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Adware scam by CBR Tech Solutions

I am writing this post to alert the community to an adware scam that is currently victimizing Mac users.


There is a PUP circulating within Macs that in the pc world is known as securitylog.systems. It creates a popup that informs the user of potential security threats and infections and then advises the user to contact a team of IT professionals via the toll free number 866-***-****.


That number and this scam is being run by a company called CBR Tech Solutions with a US office in Elizabeth, NJ but using tech people in India.


Unfortunately this scam victimized an underage minor, in this case my daughter. Based on the alarming alerts from this popup, CBR manipulated her to 1) give up her MacbookPro password and 2) provide her student debit card number to which CBR charged $191 for three months of "tech help." By the time I was told what was going on, the CBR tech in India had taken control of her laptop and installed MacKeeper, Sophos, and LogMeInRescue - all programs notoriously difficult to remove and in the case of the former, a known contagion for adware and malware. From what I can tell (and hope), CBR did not install any other software and some people consider Sophos to be a reliable product (while others do not). I think the primary scam that CBR is perpetrating is the manipulation of the user to pay for the "tech support," and the self-perpetuating cycle of adware that then needs a tech support "fix" by some of the same companies creating the adware in the first place.


My daughter was in tears when she realized what had happened and I am using this as a great teaching moment about "safe harbor" computing practices. We were able to alert Chase Bank credit card fraud protection department to advise them of the fraudulent CBR conduct and cancel the debit card before the pending charge was completed, and I believe I have restored her computer now after three hours of headache.


It's unfortunate that the Mac world has its cancers like CBR but hopefully others can avoid this problem by being made aware of this particular scam, how it works, and its perpetrators.


<Edited by Host>

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), null

Posted on Feb 1, 2015 10:36 PM

Reply
7 replies

Feb 2, 2015 1:59 AM in response to RJ Dio

For some reason after posting this the system removed the last seven digits of the toll free number I made reference to. However, I think the number is important because if someone is in the same situation I was in this afternoon and trying to figure out on message boards if anyone else had been contacted and asked to call that number (like my daughter was), they would need to know it. So, I'll try to put the number in without the dashes and then maybe the system will allow it: 866 *** ****. On several of the PC message boards this number is actually referenced and that's how I was able to determine that the PC variation of this scam is called securitylog.systems and was, indeed, the same fraud now affecting Mac users.


<Edited by Host>

May 24, 2015 10:19 AM in response to RJ Dio

I am sorry that you guys got scammed by CBR techsolutions.


My friend and i during our summer break were looking for jobs so we applied at CBR just for fun and to earn some extra bucks, after the training period, we learned that they were running a scam


What the actually do is that they manipulate the customers by scaring them about pop ups and then they charge them for fixing their computer and what they actually do is that they remove the pop ups and install useless softwares that are available online for free.
And they generally hire high school grads or unemployed needy guys who dont have any degree and need job to support their family and run this scam.

We learnt about it when our training was about to complete and within a month we collected our salary and resigned.

Now there is one thing that you can do is that there is a 'charge back' policy of six months or so through which you can get your money back. I dont know much about it but what you can do is you can call your bank and explain it to the guys over there. That would definitely help you guys or there might be a refund policy, every online purchase ha a refund policy you can call them and look into that, but i recommend you go for the chargeback first.


Other than that you guys need not worry about anything like computer invasion or password hacking, but in future dont go for any kind of online or telephonic payments.


This is really pathetic what these guys are doing.


I hope that might have helped.

May 24, 2015 12:34 PM in response to RJ Dio

Hi,

So glad to see your post, this thing has been driving me mad & is only on my MBP, after Safari update!

Oddly it is not happening on my iMac.

Many types of pop-up ads plus the warning to call the toll free number (which I have not done).

I have to force quit Safari, each time, because I cannot get rid of this annoying message.

Must I now do a clean install?

Thank you,

KL

May 24, 2015 2:56 PM in response to blueCdreams

Please review the options below to determine which method is best to remove the Adware installed on your computer.


The Easy, safe, effective method:

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php


If you are comfortable doing manual file removals, use the Apple support document below.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987


Also read the articles below to be more prepared for the next time there is an issue on your computer.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7471

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8071

http://www.thesafemac.com/tech-support-scam-pop-ups/

Adware scam by CBR Tech Solutions

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