This past week I saw on Facebook where one of my friends had received a telemarketer call that supposedly was from a company called “TechResolvers.” The caller claimed that my friend’s computer was infected with malware and was sending a signal telling TechResolvers that the machine was infected. Shades of “ET phone home,” can it be true?
My friend was smart, she told them she wouldn’t trust anyone who placed an unsolicited call to her. She did some checking after the fact and came to the conclusion that indeed, this caller was trying to scam her.
There are numerous online reports of these calls and they can easily be found by searching for “tech resolver” or “techresolver.” The company has an impressive website and presents a professional appearance. Their website indicates they are a “venture” of Teleista.com. Their website also says, “As a Microsoft Gold Partner, our support levels adhere to Microsoft’s most stringent standards, ensuring that your Microsoft Outlook applications run smoothly and securely.” Oddly enough, a search of Microsoft Partners at pinpoint.microsoft.com turned up no results.
The Better Business Bureau has no listing for a company called TechResolvers. They do have one for Teleista.com, which has a “B-“ rating and includes three complaints that were resolved when the person who complained did not reply to the company’s rather obtuse response.
TechResolvers may be a legitimate business, they may not. I’m undecided. Some of the complaints online include the toll-free number for TechResolvers, some do not. Whoever is making these phone calls in their name, however, is stirring up a good deal of animosity toward the company. What I do know is that if I receive one of these calls, you can bet I’ll pretend to be British and tell them to bugger off.
I just got a call from “Techresolvers, Windows Service Center”. The caller had a strong accent, maybe Indian. After listening to their spiel (my computer has infected files, messages sent to a router, is my computer turned on now?, etc) I asked where they were based and later asked for their number and name. Combined replies sounded like:
16 Princeton Park, Albany, NY
877-502-3467 Max Jordan
A Google search doesn’t find Princeton Park, but instead directs to a Princeton Drive near Albany Medical Center and Albany Law School.
I hope you didn’t let them access your computer, Mark. It sounds like you were on the ball, though and they missed out.
Hi, I’m Jeremy Long of Silver Spring, Maryland. I received a call from Tech Resolver back in October. The guy was Indian. He told me that something was wrong with my computer. He cleaned up all the bad files in my computer, then installed an antivirus software called CCleaner, and to use it once a week, which I do, and it seems to make my PC run good. I never heard from him again until yesterday. Yesterday, December 15, 2014, I received a call from Tech Resolver, with the same Indian guy, who’s obviously a piece of work, hard to understand, lacks common sense and yet talks to customers as if they were morons. He wouldn’t let me talk, I could never finish a sentence, because everytime I start talking to either ask a question, verify something that he told me, etc., all I get would be “SIR” “SIR” “SIR”, and I would have to yell “SIR” “SIR” “SIR” back to him in order to talk. Nobody should have to fight or yell in order to get somebody to cooperate. Anyway, this guy from Tech Resolver wanted to offer me a refund for services he rendered to me back in October. He had me fill out an online form to Western Union. I know how to fill out the form and when I was filling out the information, which I know, of course, he went about saying “SIR” “SIR” “SIR” as if I was doing something wrong, when in fact, I knew that I was in the right. Then he told me that I had to go to the Western Union immediately! So, I had to go out in the pooring down rain, go to the bank, withdrawl $1,001 to pay the overseas transaction fee and sent it to him through Western Union under his aleus “JIMMY LONG,” which he used for security reasons in order to receive the money. He told me the I would receive a $1,500 check in the mail, which would reimburse me for the overseas transaction fee and also the services he redered to me back in October. He told me that somebody from my local post office will come to my house and that I would need my driver’s license as proof in order to receive the $1,500 check. Well tomorrow is here, and no check. I called Western Union, and this “JIMMY LONG” got my money. He also told me yesterday that he would “bother” me at 8:00 tomorrow night to see if I received the check. Guess What? 8:00 PM is here and no call. So as it turns out, this “Piece of Work” threw me under the bus. All this took 3 hours of my time. Because of him keeping me “teathered” to the phone, I had to reschedule the appointment for the Sears repair man to come out to look at my freezer, as well as time I could have spent finishing decorating for Christmas. They obviously don’t celebrate Christmas in India, so why would they care about what we do here in America, I guess. Was I Pissed? After these three frustrating hours, it suddenly hit me that I was caught in a possible scam, and now that I done my reserch on Google and then finally into reading Terry Ambrose’s “Tech Resolvers–are they friend or foe?,” I know then that I was right. This is a scam and that it felt good to know that I’m not alone, and that from reading all the other comments, I’ve learned what tricks to use when receiving these assnine tech support calls from Tech Resolver. Sounds like Tech Revolver…LOL! I don’t know, this JIMMY LONG is probably the “BIG GUN” of the company, or rather a “BIG SHOT.” Big Shot with a “LOOSE CANNON”……LOL! I’m thinking next time I hear from this JIMMY LONG, I might pull a Howard Stern prank on him and say “THIS IS FOR YOU LOSER”…………. and fart into the phone, and then hang up!
