Set up for online scam by Yahoo

[Cyrano]

Last August, I was helping a friend who uses Yahoo with a PC problem. We ended up calling Yahoo support, and they recommended a company called Max PC Support, who they transferred us to directly.

My friend's problem was fixed by them and she ended up buying a $200 two year support contract from them. She needed them again this week and when she called the support number, there was a short, non-english response and then nothing. I googled them and found an entry stating that it was a scam.

My friend has contacted her credit card company and they are looking into it. They will refund her $200 if they fail to contact Max PC Support within 45 days.

But the real issue here is Yahoo. Their transferring us directly into a scam is unforgiveable. My friend no longer uses Yahoo. No one should.

[XRubicon]

1. You called a search engine for a pc problem?

I didn't know Yahoo had a support line? Are you sure you were talking to Yahoo?

[hobbit709]

3. That's my question too.

If I had a computer problem the last place I would call is them.

[JTFrog]

5. I doubt it was anything actually affiliated with Yahoo.

More likely someone did a search for yahoo support and came upon the scam website or phone number.

[tridim]

2. You lost me at "calling yahoo support" for a PC problem.

Yahoo is a search engine.

If my car breaks I don't call and order a pizza.

[Cyrano]

4. Yes, Yahoo has/had a support line

Last August, we spent about 10 minutes talking with a tech who then suggested Max PC Support. He then transferred us directly to them.

AOL also has a tech support line as does At&T.

[XRubicon]

10. Thats like calling a car wash because your car wont start...

[Xyzse]

6. I don't understand this.

What kind of PC trouble?
Something that Yahoo particularly has problems on? Something like their email having problems?

The only reason I have ever contacted Yahoo, was due to shifting my then geocities account that became a yahoo website, which I then transferred elsewhere. Nothing in relation to anything dealing with my actual PC. It would always be something in regards to their website.

If it is anything dealing with their PC, I don't see why it has any relation to Yahoo.

Still, you're right about Max PC Support. The only time I have heard about them was when they called my mother, asking them to pay them for computer assistance. I automatically told her that she has never dealt with them before, and are just trying to scam her for money.

[Cyrano]

7. My friend's problem was with Yahoo email

Thinking back, I believe we called Yahoo customer service. They transferred us to a "technician" who, shortly after brought up Max PC Support and then transferred us directly to them.

The reason she tried calling Max PC Support this week was because she was again having a Yahoo email problem. That's when she found they didn't exist.

I'm certain it was a Yahoo problem because I went to her house and logged into my own non-Yahoo browser. I had no difficulty at all, so it was definetly a Yahoo problem.

[hobbit709]

8. Then it wasn't a computer problem.

If you can't log on to yahoo or other email provider, go to a different computer and see if you can log on there. If you can, then the problem is within the first computer. If you still can't then it is a yahoo problem and no amount of fiddling with your computer will fix a problem at their end. Occasionally a server problem happens, I have had it happen to me. Wait a few hours and see if you can get on then-that usually clears about 99% of problems.

Someone I know got took for $300 by ATT for a problem with ATT's servers. Which is what I told her at the time, but she panicked because she couldn't access her email and called them and agreed to pay them to fix a problem on their server instead of her computer.

[Cyrano]

9. Max PC Support fixed the problem

back in August. The problem was in the computer. If the problem at that time had been Yahoo, Max PC wouldn't have been able to fix it. They then sold her that $200, two-year contract and subsequently vanished somewhere into Scam-Land.

[JTFrog]

11. More likely a scam similar to this one:

http://www.npinc.ca/1-855-448-0702-yahoo-support-scam/

In today’s economy there seems to be no shortage of people looking to scam others. With computer scams, fraud and hacking so prominent these days the unsuspecting public seems to be an easy target for scammers. We just got a call from a client today that was looking for Yahoo support because her email got hacked. A search on Google revealed that a website purporting to be “PC Security Experts” with the toll free number of 1-855-448-0702 was for Yahoo support so my clients called them.

The nonsense these people came up with to her was ridiculous. She has Apple and PC computers on a wireless router. They told her that her Yahoo account was hacked because a worm was embedded in her router and had spread to all her computers. They convinced her that they needed to remote in, change a whole bunch of things and sell her on a $200 solution. To do this they claimed they had traced the perpetrator back to Argentina.

The reality is they didn’t trace anything, they only wanted her money. They are scammers looking to rip you off and take advantage of you. Rogers and Yahoo email accounts are getting hacked on a daily basis and it has nothing to do with some supposed worm in your router or some genius in Argentina. What’s more, if you read the fine print at the very bottom of this 1-855-448-0702 “Yahoo support” website, you’ll read the following:

“We are Not affiliated with, sponsored, or otherwise authorized by Yahoo! to provide any services to Yahoo! customers.”

Well, at least there’s one piece of truth. The people behind the 1-855-448-0702 “Yahoo support” phone number are frauds. Do not give them any money and do not let them have access to your computer. If you have already been sucked in by these so-called “Yahoo support” scams, make sure to change any passwords, report them to your credit card company to take any appropriate action and have your computer inspected for any harm they may have done to it in the process.

I don't think you can easily find a phone number to contact Yahoo for email problems on their website. So someone does an internet search for Yahoo support and they end up at the scam website and call the fake phone number. That may not be the OP's case, but it sure does sound similar.