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Did Avangate / Iobit try to scam me??!


fastartcee

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I was trying to renew my ASC Pro license for two PCs and was experiencing a bit of trouble, so I phoned the number given. A tech (I will not identify his name) came on and immediately said my computer was slow... could he take over my screen and see what the problem was; I gave him the necessary permissions. He immediately brought up and displayed a long list of system errors, including (he quickly pointed out) to **critical** errors. He said this was a big problem, and showed that corruption had got into my network, and that if it got any worse my computers would start to leak passwords and private information. He said I couldn't even replace the machine, or do a clean Win 10 reinstall because my network would just immediately get reinfected. He said I could go to BestBuy, for example, and have a Microsoft Certified tech clean my computers, but it would cost me $600 or 700! OR... I could authorize an expenditure of (I think) $180 and he would fix everything for me, and give me life-long protection & security.

 

I was not going to be pressured into anything based on scary statements, so I declined, and he quickly dropped me.

 

I just brought up Event Viewer, and there were all the 'infections', included the two **critical** errors! Both "critical" errors were caused a couple weeks ago when I had forced a shutdown without properly closing Windows! ALL the other errors in the System Log were routine system errors; as far as I could see there was NOT ONE error related to any kind of infection. To be double sure, I did a complete scan with Kasperski, and not even one problem was detected after an hour-long scan.

 

I am really pissed off that, after being a steady customer of Iobit and ASC Pro for several years, that Avangate would try to pull off a high-pressure scam like this! I am near the point in my upset that I am thinking of dumping Iobit and ASC Pro. But first I'll cool down for a couple days and see what people might post in response to this public complaint.

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Willing to bet the number you called was a third part support number and not Avangate. These so called support numbers, as you indicated in your title are a scam. Why companies like Iobit and Avast Antivirus continue to have established relationships with these companies is hard to understand. You can search the Avast forums and find multiple complaints similar to your own. If you still need to contact Avangate, here is their contact page http://www.avangate.com/contact-us/ Make sure you have any order numbers available to assist with your problems. Good Luck

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Hi fastartcee,

 

Welcome to IObit Forum.

 

Sorry for the trouble you encountered. Please assist us to investigate the issues with the steps below:

 

1. To renew your ASC Pro, please send us a PM message or email us at tickets@iobit.com by providing us with your valid email address, code, or order number.

 

2. Regarding the tech support complaint, we suppose you contacted our phone tech service that is provided by our partner. They provide free service about installing and registration for IObit products. But they should not do hard selling like this. We use them to enhance the customer experience to gain more satisfaction from users rather than allow them to do this bad practice.

 

I will escalate this issue to their supervisor to ask them to improve the tech service. Please also let us know the phone number you called and your phone number for followup the issue.

 

Thank you.

 

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Willing to bet the number you called was a third part support number and not Avangate. These so called support numbers, as you indicated in your title are a scam. Why companies like Iobit and Avast Antivirus continue to have established relationships with these companies is hard to understand. You can search the Avast forums and find multiple complaints similar to your own. If you still need to contact Avangate, here is their contact page http://www.avangate.com/contact-us/ Make sure you have any order numbers available to assist with your problems. Good Luck

 

The phone number came from Avangate, but I think you're right... it was a contractor hired to do phone-tech support. I like the way IObit has jumped on my complaint. I've already renewed my licenses.

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Hi fastartcee,

 

Welcome to IObit Forum.

 

Sorry for the trouble you encountered. Please assist us to investigate the issues with the steps below:

 

1. To renew your ASC Pro, please send us a PM message or email us at tickets@iobit.com by providing us with your valid email address, code, or order number.

 

2. Regarding the tech support complaint, we suppose you contacted our phone tech service that is provided by our partner. They provide free service about installing and registration for IObit products. But they should not do hard selling like this. We use them to enhance the customer experience to gain more satisfaction from users rather than allow them to do this bad practice.

 

I will escalate this issue to their supervisor to ask them to improve the tech service. Please also let us know the phone number you called and your phone number for followup the issue.

 

Thank you.

 

Requested info has been provided. Thanks for looking into this.

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Hi fastartcee,

 

Can you let us know Avangate phone number you called so that we can further look into the issue?

 

I did not receive the requested info. Can you let us know where you sent it so that I can do double check?

 

?Thank you.

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(I emailed this to Wendy yesterday morning)

 

The telephone tech's name was 'Kevin', and he had me log into LetMeIn123.com at 9:32 AM PST (direct from my Chrome history). I think the number was 1-800-941-8139, but I got cut off from that number after a considerable time on hold. I did try it again, but I also tried another number I found on the IObit website. My support call was made from 250-585-7320.

