Today I helped a friend set up a new computer. I wanted to scan for viruses before transferring files from her old computer to an external HD, but found that her antivirus software had expired. I asked her to renew her subscription, and she showed me the receipt of antivirus software subscription from a company called "Adept" sent from Czonesolution.ca's customer support account. They charged about $ 900 for a subscription to Remote Desktop Support Services and an antivirus software called "Kaspersky," but didn't say anything about the terms of the service. She said her contract period should have been six years. However, the subscription was for one year only and had expired on her computer. There, she called Czone's customer support number 800-952-0926 from her own cell and received a machine announcement that the number was disabled. However, one of Czone's agents called after 40 minutes, left a message on her landline to call at 503-455-4274 extension 1001. She called the number and an Indian or Pakistani accented agent answered, so I asked him to explain the subscription contract of antivirus subscription instead of her. He asked me to install a remote access software called "Alpemix" to check the OS version of her computer and started running software like Windows DOS commands without explanation. I was scared and told him not to offer costly services without explanation and I wouldn't pay him if he didn't mention in advance, I just wanted to check the contract period of the subscription. But the agent kept running the program and told me that his supervisor, who was driving the car, would call me within 15 minutes and tell me about the subscription terms ?? ??? I asked him if he was trying to get my friend's security information through remote access. Of course he didn't answer my question, but he opened Kaspersky and entered the subscription renewal code to activate it. When we found reviews at https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking/microsoft-compromise-page-received/efba28db-6910-4e67-a3c8-2056ce2c99a6, the supervisor called and recommended software upgrade on her 7 years old computer and insisted on purchasing their malware protection subscription. I told him my friend no longer needed their service. I'm afraid they already have ransomware installed and her old computer will be hacked tomorrow morning. Do you have any advice? read more

Unequivocally a scam. These folks are PROs at social engineering, not IT (I've seen it firsthand), and my heart really goes out to the poor folks here (e.g., Kathleen Montavon or Marilyn Scott) who aren't equipped to fully see this. They are very, very good at messing with and confusing folks - especially older people - who aren't internet savvy and they have totally wreaked havoc on my elderly mother's life, savings, and sanity. I could write an essay on what my brother and I have been through with her b/c of C-Zone Solutions Inc and how deeply they have convinced her that they're her "friends" and that her family just doesn't understand this. It's a continual battle....and text book social engineering. Just as a high-level synopsis, they sold her a "life-time subscription" (warning sign #1 of many) for remote services and then have continued to extract thousands of dollars out of her over the years for unneeded (if even existent?) software and support to protect her computer - none of which, by the way, has ever worked, even in an imaginary universe in which C-Zone isn't scamming people. (And, in this imaginary, best-case universe for C-Zone in which they are not scamming people, they're REALLY bad at IT security, though really good at making some people feel emotionally supported.) C-Zone installed a key-logger on my mom's computer and has transferred thousands out of her savings to checking account (several times) over the past few years - most recently, her bank's fraud unit forced her to close her account and find a new bank because of the liability associated with this. We're very confident that C-Zone has ordered over $1,500 of gift cards through her Amazon account. Their behavior has been so questionable on a number of levels, but, due to my mom's lack of awareness of scammer warning signs and social engineering techniques, she can't see that. At our repeated insistence, she recently tried to cancel a new $1,000 payment to C-Zone (after she'd led us to believe she'd stopped using them) and then she also had her computer scanned for viruses by the Geek Squad, which led to C-Zone immediately calling her and trying to make her feel bad, telling her she'd be back. They said they'd refund the $1,000 (by check, of course), and didn't (of course). When the Geek Squad wipe didn't fully work, we hired a very well-established IT security firm to re-install her OS and look for viruses and they found eight different types of malware STILL running. That same IT firm said they were highly aware of C-Zone and that they're well-known scammers - nonetheless, my mom still argued that they were her friends. It's maddening. Please, as a PSA, if your friends or family are involved with C-Zone, WARN THEM. read more

This company is a SCAM! They are not located in Canada or US, they are in Delhi, India. They claim to be a legit tech support but they run a tech support scam. Microsoft flagged them as a scam: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking/microsoft-compromise-page-received/efba28db-6910-4e67-a3c8-2056ce2c99a6 Also you can find more info on scammer.info: https://www.scammer.info/d/44814-czone-solutions-tech-support-scam BE AWARE OF THIS! STAY AWAY! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR INFORMATION, BANK ACCOUNT, CREDIT CARD... EVERYTHING THEY CAN!! read more