIEWER and said I would contact my previous contact at the real apple tech support to confirm that the guy i was speaking to was legit. He actually had no problem with me doing this and didnt try to hold me to the phone unlike the female employee I spoke to from the same company several months earlier who was incredibly rude and insisted I didnt put the phone down to her.

What these people are doing is Obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception - which is an offence in the UK under the theft act of 1968. In short the person I spoke to TOLD ME HE WAS CALLING FROM APPLECARE TECH SUPPORT CENTRE - THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTE LIE!!!!

They may be a legitimate company, charging people rediculous amounts of money for their 'so called' services. But They are telling people they work for Apple and using this to gain peoples trust to get them to log onto their computers and start 'fixing' their issues. Then they hit you with the bill after. This is not just lying but is deception and an offence. They are now stepping over the bounds of the law and I will be making a case against them shortly to trading standards.

The fact that THEY CALLED ME out of the blue is very disturbing.

In short - If you recieve a call from a company claiming to be Apple - ask them politely to leave their contact number to call back. Hang up, Google the number and check it isnt coming up under Iyogi.com. And If you require Apple Tech Support - USE THE CORRECT CONTACT NUMBER FROM THE APPLE WEBSITE!

This is just wrong, I thought I had contacted Apple but I guess not. I was also asked if they could remote access my computer because I did a factory to my iPhone and it was taking over 2 hours and still not moving. I had to start over and it only took 20 minutes. Now I have iYogi on my desktop. I removed it then my wireless mouse quit working, I restarted my computer based on HP support website and it asked me to add iYogi back on and now my mouse is working fine. I think it is a virus or malware, it is wrong that you can't remove it without having a problem with something on your computer.