YES!!! YES IT WAS!!!
I got a call a day after a friend of mine had been trying to fix some issues with my printer and my PC. When tech resolver called me, they said that my computer had been flashing light as it was it was in distress from a virus. I wasn’t sure because, something is wrong with my PC. The guy told me that he worked with Microsoft and he was going to help me with my situation, I wasn’t sure so I said okay. He started to work things on his end in my system, telling me what was on my screen and then telling me what to press to continue to the next procedure, I did what he said thinking that my PC was being repaired. When it was over they had put four packages of antiviral software that they could load on my PC so that there would be no violation of my system for two years I said okay to the cheapest one and it cost me $269.90.
I was told to leave the PC alone for two hours while things were being loaded and the system would shut itself down.
Eight hours later I noticed that the PC had not shut itself down. I went to see what had happened, and the operating system wanted a password to restart. I tried to make-up one, that didn’t work. I couldn’t log off, the way I had to turn it off was to unplug the PC. When I plugged the PC back in, it was still requesting a password. So I had to unplug it again. I was very angry, not only with them but also with myself, because I had trusted these people and given them MY MUCH NEEDED MONEY and they were probably scamming me. I couldn’t call them back because when they called a number did not register on my caller ID. So I called my bank and did a Stop Payment on that charge on my debit card for $269.90, so that Tech Resolver, (scammers) didn’t get MY MUCH NEEDED MONEY. They called me back and I told them off and told them what they had done to my PC and because of them I couldn’t use it at all now. ” We’ll fix” that I told them, “Yeah you better”, and I told them that I had taken back my money and the guy said “Credit it back we’ll fix it”.
I went to my PC plugged it and he started working things on his end and it still didn’t work. He apologized and said that the engineer that worked on my PC the day before was off and he would have to be the one to fix the problem. I said okay but they WILL NOT have MY MONEY AGAIN!!! Get my PC to where it was before you called me and I will be happy. they got me, and it cost me $35.00 (my fee for a stop payment) but I did learn.
THANK YOU AGAIN
GOD BLESS YOU ALL
Oh my gosh, Loretta, what a story. You really got put through the ringer. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but thanks for sharing your story. Perhaps it will help others. Best, Terry
Hello – thank goodness for Google! Our household has now received three calls from this company/scam. Two from someone with an Indian accent and one from an Adam Clark from Tech Resolver. They say they are contracted by Microsoft and are quoting a Licence ID number (the same number each time), saying there are problems with my system. Due to the accent, I cannot understand quite what problems there are, but it is security related. When I questioned the caller, and said I thought it was a scam, he said he would put me on to his supervisor, who then came onto the phone. I could hear other voices in the background as well. Now that I have found all these other comments (THANK YOU PEOPLE) I will know what to tell them next time.
I can understand how some people do get taken in. I was in the middle of a serious work assignment when the phone call came in. I also had a child asking me questions, and this Indian guy quoting numbers at me on the phone. I should have hung up straight away, but I was trying to understand what he was saying. With all the call centres being outsourced to India these days, there are legitimate companies who do call.
It’s not about being stupid….especially when you’re not a ‘tech’ person….if someone is quoting you things that sound legitimate, then I understand how people can be taken in.
I will be forwarding information to my network about this, and letting them know it’s a SCAM for sure. Thanks again
Linda, I’m so glad you found this helpful. We are all, at times, susceptible to falling for these things because under the right circumstances, these things sound legit. Thanks for passing this along also! Terry
I just also got call from TechResolver. After playing along with her for 15 plus minutes I finally told her I had finally seen the window box on my screen and the letters there were F-O-O-L.. After repeating it to her 3 times she told me to go into my BR and look in the mirror and I would also see those same letters on my forehead, She then hung up…
That’s priceless. 🙂 At least you slowed them down for a bit. I’ll bet she was pretty unhappy with you! Congrats!
