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
    2021-08-21T10:35:17+00:00

    As I said, I don't really doubt that you are real.

    I believe you that you don't believe that this company is dishonest.

    But I also know that we have collected quite a lot of information that indicates clearly that they are dishonest.

    We see from the information we gathered that the initial contact in many cases happens through misleading advertisement that shows fake information abut the victims computer in order to scare them and get them to call the hotline.

    We also see from various reports as well as from records of actual hotline calls that can be viewed/heard online that they use a "toolset" during their remote "support" session which contains software that shows false information on their victims computer screen in order to make the victims believe that there are problems on their computers that need to be handled by a "support" company like AnyTech365 and by the "security" appliances that AnyTech sells.

    Those are simple facts that don't go away regardless of how much somebody believes them to be the good guys.

    But anyway. I'm not here to preach. I just started this threads to gather information and maybe to help potential victims to avoid being scammed by looking at the information that was gathered. What the readers do with this information is at their own discretion.

    Somebody who is insecure about the information might want to contact a consumer protection organization in his country or ask local/regional IT experts for their opinion.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-08-20T18:09:27+00:00

    Hi Paul Tesdale, I am a real person. A 68-year-old granma. I am a retired care aide at an extended care unit... I am married. I started buying Anytech365 a few years ago. I cannot remember how I found them. Recently I also purchased a new router from anytech as extra security for our laptops. This extended my subscription to 2025. I have been very happy with them and in just the last week they have spent at least 6 hours getting all my laptops sorted out and backed up. Personally, I need to say these guys are awesome and I am so happy I spent the money to get them because, in the end, they have saved me hundreds of Canadian dollars. I am not prepared to say the price I paid but I can say it was over $1000 Canadian... and in 2015 if I am still around I will pay to have them again.... yesterday they helped me with my word program I wasn't able to figure out. They help with everything except Apple... my husband's Ipad wasn't touched as they don't work on them..... I had 3 old laptops that for one reason or another I don't use anymore and they transferred everything onto an external hard drive for me....

    Sorry if you dont think I am real, but I really am.... have a great day :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-05-31T12:22:27+00:00

    I think we have to distinguish between scam mails that use the name of AnyTech365 maybe without being related to them - and the "real" company AnyTech365 which has a business model that also seems to be pretty scammy.

    So it looks like we have two cases: Scammers and Scammers using the name of other Scammers. Crazy world...

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-05-25T19:10:58+00:00

    Got the same $340 email today from a gmail account - ******@gmail.com

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-05-25T17:42:37+00:00

    Beware: the image of the ad above by dalcaraz has a link (to subscribe to the poster's channel). Images or posts should 

    have links removed unless they are specifically explained as legitimately connected to the issue, such as sources for help.

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