Anyone Heard Of Techysupport.com

[34127]

I occasionally get emails from a company called techysupport.com which I treat as suspicious and ignore and assume are a scam.
The emails address me by my first name and if you google the company they have a website and you don't get any posts warning that they are a scam so the impression is that the company is genuine'
However what looks suspicious is the offer on the website where they can download software so that you can share your screen with their support staff ! - no chance of me doing that.
Just find it odd that I can't find any warning messages on google about them.

 

[scotjimland]

yes.. you were right to be suspicious

support scammers..
and have been around for a while...https://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams

the only people I'd trust to 'look' at my PC would be a Microsoft engineer or the Manufacturer support line

 

[Deleted member 29692]

Don't know anything about that company but software to allow remote control of your computer is nothing new and nothing sinister. There are all sorts of reasons why people may need to do it and lots of different options. TeamViewer is more or less the standard. I've got TeamViewer on all of my machines and it's come in very handy for a number of reasons over the years.

Just had a quick look into that website and it doesn't appear that it's anything other than what it says it is. The person who the domain is registered to has a couple of other similar ones. I would say it's safe enough although whether you would want to pay for this sort of support is another matter. I guess some people do.

 

[Linda and Steph]

I wouldn't allow any unknown service have access to my screen or hard drive. It's very easy to set up a website that looks official and professional, that's why phishing emails are so common.

The simple rule - if you have any doubt then delete the email.

 

[34127]

I am a bit puzzled about the fact that the emails are addressed to my first name which is unusual for a scammer.

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[Linda and Steph]

I am a bit puzzled about the fact that the emails are addressed to my first name which is unusual for a scammer.

They'll have purchased your details from a company you've previously used.

If you think about it, a legit company would only have your name if you had made contact with them.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

Is your first name part of your email address? A lot of auto generated emails can pull that out and add it to the content of the message. Again not necessarily anything sinister just someone trawling for business.

Assuming they are genuine, and let's give them the benefit of the doubt for the purposes of this, just a couple of examples of how the business model is sound:

1. This is from personal experience.
I have some specialist software controlling one of my machines at work. I had a minor issue with it a while ago so rang the support helpline. The said no problem, activate team viewer (which gives them complete control of my machine) and it was sorted in a few minutes, for free. The alternative was wait a week for an engineer and pay a call out.

2. Not a real case but just an example.
Someone has a software issue with their computer that they can't resolve. They ring company 1 who say yes we can sort that you either need to bring it in to us or wait x number of days until we can send someone. Cost is £xxx. Company 2 says yes, we can sort that now, give us remote access, it shouldn't take long. Cost is £xxx.

Just a convenience factor.

I've just remembered that there used to be some remote access capability included as part of Windows. It worked through the old MSN instant messaging software. I've used it myself although a long long time ago.

 

[scotjimland]

The software will most likely be genuine.. I have used similar with Dell to solve an issue.. but as soon as the session was over the software was uninstalled.

asking for remote help is different from someone sending a phishing email .. I certainly wouldn't trust it

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I think you need to know the content of the email before you can label it as phishing.

If all it say is something along the lines of "this is what we do, if we can ever help you give us a shout" then that isn't phishing, it's advertising. I do it myself although I don't offer IT services.

If on the other hand they are saying "you have a problem, you need to contact us now" then that obviously is.

 

[scotjimland]

I think you need to know the content of the email before you can label it as phishing.

fair enough.. but I always play it safe.. why take a chance ?

if I didn't ask for it, it gets binned and marked as spam.. .. end of story

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[peterc10]

the only people I'd trust to 'look' at my PC would be a Microsoft engineer

Is that those with the Indian accent and very British name that rings me regularly to offer his/her "help"

 

[scotjimland]

Is that those with the Indian accent and very British name that rings me regularly to offer his/her "help"

I think not Peter ... I trust no one who calls or emails offering 'help'

the only thing they will help with is helping themselves to your personal data

 

[9526]

My general rule is not to buy anything from door knockers, junk mailers, or email spammers.

If I want something I do my research and then commit.

Does the email have an "unsubscribe" button?

 

[TheCaller]

It's a shame how many perfectly respectable business models have been ruined by these con artists. The legitimate motor trade suffer from the same problem. You take your car in for an MOT & they ring to say it needs X, Y & Z doing before it will pass. If you have no mechanical knowledge, it is all down to the trust you have in their integrity.

For all I know, techysupport.com may be a perfectly respectable business offering a very useful service. They have to let you know somehow that they exist & what they do. But there are so many out there who will invent problems that don't exist & then charge you for fixing them, or who will use their access to obtain personal information that can be sold on, that it is very difficult to know who the good guys are.

If they had a history of ripping people off, you would expect a google search to throw something up.

I spend my working life doing something along the lines of what they offer, except that we only support our own software & all our customers are already know to us & us to them. I'm sitting here on a campsite in France taking remote control of computers all over the UK & chatting to customers who mostly think I'm still in my office in Lincolnshire.

How you would set up & publicise a new business offering a genuine support service to the general public I really don't know.

 

[gus-lopez]

How you would set up & publicise a new business offering a genuine support service to the general public I really don't know.

Spaniards around here don't bother advertising anything to anyone. I've lost count of the times we have actually gone through an industrial estate literally looking in each one/asking what they actually do ?
When you ask, what to us is a perfectly logical " Why don't you advertise/put sign up outside stating what services you offer ", You get a quizzical look as though you're mad & the reply is always the same " Everyone knows what we do ?" It is as though they have no interest in any additional work.

On the odd occasion that you do find them advertising the amount that then fail to include,
There name,
Where they are,
A phone number
or in some cases all three ??

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[34127]

Thank you for the above comments.
I didn't open the email as I was unsure about its validity but the headline on the intro was about checking for software issues. I don't open any emails like this so don't know if there was an attachment with it.
They could have got my first name from my email address but it is not that straightforward.
I would have thought that on googling the name there would have been a lot of warnings about the company if it was a scammer.
The conclusion is that I don't know if it is a genuine site but even if it is then I don't need there service so deleted email.

 

[Yorick]

Hello sir. My name is Rakesh and I am being working for Microsoft and very much wanting to help you

 

[scotjimland]

Hello sir. My name is Rakesh and I am being working for Microsoft and very much wanting to help you

you don't have a contact number by any chance...

just in case ?

 

[peterc10]

Hello sir. My name is Rakesh and I am being working for Microsoft and very much wanting to help you

Only thing wrong with that is that nowadays he tells you his name is Raymond