Norton 360

[alspec]

I have been repeatedly cold called today from a company (if that is correct) 

They tried to sell me a registration fee for a system blocker (to stop hackers getting into my PC) for £100.00 when I said that I didn't want it he said he would use a code hidden in windows to shut down my PC.

Is this possible for a 3rd party to switch off my pc using this code?

I'm running Norton 360 version 5.0

Can you advise me what action I should take.

[Bombastus · Accepted solution]

Hello,

No, it is not possible. He's just trying to scare you into paying.

[alspec]

I thought so.

Thank you for your help.

Gives a piece of mind, cheers.

[ukbobboy]

Hi Alspec

Last year I found out that a work colleague fell victim to a "cold calling company" claiming to be affiliated with Microsoft and wanted £99.00 to clean malware off his PC, which was infected by something they had tricked him into downloading and installing. 

Anyway, when he refused to pay the "so-called" company embarked on a telephone campaign of threats and intimidation towards him and his family, this phone intimidation only stopped when he said he was going to call the police.

My colleague eventually got his PCs hard disk thoroughly cleaned by a PC professional, he was told that his hard disk and been completely compromised by the malware.

So you see Alspec, you are not the only one these "cold calling scammers" are trying to get in the UK, you are one of many.


UK Bob

PS. I understand this type of cold calling is happening is Australia as well.

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

alspec,

I"d just like to add, to what others have said about bluffing, a proviso --

You could have been harmed if you allowed them any kind of access to your computer -- so was this "calling" on your phone system or did they come in on your computer while you were using the computer?

[alspec]

cold calling by phone not pc

[AllenM Norton Fighter]

Hi alspec,

These scams are getting more and more common and all of us need to be ever vigilant against the criminals who will do almost anything to get their hooks into us.

Just in the past few weeks I have received no less than 3 emails supposedly from Comcast informing me that if I did not do such and such (ultimately by clicking a link in my email) that my email address would be canceled. Sure the email looked like the real thing - the criminals out there are getting more and more clever. But I know that legitimate companies would NEVER send an email like this.

And I had only to log into my Comcast account using a known address (NOT the link in my email) to know that this was fake! If it was truly the real deal my Comcast account would had a message waiting for me but of course there was none.

Just know that legitimate companies never do business this way by using this kind of scare tactics.

Best wishes.

Allen

[ukbobboy]

Dear Forum Members

Just a general comment, throughout the Internet and possibly everyday life there are always scammers looking for naive or gullible to part from their money.

It goes to show that now more than ever you must trust nothing that seems too good to be true, anything that is out of the ordinary and constantly keep your common sense in gear.

Remember, to be conned you first have to be persuaded to part with your money.


UK Bob

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

UK Bob ....

The greatest danger to your comuter lies between the left ear and the right ear of the user ......

Practice Safe Computing -- Think FIrst .....