N Gauge Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Agrippa on March 03, 2014, 01:24:20 AM

Title: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Agrippa on March 03, 2014, 01:24:20 AM
Last year my old laptop was getting weary, I saw a website called RegCure Pro who did cleanups
and fixed slow running, I know Jack S about computers so they did an online check costing about
£20 which seemed reasonable and said my machine was old and knackered to re jig it would cost
££££s . I thanked them and said it would be simpler to buy a new machine. Fine.

Then last week I received note of a Paypal charge for sub to the same organisation for renewal of the
contract . Which I hadn't entered into! After much to and froing they are refunding the charge.
I told this (USA based firm) that if you go into McDonalds to buy a  burger it doesn't mean you want
to sign up to buy burgers for the rest of the year.Anyway the penny dropped and I had also said I would take it up with PayPal. 

The sum involved was not huge but I wasn't letting them steal my cash.
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Bealman on March 03, 2014, 04:24:30 AM
I notice you say they are refunding.

Make sure you get it, buddy!
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Tank on March 03, 2014, 08:09:23 AM
Stay clear of them!  Another rip off company with terrible and dangerous software.
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Agrippa on March 03, 2014, 08:57:40 AM
Refund received!  :laugh3: A minor victory against Rogues Incorporated.

Plus last night my pub quiz team won, despite one of the opposition teams  cheating by using their
smartphones. Prize was £10 voucher for use at the bar for each team member.

And it's bright and sunny today!

The Lord looks after his own! :D
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Bealman on March 03, 2014, 09:14:34 AM
 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

In my best Aussie accent, "On ya, mate!"
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: port perran on March 03, 2014, 07:02:37 PM
Well done.
I think Reg Clean Pro are one of those VERY annoying organisations who manage to get their software bundled with other stuff. It will pop up suggesting you install it.
I'd steer well clear !!
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Agrippa on March 03, 2014, 08:38:34 PM
Yeah , I'll give them a wide berth if they pop up in future.
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Lankyman on March 03, 2014, 08:51:12 PM
I had an experience with RegCure yesterday. I seem to have a number of problems with my PC which I can't resolve at the moment, particularly Internet Explorer. I went onto the Microsoft website to find a fix and the first thing I was offered was RegCure. The way it was presented made it look like it was part of Microsoft so I allowed it to do a check and it came up with 2507 errors in the Registry which could be cured by running the programme. I was about to click the download button but then spotted there was a charge. I then realised it was a con as I was looking for a free fix from Microsoft for one of their products. I consider I was extremely lucky to spot this before I, too, was fleeced. You can't be too careful.

Ron
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: 47033 on March 03, 2014, 09:06:30 PM
Glad you got this sorted out. It's a minefield out there of scammers and rip off companies. I am seriously considering going back to cash for grocery shopping and as many purchases as I can. People aren't getting mugged in the streets anymore, they are getting mugged online or over the telephone with credit card purchases.

You cannot be too careful online with downloading and opening up attachments. If I am not 100% sure who or what it is then it doesn't get opened and it gets deleted. I've heard of many services  that people have paid for and they are lead to believe it's a one time fee when in fact it's revolving and you have to cancel it to stop it. Oftentimes there are no contact numbers or addresses and it becomes a lot of work trying to get it stopped.

Jamie
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: talisman56 on March 04, 2014, 03:28:39 PM
The processes that RegCure do can be replicated by using the free software Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Piriform CCleaner - Google is your friend...

Have been using them for years, usual disclaimers apply.

Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Dorsetmike on March 04, 2014, 07:24:57 PM
Malware Bytes does the job, but is only free for 30 days. Sod's Law came into play 2 days after it expired, took me most of yeterday to sort it without Malware Bytes.
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Papyrus on March 04, 2014, 07:36:10 PM
For what it's worth, I use a program called 'Advanced System Care'. There's a free version which is very good and cleared all sorts of rubbish from our laptops, but there is also a pro version which isn't wildly expensive and does an awful lot more and is worth getting in my opinion. I've been using it for several years without any problems (so far, touching wood with grim determination...).

Usual disclaimer, no connection to the company, don't sue me etc, etc...

Cheers,

Chris
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Caz on March 04, 2014, 09:17:08 PM
Quote from: Dorsetmike on March 04, 2014, 07:24:57 PM
Malware Bytes does the job, but is only free for 30 days. Sod's Law came into play 2 days after it expired, took me most of yeterday to sort it without Malware Bytes.

Make sure you download the free version of Malwarebytes, I've had it on my WinXP machine for a few years and never had to pay.   ;)
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Bealman on March 04, 2014, 10:33:31 PM
Me too, running on (horror of horrors), Vista!
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: Chris in Prague on March 05, 2014, 09:08:37 AM
Quote from: Papyrus on March 04, 2014, 07:36:10 PM
For what it's worth, I use a program called 'Advanced System Care'. There's a free version which is very good and cleared all sorts of rubbish from our laptops, but there is also a pro version which isn't wildly expensive and does an awful lot more and is worth getting in my opinion. I've been using it for several years without any problems (so far, touching wood with grim determination...).

Usual disclaimer, no connection to the company, don't sue me etc, etc...

Cheers,

Chris

I agree Advanced System Care is excellent (well worth the cost of subscription). Alternatively, Wise Disk Cleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner (both free) and CCleaner (again free) are excellent, too (just Google for them and make sure that you download them from a reputable source; Google the Website URL -- its address -- if you're unsure). Between them they will keep your PC running smoothly.

Chris in Prague
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: ngauger on March 05, 2014, 09:34:18 AM
Another useful tool I've used for many years (being in 'the trade') is 'Hijack This'.  I suppose it is a 'techs' tool, in that you have to tell it what to delete, but in some cases it's the only way, and the names in the list usually give a clue, i.e 'nasty evil little toolbar reg-clean 2014 BHO'!!
It is also handy if you know a tech, and need to send them a scan of your base system files.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/hjt/ (http://sourceforge.net/projects/hjt/)

Disclaimer: Use at your own risk!

BTW: Look out for a rather convincing Paypal phishing scam at the mo.  Paypal/financial institutions will never send requests for info directly from email links or attachments, but the one I got was on a new level of subtlety.  Fortunately for us, these scammers do struggle with the nuance of English grammar!

Never ever, ever open an attachment, or follow a link from any bank/paypal type mail, even if you do have an account with that (supposed) establishment.  If you are concerned about anything, ring the bank/Paypal, or log in to the site by typing in the URL yourself.
Apologies for teaching anyone to suck eggs here!
Title: Re: Defeat of rip off business practice
Post by: ngauger on March 05, 2014, 09:50:34 AM
A tip!

If I were doing things again, and for those considering more online transactions:
Always set up/link your Paypal A/c to a 'clean' email address that you use for nothing else.  You can always add that account to a folder within a 'Web mail' account (like I do).  That way you'll not miss any mail.  You'll also notice that when a scam Paypal mail arrives in your web-mail account, it's obviously spam as it has the wrong email address, and not the one linked to your Paypal account!

Also, I've found that ISP created mail accounts are generally less prone to phishing attacks than the likes of Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo etc (although   that's maybe down to the fact I use an old alias and slightly 'off the radar' to scammers?)
Net result, a peaceful night's sleep (and far too many online purchases!) :(