Inside the shady world of antivirus telemarketing

Unfortunately many people are falling for this scam.

The agents are instructed to stick to a 13-page script. They ask callers whether they have an antivirus program installed. If they do, Zifka said, callers are usually told that whatever they’re using isn’t a “full-time real spectrum virus protection program.”

But the agents have a solution: callers can purchase an antivirus program called Defender Pro Antivirus, from Bling Software.

EZ Tech Support sells a perpetual license for the program for $300. Agents also tell callers they can perform a one-time fix on their computers for them, which starts at $250. Callers can haggle for lower prices.

But Zifka said agents call out anything flagged by the software, even if it’s not a security risk for the user.

“We used whatever it states as a selling point,” Zifka said.

'Your PC may be infected!' Inside the shady world of antivirus telemarketing | PCWorld

I had one of these morons call me awhile ago..It was funny asking them for specifics about my system, since they "claimed" they were looking at my pc right now, and could see I had virus on my machine"..

I guess the general public is stupid, because giving any stranger on the phone any personally identifiable information is just plain stupid, no matter WHAT the say to you..

Don't "Mind Readers" and "Psychics" work the same way?

Don't "Mind Readers" and "Psychics" work the same way?

I had one of those calls and played along for a bit. Gave a bunch of made up answers and when he said he detected a virus, I said WOW! That antivirus really is powerful! It found that even though my computer is turned off!

Click.

Thank Malwarebytes, that I have MBAE protection before going to this site.

I had one of those calls and played along for a bit. Gave a bunch of made up answers and when he said he detected a virus, I said WOW! That antivirus really is powerful! It found that even though my computer is turned off!

Click.

That scammer leave the scene in record time...

Thanks for the info, not heard of this before

Thanks for the info, not heard of this before

I get calls every now and then about this and others trying to get me to give them control of my PC. I just hang up. Works every time.

I get calls every now and then about this and others trying to get me to give them control of my PC. I just hang up. Works every time.

The only ones I get are from supposed Microsoft Support (or is this the same)

I just go along with them and they eventually hang up when I start questioning them