AOL Technical Service

[Corporate ORphan]

Anyone ever use AOL's technical service to fix their computer? My sister clicked on a link that downloaded a virus to her machine. It virtually stopped her machine at a site that wouldn't let her do anything but download a third party "security" software package. She ended up paying AOL to remotely "fix" her machine. SHe says it works fine now.

We use our pc to pay bills and manage our financial accounts so DH is nervous about getting any e-mail from DS now. (He has never thought very highly of AOL.) I understand his concern but I miss my DS' e-mails.

It's been two weeks and he would like to wait longer and make sure their computer is "fixed". I was wondering if any of you have used AOL to fix your computer. I couldn't find any reviews on the internet.

THanks

 

[REWahoo]

Sounds like your sister was spoofed. I doubt what she clicked on was actually an AOL site.

 

[W2R]

Sounds like your sister was spoofed. I doubt what she clicked on was actually an AOL site.

+1

I have had AOL for a couple of decades or so, and don't remember anything about such a service from AOL (although they used to have a free anti-virus). It's possible, but I think REW's hypothesis is more likely.

 

[easysurfer]

Defintely spoofed. I wonder if it really was AOL who "fixed" her computer or was it some spoofer pretending to be AOL, then capturing her credit card info to suposedly fix the computer.

Another term is "scareware" where the spoofers install sofware that cripples your computer, then says "PAYUP!

 

[justplainbll]

AOL is peddling a 'Computer Checkup' service.
I have not used it since I have enough trouble coping with MS's upgrades.

 

[Leonidas]

I'm amazed that AOL is still in business.

 

[easysurfer]

I think of a AOL to do a checkup on my computer like Norton.

One time (as in dot.com) AOL was a biggy and Norton was good...but now I avoid

(except, for old times, I do still keep an AOL email).

 

[Corporate ORphan]

She opened a link in a (SPAM) e-mail that said it came from Fed-Ex even though she hadn't ordered anything that would have been shipped. She knew she shouldn't have when it hijacked her computer and wouldn't let her get out of the pop-up to buy "security" software. SHe even shut off the computer a few times.

SHe uses AOL even though she has AT&T U-Verse (I guess because she has had that email address for years and doesn't want to miss an e-mail if she changes it.) She called AOL for technical help and they "fixed" it.

We are sure it was a "legitamate" service from AOL. I found references to it on the internet. I just couldn't find anything but press releases. No reviews. DH opinion of AOL has never been very good so he is concerned that they might not have really gotten rid of ALL of the virus' programs when they got her pc working again. Hence my post.

 

[justplainbll]

Perhaps you should gift her a subscription to AVG™ ?

 

[Bestwifeever]

I would bet it's a scam and your sister should call her credit card company and tell them she thinks the card may be compromised (and run every antivirus/malware program she can get her hands on).

Somehow a program got installed on my computer that locked it down and a screen came up that looked like it was from Microsoft, same Windows 7 logo, etc., saying I had a fatal virus and needed to download the Microsoft removal tool. Nothing I did would unlock the computer and I admit I fell for it. Miraculously as soon as my Visa number was sent, the computer unlocked and I got an e-mail from the "Microsoft" people that I had paid for a year of protection and they would even back up my computer for no cost. The e-mail was from Romania. As soon as I found this out, I called Visa and they closed down the account and assigned a new one.

 

[easysurfer]

I've encountered some of those scareware scams.

Scareware Authors Now Offer Live Tech Support - Softpedia

Luckily, I run a rollback program type that goes back to a previous snapshot (say, maybe the previous day, before the scareware occurred). That way, some of my data maybe not be current but at least I quickly go back to a time before the compromise.

 

[Corporate ORphan]

I guess I have to hope AOL ran an "anti-virus" scan for her? I know they have security software on their machine because they replaced the one that a few years ago let a virus in. Can't remember the name of the software...