thewinnman

Q: Is Premier Tech Support a scam or legitimate?

A message appeared on the desktop of my wife's mac with a message saying the computer was seriously infected with a virus. Somehow she arrived at a pop-up from Premier Tech Support claiming that if she called them, they could remove any viruses from her computer. She did call them, she did give them her credit card number and allowed them to charge her $199 and she did give remote them access to her Mac. I came home at this time and freaked out. Can anyone tell me if they have ever dealt with Premier Tech Support and if they are legit or not?

 

As I looked at her desktop, I saw the technician remotely trying to install Sophos Anti Virus Home Addition however he didn't have access to her password so he appeared to be stuck there. I typed to him that we had to stop there and we would call them back at a later time.

 

Any advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

<Edited by host>

Posted on Aug 21, 2015 8:55 PM

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Q: Is Premier Tech Support a scam or legitimate?

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  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Nov 23, 2015 12:10 PM in response to pphan43
    Level 9 (50,215 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 23, 2015 12:10 PM in response to pphan43

    Hi Paul, there are a couple of ways to report fraud to the BBB or other consumer protection agency, and yes I suggest that you do so.

     

    Those agencies are at the bottom of this User Tip: Effective defenses against malware and other threats and are as follows:

     

    US Federal Trade Commission: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams

    Better Business Bureau: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-twist-on-scam-tech-support-calls-installs-vi ruses-on-victims-computers/

     

    The only caveat is that I disagree with one of their recommended actions, which is to "download legitimate security software and scan your computer." Downloading anything, regardless of the source, in response to this type of scam is inappropriate and is likely to result in other, unrelated problems. Don't do that.

     

    I cannot find their physical address nor  their website.

     

    The reason is that they may have none. All a criminal needs to commit this fraud is a phone and a computer, both of which might have been rented by the hour, and could be at the bottom of a river by now. You really have no way of confirming whether the company you called was even "Premier Tech Support", whether that is in fact a company or any incorporated entity existing in the United States, whether it was someone on the other side of the globe fraudulently claiming an association with them, or anyone else, legitimate or not.

     

    The only fact possible for you to determine and assert it is an act of fraud, based on the obviously fraudulent information accompanying the phone number. That is the basis on which to dispute the credit card charge.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Nov 23, 2015 12:13 PM in response to pphan43
    Level 9 (51,281 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 23, 2015 12:13 PM in response to pphan43

    Screen Shot 2015-11-23 at 14.13.00.png

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