I just got off the phone with this Techresolver who has called twice. Rose sets me up regarding a hacker and security breach and errors coming from my computer
I am IT admin, and I have had clients call me after being scammed by telemarketers claiming to be from Microsoft or TechResolver. Unfortunately, many of these are clients in their 80’s who are from a generation that is very trusting and do not understand technology well enough to realize they are being scammed, until it is too late and their computer has not only been compromised but they are out a few hundred dollars — also compromising their credit/debit card. It is devastating to them once they realize what they have done.
My advice if someone gets a call is to tell the caller “I don’t have a computer” I’ve been told that works great: they get dead silence and the caller hangs up.”
That’s great advice, CA Geek. Thanks for the suggestion.
I just hung up with an Indian guy from TechResolver.com, I asked where he was calling from “Albany, New York”… Sure… When I asked how he knows my computer is infected… “research department” and he said they have a “secret server”… I said “Oh, like the CIA?” So I said, so how did you know to call? He said “because your computer has been sending messages.” So I asked him what IP address he was getting them from… He paused until I said hello again.. then he asked me to tell him what symbol was on the button to the right of my left ctrl key… I said “a window” and he started to go into a thing and I hung up gently. I hope my time messing with him stopped an unsuspecting old person from giving him their credit card #.
Nicely done. I like that, “Oh, like the CIA?” LOL
Hi JayJay, thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, most people suffer from the “deer in the headlights” syndrome and instinctively cooperate because someone with more “knowledge” has contacted them. They don’t do what you did and challenge the caller. Good for you!
By the way, I hope the rubbish you’re referring to is the TechResolvers website and not mine!
I just looked at the Homepage again properly. OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE. This is the worst and most poorly written, nonsensical piece of rubbish I think I’ve seen in ages!
How on earth, unless you are an idiot, could you possibly be taken in by this!
I just had a call from “Tech resolver”? The guy sounded like he was in an Indian call center, with the same thick accent, and the call sounds like it was made via the internet, as there is a long connection pause. He said he was making the call from Sydney yet had no idea what time it was there? Stupid enough not to have that on his scam screen already, next time I,ll be asking about local politics 🙂
I got onto the website just after googling, but did not enter into my computer what he wanted me to enter (don’t ever do that).
This whole conversation ended very abruptly when I said my husband was in IT security, he said well thank-you and hung up BECAUSE IT IS A MASSIVE SCAM!
I have had numerous calls from these guys. Typically, I just say I am in IT and they hang up. This last time I listened for a while and then said “Can you hold, I have somebody at the door” I put the phone on mute and left it there. They were pretty persistent, he held the line for a good 15 minutes. I didn’t bother answering the call when they rang back.
My mom used to do the same sort of thing. She didn’t have the mute switch on her phone, but would say, “Oh, that sounds very interesting. Let me go get a pencil.” After a while, she’d come back and hang up.
I got “the call” from someone claiming to be from Microsoft telling me that my computer was infected. Had a lot of trouble getting him to understand that without proof of who he was, there was no way I was going to tell him anything. He seemed shocked to hear that I called him a scammer. Of course, all the other voices with Indian accents in the background kind of hinted this wasn’t a solitary call. I felt good, but I’m sure he just went down to the next number on my list.
Once you know about this one, it’s actually kind of funny. The guy I spoke with couldn’t understand my question of “how did my computer know to call your computer?” After three tries, he finally got it and said it was the “Research Department.” LOL
Hi Harry, sorry that you had trouble with Disqus comments. Every once in a while, it flags messages it shouldn’t. I’m glad we got to connect. It sounds to me as though teleista.com and techresolver.net are also victims of the scammers, just on the opposite side. Much like USP, FedEx, et. al., the bad guys are using legitimate businesses as their front. Thanks for contacting me and clearing this up and thanks for your persistence in contacting.
Here’s an interesting followup on this post. Today, I received a contact request via my website from “Harry,” who indicated that he’d left a reply to this post. His message said that I could contact the support department at Teleista if I had questions. With no reply recorded by Discus and no legitimate email address left on the contact form and no direct way to contact Harry, I do have one question: Who are you? Once again, the questions on this issue continue.