So I rang the "free helpline" Next thing I'm offered to "fix" my pc for big cash

Adz · 2015-04-18T11:28:51.000Z

What the hell just happened? After trying for some licence no show help & whilst supposedly avast tech help are remote controlling my computer I’m told if you pay £160+ we’ll fix your computer.
It felt like I was being scammed and now I still have desktop background black, it has removed my wallpaper as it does/can when remoting.
I’m now going through a lengthy security lock down as I think they was trying to scam me.
Maybe I’m wrong, that’s why I’m asking here…
Anyone throw some light on this for me?

Rednose · 2015-04-18T11:43:01.000Z

Hi Adz, welcome to the forum.

I am sorry that you have this bad experience.

The telephone number is from a third party company that is hired by Avast! for giving support. And they can charge you.
In my opinion Avast! doesn’t make that clear ( enough ) on their website.
And from what we hear from users on the forum, the third party support company always tries to charge you.
My advise is not to call them !
If you want you can email a complaint to Vojta Nekvapil - nekvapil[at]avast[dot]com (3rd Party Support Manager).

But can you describe your problem(s) ? Than we will try to help you

Greetz, Red.

Adz · 2015-04-18T12:02:45.000Z

Hi Red, greetz
My original issue was I just purchased a 1 year 3 pc’s deal, the original pc I purchased on upgraded with licence no problem.
Then I turned on my laptop to upgrade that to pro, I could not see any option to upgrade so I rang that free helpline & was received quickly. What it looked like was they (she) was running normal virus checks, then all of a sudden I’m told " your computer has been infected and we will fix it for appx £160. She was in a position of trust remoting my computer and I now felt like I was being held to ransom.
So I disconnected from her and as I said I am now going though a security lock down and password re set all over. When we was chatting she got me to sign in to one of my email accounts so she could get to a message she had sent.
If I had of felt any suspicion I would never have let someone remote my computer but as I was supposedly going through Avast I thought I was safe.
Thank you for replying.

Rednose · 2015-04-18T12:30:53.000Z

Did you manage to upgrade your laptop now ? Otherwise look here https://www.avast.com/en-eu/faq.php?article=AVKB8#articleContent

And if you have problems/questions, come to the forum first.
There is more knowledge here about Avast! than the third party support has. And our help is free

Greetz, Red.

Adz · 2015-04-18T12:52:17.000Z

actually yes I have now successfully got a licensed avast running on my laptop, in fact I realised that the email I was sent after purchasing had all the links I needed to install the three licences. And that is all the the tech support should of said to me, go check your email. I had forgot that I used that email for avast.
Outrageous of them to try duping me into paying for help I did not need.
Thanks for the advice, and for sure I will return here for help in the future.

Rednose · 2015-04-18T13:01:43.000Z

They should have offered/given you the help related to your licence problem for free.
That is why I recommend you to email a complaint.

Greetz, Red.

Adz · 2015-04-18T13:33:33.000Z

I think I will complain. Whilst she was in my computer, she was asking me " have you noticed your pc running slow?"
no was my reply.
She had what appeared to be a virus checker running in front of me showing a lot of infections/trojan etc, well I’ve just ran all the checks and there is nothing.
And that pc (as with all my machines) has never had any problems, I run VPN and I’m careful.

Adz · 2015-04-18T13:42:00.000Z

email sent to nekvapil with link to this topic.
ty

DavidR · 2015-04-18T13:42:45.000Z

I would support Red’s suggestion to contact the 3rd Party Support Manager - thanks for sending it - this isn’t just for yourself but it may well help others in the future.

As you are finding, the avast support forums has a great number of knowledgeable avast users helping other avast users and we don’t charge you anything.

Rednose · 2015-04-18T13:53:52.000Z

Adz post:7:

I think I will complain. Whilst she was in my computer, she was asking me " have you noticed your pc running slow?"
no was my reply.
She had what appeared to be a virus checker running in front of me showing a lot of infections/trojan etc, well I’ve just ran all the checks and there is nothing.
And that pc (as with all my machines) has never had any problems, I run VPN and I’m careful.

Unbelievable that they have the guts to do this. Thank you for sharing !

Greetz, Red.

Adz · 2015-04-18T14:04:12.000Z

Glad to help,
yes I couldn’t believe it when she suddenly switched to " we will fix that now for £140 & another £26 for something else" (prices approximate, I cant rememberer exactly)
alarm bells rang so I disconnected and shut my laptop down.
I will come back and add any updates on this.
Thanks David as well

DavidR · 2015-04-18T14:32:12.000Z

You’re welcome, thanks for taking the time to report it.

Announcements