The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just announced that it is mailing refund checks to the victims of a tech support scam perpetrated by Universal Network Solutions.  This company used pop-ups on their victims’ computers that appeared to come from Microsoft and other legitimate computer and software companies indicating that the victims’ computers were infected with viruses. Sometimes the pop-up would be accompanied by a voice recorded warning heightening the victims’ concerns. The victims were instructed to call a phone number for technical support where the victims were convinced to purchase worthless and unnecessary tech support. For more information about this refund program, click on the FTC Scam Refunds tab at the top of the first page of http://www.scamicide.com.
TIPS
If you did business with Universal Network Solutions you may be eligible for a refund. It is important to note that you do not have to pay any administrative fee to claim your refund if you are eligible for a refund. Anyone asking for such a fee is just another scammer. Whenever you get a pop-up, email, or text message that appears to tell you that you have a security problem with your computer, you should never click on any links contained in the message or call the telephone number provided. If your screen gets frozen, all you need to do is just turn off your computer and restart it. If you are concerned that you may be experiencing a real security problem you can contact tech support at Apple or Microsoft directly by phone or by email using the phone number and email addresses you find on their respective websites.
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