These guys are bloody scam artists. They may very well be able to provide quality service but prefer to scare you into using them. I was looking in the phone book for a decent computer store, and happened across thier ad. This is what it said:
Your PC is probably infected if:
You have downloaded music.
Your PC is running very slow.
You always have popup ads.
Your homepage keeps changing.
Virus spyware removal with _free_ AntiVirus & AntiSpyware software! $79
The rest is your standard ad with phone number, and a few other services like sales and service.
Intrigued by these statements I called to find out more. I asked if it only took one of those things to signify my computer was infected. They said yes and no. It might not be, but better safe than sorry. I should bring my computer down and have them do thier spyware removal. I asked how downloading music would have you get a virus, and I was told many of the p2p software will automatically download viruses/spyware.
Now I am not the biggest computer genius in the world but considering I run a computer servicing company part time and have experience in a wide array of fields from security to programming, I KNOW that all but one of those listed above don't mean poo.
You have downloaded music.
Well what can I say. If you type in download music you will get pay for product services like mp3.com rhapsody.com etc. If you happen to download p2p like azureus, bittorrent, limewire, etc. they do not automatically download viruses as we all know. MP3 files cannot contain viruses as they are not executable! They are read by your music manager and interpreted! This statement by the employee was a total false hood.
When I asked about this I was hung up on, so I couldn't ask about the rest of the claims, but I will review them here.
Your PC is running very slow.
You probably are running out of space, have too many programs running on startup, or need to upgrade (if your running Vista with less than 2GB of RAM you'll probably be running slow). You may just need to defrag your HDD, clear your temporary internet files, or any of a thousand other things completely unrelated to viruses or spyware. I call BS.
You always have popup ads.
If your using IE6, UPGRADE immediately. It is insecure and will allow tons of popups. Depending on the types of sites you visit you may have get more than other people. Even in IE7 and Firefox, there are popups that will get through, especially in IE. This is not a sign of a virusspyware! There were a few a while ago, and they still roam around, that do things like this, but keep Windows updated and it shouldn't really be an issue. Oh, and turn on your popup blocker. It's built into most browsers these days.
Your homepage keeps changing.
This may signify a virus but would more likely signify you having lax security in your browser. Or your reading the page and it says hit the button combination for the make this page home hotkey. Really, unless it keeps changing to some Buy our product site or something malicious it likely isn't a virus.
As a computer professional and enthusiast and a rather hardnosed fellow, I really don't appreciate these jerks making it harder for people to trust computer techs. They make us all look bad when they try to rip people off. And the fact that they wouldn't back up thier claims just makes me even more mad.
Don't use thier service, ask your knowledgable buddy to help you clean up your computer. Give them the money instead or put it towards some RAM or something to make your computer use more enjoyable. Don't give it to these con artists.
Mithilion
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada
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