{"id":59960,"date":"2018-12-17T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=59960"},"modified":"2018-12-20T15:41:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T21:41:27","slug":"exposing-tech-support-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/exposing-tech-support-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"No, That’s Not Your Antivirus – Exposing Tech Support Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antivirus companies have been the target of scammers for quite some time now.\u00a0 The primary reason being, customers trust their security solution vendor.\u00a0 Therefore, if you call, who you think is your antivirus solution, and they want remote access to your PC, you’ll likely give it to them.\u00a0 Big mistake.<\/p>\n

How are they doing this?<\/h4>\n

First, they’re bidding on adwords within Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.\u00a0 Meaning, malicious ads for fake support phone numbers show up at the top of the page.\u00a0 Often times, users won’t research the phone number listed to ensure it is a legitimate number.\u00a0 Instead, they see it, call it, and fall victim.<\/p>\n

These scammers are also posting on various social media sites claiming to offer phone support for security solution providers.\u00a0 Again — they’re fake.\u00a0You also may notice how the website or videos they’re referring users to are also removed within weeks of being published.\u00a0 Do you ever wonder why that is?\u00a0 It’s because of trademark and copyright infringements.\u00a0 These scammers have no right to use copyrighted logos or use company names if they’re trademarked in URLs.<\/p>\n

For example, I called the phone number listed on pcmaticcontactnumber.com, and was disconnected.\u00a0 Below is the conversation I had with them when they called back.<\/p>\n

This URL has since been removed.<\/p>\n

If you are a PC Matic user and need assistance with your subscription, please submit an online help desk ticket at www.pcmatic.com\/help.\u00a0 PC Matic does not provide phone-based support and is not affiliated with any third-party company that claims to offer this service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Antivirus companies have been the target of scammers for quite some time now.\u00a0 The primary reason being, customers trust their security solution vendor.\u00a0 Therefore, if you call, who you think is your antivirus solution, and they want remote access to your PC, you’ll likely give it to them.\u00a0 Big mistake. How are they doing this? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5090],"tags":[5044,611],"class_list":["post-59960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slider","tag-scammers","tag-tech-support-scam"],"yoast_head":"\nNo, That's Not Your Antivirus - Exposing Tech Support Scams<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scammers are illegally portraying your antivirus companies. 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