My first post here. I was very nearly scammed a couple of weeks ago when I was tricked into downloading an executable file from what I thought was a legitimate Canon Printer website. I thought my printer might have been responsible for causing my Coreldraw 2023 to crash. Anyway they got control of my computer and gave me a lot of fake malware results. The guy told me I had to pay £99.00 to get my printer fixed. As it turned out my printer was fine and the results were a scam. I tried to get Norton help but they had a fake Norton page which meant that I didn’t know if I was on the legitimate Norton site. Anyway, they tried to get money out of me by using the same fake infestation results but I didn’t fall for it, but it was a VERY close thing. Subsequent Norton scans including Power Eraser, showed no issues with my PC which is working fine. Can anyone shed any light on this type of scam?
When you do an internet search for any specific company, whether for hardware or software, the first results are almost never for the company you are trying to contact. They are usually companies that offer service for multiple hardware or software companies for a fee. The genuine support for the companies you are looking for are generally no charge.
At the least, these companies will fleece the user for a service charge. At worst, if they convince you to allow remote connection to your system to ‘fix’ it, then you could have malware added that can steal your personal and banking information.
Anti malware companies cannot protect users from falling for these offers for support offered by non genuine support companies. All you can do is contact your bank and try to dispute the charge. You might also be able to report the scam to the authorities.
Some resources for scams is also available here:
SA