Avast Internet Security & iyogi Customer Care Avast! Avast Antivirus Avast Antivirus Complete Scam! Allows viruses and other errors in to your computer! Avast has pop up that won't stop, even though website is not infected to get you to call to pay more! Internet

Hi Salvadore,

I can certainly empathize with your issues presented.  Getting tech support from a lot of the security software providers is akin to getting a tooth pulled...a real pain!

I'm glad you were able to resolve the issue you had with Avast!  I find it very interesting the Iyogi rep called you back 3 days AFTER Avast! released the patch to fix the problems.  In all likelihood...that Iyogi tech just obtained the patch himself, then called you and fixed the issue...making it look as if Iyogi was the "hero of the day!"  (I don't put much stock in thinking Iyogi actually had any genuine concern for you as a customer.  He certainly didn't go telling you that you would need to pay them $300 to get the patch!).

In case you are not already aware...Avast! also has FREE antivirus software which I use myself and have experienced no problems.

I would also suggest (if you presently don't have it yet)...you download and install an anti-malware program, such as, Malwarebytes (MBAM for short).  MBAM has both a FREE version and Malwarebytes Pro ($24.95 USD, one-time charge for personal/home use).  The main difference between the two is the FREE version does not have the real-time scanning feature.

* NOTE:  It is generally recommended to never have more than 1 or 2 security programs with real-time scanning enabled, running at the same time.  When using an AV and anti-malware program (and both use real-time scanning)...always place exclusions in both, so as to reduce the possibility of conflicts with one another.

The unfortunate reality is that there is no single antivirus or anti-malware product on the market which will detect all malware problems 100% of the time.  The cyberscum who create malware will always be a step ahead of the anti-malware developers since there are new variants of existing/known malware programs being churned out every day.

Anti-malware programs like MBAM are designed to complement your current antivirus software, not replace it.  I have found MBAM Pro (and the FREE version...which I initially used), to be quite satisfactory.

A good source of support is the Avast! Forums.  I have obtained quite a few answers to questions I have posted there since joining.  And, when there ARE problems discovered which may require a patch from Avast!...you can generally learn of it first within the forums!

Malwarebytes also has a community support forum as well.

Today I have received a phone call by an Iyogi Customer Care Rep., he has been very helpful.  He called me to let me know that he looked in to the unresolved case and has given me a completely FREE computer upgrade and assured me that I would not get any more errors on my computer and that Avast would work perfect from now on!

Good Karma is their thing. So I'm very please now!:)

I don't think you were speaking with folks from Avast, but rather speaking with folks from Iyogi.

If you check there are many complaints on the internet that allege that Iyogi folks claim to represent tech support for other well known software products such as microsoft, mcafee, ect.  There are a few hear.  What happens is someone will google mcafee support (or some other software product) and the first thing listed in the Google search is Iyogi.

I suggest this to you because one thing in common on the complaints is the $300 price for remote control assistance on your system.

I've been using Avira Antivirus for many years now and I've never had a problem. So if you're looking for a free antivirus program which updates every day, I can recommend it. The only hassle is that it tries to up sell you evertime it updates. Just click the up sell off. Be sure to download it from the official site. Make sure you click on the proper download. I also use Windows Defender for WinXP which is a free download - once again, only download from the Microsoft site. It'll scan your computer everyday for malware. Widows7 comes with it pre-installed.

So far - touch wood - no problems. Why pay for antivirus when there are so many free good products out there? 

I can not speak about customer service wanting $300 dollars but I can speak about the false-positive warnings you received. I too on Monday experienced what you did only I suspected that it may have been due to a bad update rather than anything else. This turned out to be the case as explained by the post on the Avast web site which I quote here:

 "On Monday, April 11, 2011 virus definition update 110411-1 contained an error that resulted in a high number of false positives
that is, clean websites or files being flagged as infected. Our
virus lab staff discovered the problem quickly, took precautions to stop
more users from getting the wrong update and, about 45 minutes after
the initial update, released a fix (VPS update 110411-2). About 4% of our user base was affected.

Although false positives are a fact of life, we at AVAST Software sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our community.

Although I have my program set to automatically download updates every 4 hours I manually downloaded the revised update and the problem disappeared!

Hi. No this is not a malicious site pretending to be Avast, because it was not redirecting me to a website to try and charge me money online. I know what you're talking about, those are called the misleading applications, or so I remember.

The problem I had with Avast was very different. It just kept giving me warnings as soon as I'd open a websites like Facebook, Youtube, and hotmail and I've never had any problems with these sites, much less before signing in!

Also, when I scanned through the Avast internet security I had already paid for and that has been on my computer for about two years now, it picked up many bad things in just a matter of minutes. But the Avast I've been paying for wouldn't get rid of these scanned issues. That's what it's supposed to do, get rid of picked up things.

So when I called and I wouldn't get any sort of real technical help to help me with this and was put in a sales pressure, that's how I immediately can assure people that they have a lack of good customer service and the customers are put in a high-pressure sales pitch!

I say this because I kept repeating to him that if he was going to do the remote control (where the technician is able to see my screen and move the mouse around) to please open up Avast to see what their system came up with as a result of a scan. He wouldn't do that. He kept insisting I had to pay approximately $600.00 an hour for their "certified" technician. He told me it would be $300.00 to fix my problem and it would only take 30 minutes, so yeah, approximately $600.00 is what they're trying to get out of already existing customers. 

So all I can say is, why even pay for antivirus software if it'll scan something, but won't get rid of it? Then why have customer service if they're not providing any FREE customer care to already paying customers like all other businesses do? Avast in my opinion is just another scam, like Norton!

Are you sure it's Avast and not a malicious site masquerading as Avast? This has been a common scam lately. Copy the link pasted here and go and read about it. Read the whole article.

At the point where the pop ups start they are not virus but a redirection to a fake site. That's why your antivirus does not detect it. The easiest way to get out of the situation is to click on Start and Shut Down your computer. On Startup your computer should be clear of any problems.

 
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