Heard a customer say something that made my blood run cold today

I was working on a guy's laptop at my shop in Akron last Tuesday when he casually mentioned he got his 'security software' from a pop-up ad that told him he had 47 viruses. He paid $60 for it and gave them remote access to clean things up. I stopped mid-repair and asked if he meant some random website called 'pc-cleaner-pro dot net' or something. He nodded and said they even called him back twice to check on his computer. I had to explain he basically paid strangers to install malware and spyware on his own machine. He looked at me like I was the crazy one and argued they were nice people who helped him. Has anyone else run into customers who absolutely refuse to believe those remote access pop-ups are scams?

3 comments

3 Comments

lewis.brian10d ago

You ever wonder if part of what makes these scams work is that people actually enjoy the attention? Like, some folks live alone or don't have anyone checking in on them, so when a fake tech support guy calls them back twice and acts friendly, it feels like a real relationship to them. I saw this with one of my elderly tenants, she kept talking about how nice the Microsoft refund people were on the phone, even after I told her it was a scam. Kinda sad when you think about it, the scammers are filling an emotional hole while cleaning out their bank account.

morgan.jason10d ago

Huh, that's a really good point I never considered before. I used to just get frustrated with people falling for this stuff, but you might be onto something about the loneliness factor.

flores.emma10d ago

One of my older customers had a cousin in her 80s who gave $4,000 to a guy pretending to be her grandson's friend, and she kept saying "he was just so nice to talk to." It really hits different when @morgan.jason mentions the loneliness part, like that's the real hook they're using.