Software Empire softwareempire.com Trojan Horse Malware attached to Microsoft Office 2013 Download Clearwater Florida

I paid for by credit card and downloaded Microsoft Office Professional 2013 from softwareempire.com. Thge software installed but the key would not register online (seemed fishy) so I contacted Microsoft via phone to get legit registration and was successful.

Two days later my computer internet browser (Chrome) was infected with pop-up ads that would not stop. Malware repair alerts would appear that looked legitimate (I had installed Windows 10 two weeks prior with no problems and had not downloaded or clicked on anything else) and I had never seen anything like it before. I thought it might be a new Windows Security thing.

After restarting and running McAfee Virus scanner, I kept getting pop-ups. I called the pop-up phone number thinking it would be help to repair the malware. The Inidan sounding tech guy sounded legit and I let him in my machine. He ran some kind of diagnostic tests from the DOS prompt while I watched and he alerted me that I indeed had some malware.

He was very persistent that if I did not act quickly, the malware would spread. For only $499 I could have my computer fixed immediately. He showed me a company website, gave me his direct phone number and different prices that other companies were offering for the malware removal (obviously higher than their price).

I quickly balked at the price. He began to get defensive, started chuckling and began to say "how dare you insult my credibility," etc... I then told him I thought he was the scammer and he quickly began logging out of my computer and then installed what my computer network guy calls "hostageware." 

I could no longer log into my computer. I called a computer tech and he said I had been hacked. I used another computer to look up the scam and found https://malwaretips.com/blogs/cpuwarning-com-virus/

I quickly contacted Software Empire, was put on hold for 10+ minutes twice and never heard back. I called a third time and left a message describing that I thought I got Malware from the download. I alerted my credit card company and have disputed the $109.99. I left Software Empire the message that I was not going to pay and still have not heard back from them. Luckily I am not responsible for the money and will not be charged any interest while in dispute.

Fortunately, I restarted my computer in Safe Mode and was able to go back to the morning before I installed the software. I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes free software and there were a lot of infected files and a malware .exe file that I was able to quarantine and delete.

Lesson learned... do not download software from the internet unless you know it is completely legit. This Software Empire has had problems before on the Ripoff Report but nothing like this. Seems like they are trying to find other ways to get your money besides super cheap software. It would not surprise me if they were working with the Indian guys...