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Report: #715414

Complaint Review: PC Protect - Baltimore Maryland

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  • Reported By: Chad — Fishers Indiana United States of America
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  • PC Protect 400 East Pratt St, 8th Floor Baltimore, Maryland United States of America

PC Protect Unauthorized billing scam Baltimore, Maryland

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I noticed that I had been receiving a charge of $19.95 on my AT&T phone bill for the last six months from a company called PC Protect, Inc.  The charge was supposedly for online anti-virus "membership." 

I called the number provided to find out what this was and how I was signed up for it.  I spoke to "Freddy" (#107) who was located in Baltimore MD.  He told me that my wife went to their website and signed up for this "service."  I asked him what the service was and he told me that it was a website that you go to and it will scan your computer for viruses. 

There are many problems with this explaination. The first is that I work in the Information Security field.  My wife would never seek out a web page to scan our computers for viruses without talking to me first.  Furthermore, she would never pay $240/year for said service when we already get enterprise class antivirus protection for FREE.

The second problem is that if she happen to loose her mind and go out to a site and sign up for this service why is it billed to my phone bill ?!?!  How many things have you purchased online and paid via your phonebill???  I never have and I do ALOT of business online.  When I asked him what site she used to sign up he informed me that they have "multiple web-sites" and that he isn't able to verify the site.

Putting aside his obvious BS I proceeded to request reimbursment for all of the charges.  He refused at first, only offering to cancel the service.  I let him know that this was unacceptable.  He placed me on hold and came back with the "offer" of crediting only three months.  I asked him why I could not have all of my money back.  He stated that he was being "very generous" in that I had the service this whole time.  (A service that I had without my knowledge and NEVER used)

I accepted his offer and let him know that this wasn't over yet.  I found an entry on the BBB website giving them a "D" rating.  I found the name/address/phone number of Linda Harper (President.)  Funny...the phone number was the same as what was listed on the bill. 

I called the number and was connected to a Elonda (#1056) in Balitmore MD.  I asked to speak with Linda Harper and was told that nobody with that name worked in her department.  I let her know that I assumed she didn't work that phones as she was the president of the company.  She refused to give me the number after a long circular discussion.  She told me that the Nevada office didn't have a phone. ....right   I would only be able to contact her by sending an email to www.pcprotect.biz.  I informed her that I knew that was a web address and not an email address.  She then proceded to give me a generic email address and said that it would be forwarded.  ....right.

After doing a little more Google searching I have found that many people are having the exact same experience that I have had.  According to "Freddy" I should be thankful for his generosity of giving back only part of my STOLEN MONEY!

Here is my theory on how this happened.  My wife received a text message from an unknow origin.  She responded by asking who it was.  She never received a response.  Turns out that somebody can send you a SMS saying anything and when you respond they can then bill you anything they want.  ...even if your response is "Who is this." 

I am in the wrong business...

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 04/08/2011 09:03 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/pc-protect/baltimore-maryland-21202/pc-protect-unauthorized-billing-scam-baltimore-maryland-715414. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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