 

His patter was very smooth, starting with something like, 'Your computer seems very slow... let me try to find out what's wrong'. Then he had me go to LetMeIn123.com and give him the necessary permissions. He brought up the System error log and immediately started to paint a very dark, dangerous picture: 'Oh gosh! This is very serious! If a few more critical errors occur your network is going to start to leak passwords and banking information. Oh, look at that! Going to BestBuy will cost $100/hr, and every one of these errors has to be cleaned out... etc, etc. But I can correct all these errors and infections, and give you life-long security for just $180.'

 

When I said I wouldn't be rushed or panicked into making a decision he dropped me quickly, and pulled out of the remote control app. Can I be sure that he didn't leave a backdoor into my computer or home network?

 

This company is shredding IObit's reputation, which has always been stellar, in my view. The whole episode was very unsettling for both me and my wife (I had the phone on speaker.) Fortunately, I have been using home computers since 1982, and have always paid attention to security. I also knew that 'Kevin' had pulled up Event Viewer, and was displaying the System Errors log. I also know that my 7-or-8-yr-old Dell Inspiron has some trouble handling 64 bit Win 10, and that is the reason there are so many entries in my System Errors log. Neither IObit's Malware module nor Kasperski's Internet Security -- both up to date -- found any trace of malware in deep scans.

 

I'm 77, so, literally, I wasn't 'born yesterday'. I smelled a scam, and I have reported it to IObit. I hope you reconsider your connection with this phone-tech-support company, and dump them. I also suggest that you do a spot survey of ASC Pro users to find out how many of your loyal customers -- particularly older users who are poorly informed on security and systems matters -- have been taken in by this scam already... and you should make these users whole again. You should also determine just what security service/product was being flogged under IObit's aegis. I find it very troubling that the very computer system care company I selected (after considerable comparisons) to increase the security of the computers in our home network, and keep them 'clean and fit', turned out to provide a path for a scammer to get right into the heart of my network.

 

What ever you decide to do with this phone-tech-support company, I presume you will do it in such a way as to not allow 'Kevin' to do any harm to my computers or home network.

 

I have to a degree reestablished my confidence in IObit due to your prompt response to my complaint. I have renewed my ASC Pro licenses for both our computers for another year.

 

Art Charbonneau

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  • Willing to bet the number you called was a third part support number and not Avangate. These so called support numbers, as you indicated in your title are a scam. Why companies like Iobit and Avast Antivirus continue to have established relationships with these companies is hard to understand. You can search the Avast forums and find multiple complaints similar to your own. If you still need to contact Avangate, here is their contact page http://www.wikiooz.ir/ Make sure you have any order numbers available to assist with your problems. Good Luck






 

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Hi fastartcee,

 

The phone number you called belongs to our tech partner Eureka 24 and not Avangate. We are so sorry for the bad experience you\ve been through. The only and main purpose we use them to enhance the customer experience to gain more satisfaction from users. We will definitely request them to improve the services to provide more useful help to our customers. If you encounter any problem regarding IObit product, feel free to post it here or open a ticket from http://www.iobit.com/en/onlinefeedback.php. We will reply to you with a solution asap.

 

Thanks for your understanding.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Same thing happened to me. In order to register my renewed version of ASC I called the number given in the email I received, and some Canadian fellow named Jeffrey answered. After telling him that I was having some difficulty registering, he said he would run a scan. Whalla, there's 90,000 errors. Wow, he said, "I've never seen that many errors." Furthermore, the reason my computer wouldn't accept the registration number was because it showed my computer as being in New Delhi, India. Address on Nelson Mandela Boulevard. "Aren't you in CA?" was his next question. He was setting the hook. Now he went through the whole speech about how a MS Certified tech would be needed to fix my computer, and "Did I have a Costco, or Best Buy nearby?". But wait, let me check to see if one of our "Certified Techs" could fix it, or have the time to fix it. About that time I handed the phone over to my grandson, who is a geek. He immediately went in and turned off my computer. So, now, I had to call my credit card company and cancel my credit card, and dispute the payment. Next, after restoring everything and finding that there was not ONE error, anywhere on my computer, went on the FBI website and reported this attempted internet crime. I filed an IQ3 outlining everything that took place. It was titled "An intent to defraud", which is a crime. Unfortunately AVOGATE is the focus whereas it should have been IObit. Oh well

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Hi fugleman,

 

Thanks for sharing us the experience and we are very sorry for the bad experience you've been through. Please send us order number or license code in PM so that we can help you register your renewed version of ASC.

 

Regarding the issue, we will forward your complaint to Eureka 24 and definitely request them to improve the services for assisting our customers. If you are convenient, please send us your phone number so so that we can identify the agent who did this bad practice to you.

 

If you encounter any problem regarding IObit product, feel free to post it here or open a ticket from http://www.iobit.com/en/onlinefeedback.php. We will reply to you with a solution asap.

 

 

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