My mac locked up and gave me a 1-855 number to call and was allegedly transferred to Apple support but they tried to sell me a anti virus package, how do I know this is legit?

MickinTN wrote:

Yes and no

I'm guessing that means that yes, you did allow them access to your computer, and no, you didn't give them any financial information. If that's the case, you have given scammers access to your computer, and it should now be considered compromised. You need to erase your hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch.

See:

Tech support scam pop-ups

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.)

It is NOT legit, MickinTN

See some related threads

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You are welcome, MickinTN

Just don't panic.

Before you follow the first solution you might encounter on the above threads, do go through them all to get a better understanding of what you and your system might have stumbled upon.

I also "fell" for the same scam...and gave them access to my computer. As you can see below, Apple Care resolved my adware problem, and...also told me that as long as I didn't give them any credit/debit card or SS# information, I should be good. Are they wrong?

Don

Thank you Apple Care!

They resolved my Adware problem with unwanted pop-ups... some that looked like Apple sites and said to call their toll-free number for help...only to try to sell their phony products...all a scam...to get your credit card info!

Even though my laptop is 5yrs. old, Apple Care doesn't charge for resolving Adware problems.

The Apple Care rep used a free (donation) application for eliminating adware....Adware Medic...www.adwaremedic.com...which found and deleted my popup producing adware files.

Don Rex wrote:

Apple Care resolved my adware problem, and...also told me that as long as I didn't give them any credit/debit card or SS# information, I should be good. Are they wrong?

Yes and no. It's very likely that they are correct. However, they cannot guarantee that. Though rare, there have been cases where scammers given remote control of your computer have used that access for malicious ends. AdwareMedic cannot fix that problem, since it just removes adware, and neither can any anti-virus software. An Apple tech really can't guarantee that your system is safe, since a good hacker could do things that are very difficult to detect.

So, if a guarantee of the safety of your data is important to you (keeping in mind that a password or credit card number entered in a form on the web counts as data), you really should erase your hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch, as has been previously recommended.

This is the screen that appeared on my computer. It may also have a different phone number.

It's a SCAM!

It’s not.

(122078)

It is a scam.

They are NOT Apple support.

Did you allow them access to your computer?

Did you divulge any financial information to them?

Thanks Thomas, that makes sense.