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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-05-25T17:32:44+00:00

    I had no reference to Panda in my email attempted scam. I did not contact the company at all, as I recognized it as an 

    scam attempt. First: I didn't recognize the company name. Second: I keep records of services I subscribe to, and this 

    certainly wasn't one of them. Third: If and when I subscribe to a service that requires me to accept a recurring charge, 

    I pay with PayPal and cancel the recurring charge soon after paying. If the company requires acceptance of a recurring 

    charge and doesn't offer PayPal, I don't use that company. If it's a legitimate company, they'll ask me to renew when 

    they are unable to charge a recurring amount. Fourth: The email address seemed false for a company account. 

    Fifth: I check my accounts daily to ensure no suspicious amount has been debited. As a senior on limited Social Security, 

    I can't afford mistakes. I reported this scam attempt to the FBI: https://complaint.ic3.gov/default.aspx

    Thank you to all who are fighting back against these criminals.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-05-24T17:08:42+00:00

    I literally just got an email saying my subscription was expiring today and that the Auto-Renewal will charge me $340.00. I got scared because it had my email AND my name and last name. I've never heard of these people. I went to their website and opened a ticket asking to cancel this - did not  give any info beyond my email address and name, and will not give them any extra info. After I sent this, I realized the email came from "******@gmail.com"

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-06-01T11:16:04+00:00

    This discussion here is about the real company. And it obviously is not slander because there are several matching "first hand" descriptions from "victims" of the company. Those descriptions give a quite clear picture of unethical and fraudulent behaviour by AnyTech365.

    I first posted this not only in English. But the English version is the only one where a lot of people seem to connect the name AnyTech365 to SPAM mail. This is why I wanted to make clear that those SPAM mails may be a different scam which is not connected to the real company. But this discussion here should be about the alleged scam by the real company.

    So all the information that I have provided so far is accurate. But I'm not only here to provide information, my main interest is to gather information. Because AnyTech365 seems to be very clever when it comes to downplay allegations and act like a reputable company.

    Two variations of the alleged fraud have been identified so far according to the reports that "victims" made:

    1. Misleading advertising (camouflaged as "error messages") is used to get inexperienced users to download some "cleaning" or "repair" software. This software then misrepresents the status of the user's computer and asks him to get in contact with AnyTech365. The AnyTech call center operator then does a remote connection and again misrepresents the status of the user's computer in order to get him to subscribe to a "support contract". We have seen examples where "victims" said that they have been talked into such contracts that cost more than 1000$
    2. AnyTech acts as outsourced "support" for software vendors. So if somebody for example wants to renew his Panda Anti Virus license by phone he has to go via AnyTech 365. Once they have that caller on the hook, they seem to pull off the same scheme as described in 1: Doing a free checkup by remote connection. Making up some things that have to be taken care of. Talking the user into subscribing to a support contract.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-05-26T19:00:17+00:00

    @JohnHarold4

    The sad thing is: You don't even realize that you are being scammed. You think those "tuneups" are doing you any good? You think that malware that they say that they stop is real? Oh boy...

    No, AnyTech365 is far from a reputable company, based on all the evidence I could gather so far. I've seen with my own eyes how the credit card of AnyTech victims have been charged by AnyTech365 in Spain and not by "scammers" that just use their name.

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-06-01T02:37:51+00:00

    What research has anyone done? There is an International AnyTech 365 company , which has been featured in Financial Times as one of Europe's fastest growing companies and then there are criminals using their name in a scam? Do you have a beef with the real company and are you trying to slander their reputation or are you sincerely trying to provide accurate information to the community?

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