AnyTech 365 Scam? Search for information.

Anonymous
2021-04-23T10:03:34+00:00

Hello

Working in IT myself I got a couple of reports during the last year about a quite interesting "thing" (I think it's some kind of scam scheme) called "AnyTech 365". It's not your "typical" Microsoft phone call scam but something quite a bit more sophisticated.

Interestingly there is/was only very limited information available on line.

The "thing" (suspected scam) goes like this:

Inexperienced users get prompted with misleading information (probably in the form of advertisement they don't recognize a such) which leads them to download some shady "pc repair software" (the name "Restoro" came up a couple of times). Once they run this software they are asked to contact a "support company" called AnyTech365. The people from AnyTech365 then try to sell them an expensive & long-running subscription for support services, usually costing a couple of hundred dollars (one "victim" reported that they even paid several thousand dollars).

Now the thing is: This company AnyTech365 which is located in Spain acts like a reputable business. So it's not some unknown Indian call center that disappears after a few weeks. They are registered and seem to be in for the long run - giving the impression of a "real" IT service provider. Just that their customers don't seem to become customers "voluntarily" but through very misleading sales practices.

At least this is what it looks like after gathering information from a couple of "victims".

Since there wasn't much information about this (suspected) scam scheme available I posted a similar thread like this in the German language Microsoft Community Forums in December. This lead to reports from more people who felt that they were scammed by AnyTech365 and also to a recation from a public relations person from Any Tech 365 who of course was claiming that they are a legitimate company. (However that person also referred to a certification agency called "App Esteem" which seems to be specialised in the "fake" certifictaion of very shady software - so we probably have to assume that a company that gets certidication from "App Esteem" is probably shady too.)

Anyway, since AnyTech365 seems to be active in a lot of languages & countries I thought that I also post this here in the English speaking community.

So we might get a bigger audience and can gather more information about this suspected scam.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-07-10T13:54:12+00:00

    Here I copy & paste the reply of somebody who posted in the German language Microsoft Community forums and claims to have worked for a call center related to AnyTech 365. It might be interesting for the English speaking readers too:

    ***

    Anytech365 does not exist, it is just an entry in the Spanish company register. The operative arm of the company is located partly in Morocco and partly in the Philippines. In the Philippines there is a company Reimage Philippines, Inc. that only exists on paper. In fact, she has rented a call center from Xceed, Inc. in Makati, RCB Tower, and from there she handles the business of Anytech365, Reimage and Restoro: it is there that calls from the USA / UK, Germany and further states are diverted and processed. Allegedly these are applications developed by an Israeli software company, to what extent this is true or not is not yet clear. What exactly this software does is also not clear. I worked in Makati for about a month and a half and was fired on the grounds that I was not making $ 1,000 a day in revenue. There are around 100 scammers in the Makati call center who have to turn these technical support services on to callers who call about the activation of Restoro or Reimage all day. It's all about turning. People are trained to cheat, lie and go crazy. If you don't do that, you'll be kicked out. The technical support is miserable, and staff-wise miserable: There are no more than three or four technicians per shift who work and make so many mistakes that the credit card amounts booked very often have to be reimbursed on the same day. Remote technical support is of course legal, what is not legal is that people are told stories that the viruses stay on your computers even if they format and reinstall the hard drives themselves and the like. They also want to sell technical support subscriptions to perfectly functioning computers. Lies about viruses and other technical problems with PCs to the ignorant are made non-stop. Furthermore, from the Philippines you not only access EU credit cards and bank accounts, but also PCs and email accounts, which are or should be protected not only by the Basic Law, but also by a number of EU laws. Legal problems or barriers, including labor law, are not known in this company. The sales not only usually lie to old people, but they actually abuse them on the phone: those who do not want to buy are yelled at until they buy. It's amazing that some people decide to buy instead of hanging up.

    ***

    (Text source: user "LukasHoffmann5" at the bottom of this page.)

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-07-10T15:06:52+00:00

    It certainly is turning out to be very interesting reading SanderWho. I read LukasHoffmann5's posts (translated) some hours ago and was taken aback as to how many companies are involved and where they are domiciled.

    Oh, and this English thread in Google is Hit No. 3, with nowhere near the same amount of traffic as the German one!

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-07-11T21:32:05+00:00

    Yes. The German language thread is oscillating betwwen hit No. 2 and 3 too for users who search Google from a browser with German language setting.

    I hope that this way at least a couple of potential "victims" can be saved.

    Persons who know other languages please feel free to make a tranlsation in your respective Microsoft community and link to this thread here ;-)

    But it's truly stunning how little information still can be found, considering tht the suspected scam seems to be happening in a very large scale and is going on for a few years now.

    One would think that the criminal investigation authorities by now would have started to sense something. After all in this case the involved persons (or at least some of them) seem to be quite easily traceable.

    Anyway. Each week a bit more information gets to the surface. So we just keep encouraging people to report their experience.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-08-02T17:06:01+00:00

    Copy of "Any Tech 365" in my email this morning to which I have not responded:

    Thank You For Your Order! Inbox | | Order Confirmed <******@gmail.com> |<br>| --- | | 8:15 AM (1 hour ago) | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | to copyinvoice1, bcc: me |<br>| --- | | Customer Support -  +1(914) 732-0730Order ID - WRT534163841Thank You for choosing AnyTech 365 Premium Support for your Computer.As a friendly reminder, your account has been renewed for $297.77. If you want to keep the account with us, no action is required.Our entire team is dedicated to ensuring your  experience is first rate. If you have any questions, comments or suggestion, please let us know. Simply call us on our customer support number and we'll make sure you receive a prompt response.Thank You again for choosing AnyTech 365 Premium Support.SincerelyCustomer Care ManagerAnyTech 365

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-08-02T17:52:04+00:00

    I don't want the account. I can't find a card this went on. You guys have called me once about a previous cancelled account and told me that you wanted to refund my money because I hadn't used it but when you kept asking for my credit card information, I declined. I have been in touch with you and told you cancel it but you keep wanting me to put Team Viewer on my computer so you can get in and monitor a refund which tells me this is a scam. I want nothing else to do with you all.

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