Virtual pc doctor scam

RussJK

I'm really sorry to hear that! Might be worth an idea posting into the consumer rights section even still, as there are no doubt relevant laws about falsely providing 'services' that others will know the inside and outs of. Just because paypal has closed the claim, doesn't mean you can't reopen it if you send a physical letter (once you have your argument and supporting documents in place).

lock07

Thanks Russ. I phoned Virtual PC Doctor and asked if I could claim the £100 refund that they had originally offered - they said that I could but I would have to let Paypal know that I had accepted the offer. To be honest I think I can wave bye-bye to my money, but I've got to the stage where I'm more miffed with Paypal then anyone else because they fail to acknowledge that I've been misled. Everytime I attempt to contact Virtual PC Doctor by email they phone me back within 5 mins and appear to be very professional in dealing with my problem - I'm now feeling that maybe this is a genuine company offering PC support but that I've just been unfortunate in falling victim to a telesales pitch. I've decided to wait a couple of weeks to see if I do receive my partial refund and then I intend to close my Paypal account. Watch this space.

RussJK

No it's a scam - £180 is an insane amount of money! I bet there are techies here who'd love to be making that from each job, virus removal and PC optimisation are soft, easy jobs. If people were offering that for me to fix their computer then I'd quit my own profession, and just clean virses and fix computers.

Did they claim to be from Microsoft? They aren't, so they lied. Did they say they knew you had viruses & errors? etc Another lie, they couldn't know. Did they get you to look at eventviewer? Typical script that scammers follow.

Obviously it's up to you. Getting £100 back is better than none. If they are a UK based company, then they are scared about complaints about cold calls and misrespresenting services.

lock07

Yes, they did state that they were from Microsoft, they did say that that I had viruses and they did ask me to go into the eventviewer. But I'm at a loss of at where to go next!

As far as I can can gather they are a company based in India. They did seem quite concerned when I accused them as posing as Microsoft or Microsoft representatives and said that they had to stick to rigid guidelines. They also said that I they had listened to a recording of my conversation I had with their agent and that at no time had they mentioned Microsoft - a complete lie as I had asked them to confirm this on 2-3 occasions.

I have googled them and have viewed pages and pages of scams of this and obviously I feel like a complete idiot for being taken in by this. I'm at a loss at where to go next for someone to help and, I like I've said before, I feel I should put this behind me and move on but hopefully make other people aware that this is happening.

RussJK

lock07 wrote: »

Yes, they did state that they were from Microsoft, they did say that that I had viruses and they did ask me to go into the eventviewer. But I'm at a loss of at where to go next!
.

I think you should ask for advice in the consumer rights section, and gather opinions on whether or not to take the £100 refund, or to pursue paypal with a letter etc.

Like I said, I'm sorry it happened and definitely don't mean to be harsh. It's just a fact of life that nasty, suspicious people tend not to fall for scams so easily! If the worst you can say about yourself is that you believe the best in others, then that's not too bad...!

by the way, the Consumer Rights forum is here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=173

hethmar

This one has been going on for at least a year, there are threads on here and all over the net about it. I think most people said they just left the phone off the hook or pretended they were thick when being given the instructions to give remote control to their puter.

Its awful. Ring Trading Standards about it.

lock07

I've got my partial refund of £100 which I was quite surprised about as I didn't expect to see any of my money again. I just want to forget about the whole thing now. Can you believe it though - a couple of nights ago my husband answered the phone to exactly the same scam but he just let them go on and on and didn't speak to them at all and they hung up on him!

RussJK

lock07 wrote: »

I've got my partial refund of £100 which I was quite surprised about as I didn't expect to see any of my money again. I just want to forget about the whole thing now. Can you believe it though - a couple of nights ago my husband answered the phone to exactly the same scam but he just let them go on and on and didn't speak to them at all and they hung up on him!

Glad it's resolved one way or another It's a cheap lesson compared to some scams, so it might save you money in the long run!

Spank

Did they send you an anti virus program? according to there website http://www.virtualpcdoctor.com/session1.php you signed up for 3 years (or 1 year on 3 PC's).

Even if not for £100 you should get support for at least a year

HO87

VirtualPCDoctor purport to be based in Victoria, Mahe in the Seychelles but have a contact - a Michael Riek - based in New York (#360, 1461, First Avenue, N. York 10075-2201 - Tel No. +1 5672 525221). There are also email addresses revealing other domains both of which registrations are hidden behind privacy schemes. VPCD's EULA claims that any and all disputes will be settled under the laws of N. Carolina but there is no trading address in that state - a right b*ggers muddle with the stench of 6-week old mackerel about it. Try searching them with the Better Business Bureaux.

[Edit] - One of the benefits of the US Phone system is that its possible to carry out a reverse look-up on numbers. The number if translated into what would be a valid US format i.e. (567) 252-5221 does not appear in New York, nor even New York State but to Marblehead, Ohio. Online searches will provide you with the subscriber to that number for $1.99.