When I bought my first computer, I got a lot of setup discs from AOL and signed up for a paid account. It has been satisfactory and I continued to use it, even though I also have an Optonline account which I do not monitor. I later changed to a free AOL account. My New Mail folder built up to 15,000 emails because I could not figure out how to delete them in bulk. So there I was checking items on the list and hitting the Delete button when I got to the bottom of the page. I don't know what I clicked instead of the Delete button this one time, but I got this screen asking if I wanted to delete the selected items. Never saw it before, but I figured it was referring to the items I had checked off. So I clicked OK, and the whole New Mail folder was deleted. I hope I can figure out how I did that for when the New Mail folder builds up again. In the meantime, Betty suggested that I could retrieve the few emails I wanted from the Recently Deleted folder. They went into Old Mail.
Great! But nothing was coming into the New Mail folder. I sent emails to two daughters asking them to send me a test message, but it was late and I didn't think they were on line. So I figured I would call AOL help, not realizing that only paid customers get to call them on the phone. I didn't have a phone number handy, but, no problem, I could get it on Google. Mistake number two. Lots of AOL help numbers, and none of them are AOL. I called one and was informed that someone from Ontario, Canada had hacked into my computer and I needed to fix the "problem". By this time, my brain was pretty well fried, so I went along with this character, who offered to give me some statement that I could take to a Microsoft store in Manhasset (closest to my zip code), and they would fix the "problem" for $250. I was having trouble carrying on a conversation with his Indian accent, but somehow I was handed off to Agile Tech Solutions, which gave me a price if $399.99 for the two computers on my router.
I should have said good night and gone to bed, but by this time I was hooked. I dealt with several guys, all with Indian accents, and was told to not touch the computers and they would call me in the morning. So all night, both computers were covered with three overlapping screens labeled with "c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe-ping www.google.com-t". One computer had a reply from 74.125.131.106 and the other showed a reply from 74.125.131.147. Nothing changed during the night. They didn't call me. I called them, and they said the technician was still working on it. Eventually the computers were freed up, I got some documentation, signed an authorization for the $399.99 credit card charge, and realized that I never had a "problem", and the whole thing was a well-orchestrated scam.
I suppose I could challenge the charge to my credit card. However, I see that I signed a statement saying that I will call the Company to resolve any issues and will not call my bank for any issue relating to this charge. The credit card company reports a charge of $399.99, so at least they didn't kite it, and I think I can safely assume that there will be no further contact. I have a one year warranty, which is contrary to the very long terms of service document on their website www.tech-support.us.
I assume that if the hacker had sent out 300 emails, as claimed by the first contact, I would see it in my Sent Mail folder. I do not see it. Too soon old. Too late schmart.
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