Just been scammed!

[The Johnster]

£140 gone out of my account to TotalAV antivirus, which I have never downloaded, do not want, but has appeared on my phone nonetheless.  I avoid paid apps as far as possible, and would never in a million years have downloaded this rubbish, which I consider spurious to my needs at best.   I've deleted the app from the phone and checked it is not on my computer, but I am not a happy Johnster today, it's a loss I can ill-afford and basically a theft.  I doubt if there's much chance of my being able to recover the money as I will be unable to prove that I did not download the app, 'how did it get on your phone without you downloading it', but as it purports to be an anti-virus app, so will have the ability to act as a virus.

 

'Stards,

 

Edited February 3 by The Johnster

[Mallard60022]

26 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

£140 gone out of my account to AV antivirus, which I have never downloaded, do not want, but has appeared on my phone nonetheless.  I avoid paid apps as far as possible, and would never in a million years have downloaded this rubbish, which I consider spurious to my needs at best.   I've deleted the app from the phone and checked it is not on my computer, but I am not a happy Johnster today, it's a loss I can ill-afford and basically a theft.  I doubt if there's much chance of my being able to recover the money as I will be unable to prove that I did not download the app, 'how did it get on your phone without you downloading it', but as it purports to be an anti-virus app, so will have the ability to act as a virus.

 

'Stards,

 

Ouch. Can't suggest any way to challenge I'm afraid. Still worth contacting them though? 

Phil

[Steamport Southport]

31 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

£140 gone out of my account to AV antivirus, which I have never downloaded, do not want, but has appeared on my phone nonetheless.  I avoid paid apps as far as possible, and would never in a million years have downloaded this rubbish, which I consider spurious to my needs at best.   I've deleted the app from the phone and checked it is not on my computer, but I am not a happy Johnster today, it's a loss I can ill-afford and basically a theft.  I doubt if there's much chance of my being able to recover the money as I will be unable to prove that I did not download the app, 'how did it get on your phone without you downloading it', but as it purports to be an anti-virus app, so will have the ability to act as a virus.

 

'Stards,

 

 

Straight to the bank.

 

 

Jason

[Ian Hargrave]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

£140 gone out of my account to AV antivirus, which I have never downloaded, do not want, but has appeared on my phone nonetheless.  I avoid paid apps as far as possible, and would never in a million years have downloaded this rubbish, which I consider spurious to my needs at best.   I've deleted the app from the phone and checked it is not on my computer, but I am not a happy Johnster today, it's a loss I can ill-afford and basically a theft.  I doubt if there's much chance of my being able to recover the money as I will be unable to prove that I did not download the app, 'how did it get on your phone without you downloading it', but as it purports to be an anti-virus app, so will have the ability to act as a virus.

 

'Stards,

 

Have you contacted your bank/ cc account ? They should act on your behalf to retrieve the money.Worth a try.

[beast66606]

Google it - it's probably a scam, AV don't charge that much for their product (and it's not a bad one btw)

[Cwmtwrch]

Try and find out how they got your bank details; are they are they on your phone? [I'm not suggesting this is your fault, but if it happened without your agreement it could happen again, so you may need to take action asap on this]. You may need to get your phone checked for viruses.

Check who your account shows as recipient of the money. If they are legitimate they may be willing to provide a refund.

Anti-virus software is usually on subscription. Does the account show it as a Direct Debit or Standing Order or anything which might repeat? You may need to take action on this, again asap.

AS Jason says, you should discuss with your bank, and I would add your phone company as well, to see if they can help establish what happened. You may be right that nothing can be done, but there may be solutions if the process used can be identified.

 

 

[Jeremy Cumberland]

Report it to your bank at the very least. As others have said, £140 is far too much to pay for an antivirus, and this amount in iteslf points to something illegal.

[rovex]

I had £3.50 taken from my account for an alleged Amazon prime account I don't have.

Alerted the bank, they agreed it was fraud refunded me and cancelled my bank card.

My partner has money taken from his account on the basis he'd paid for something on his phone. Bank useless and phone company useless. So we told his phone company to ban such purchases through our phones. Hasn't happened again

[N10]

Sorry to hear about the scam

I have four rules.

1 never bank on my mobile telephone.

 

2 I have a separate email address for banking/financial matters.

 

3 I always do a history removal after using the telephone for internet searching. Same applies to my PC

 

4 I have Norton on my phone, if the green light does not appear in my search against a result, I do not visit. Same applies to my PC

Edited February 1 by N10
update

[N10]

PS I never use these barcodes for parking etc.

[melmerby]

22 minutes ago, Cwmtwrch said:

Anti-virus software is usually on subscription.

I have never had subscription anti virus

I'm currently with Kaspersky and have the Premium which was £22.99 for two years on 5 devices (including phones)

[melmerby]

6 minutes ago, N10 said:

Sorry to hear about the scam

I have four rules.

1 never bank on my mobile telephone.  Tick

 

2 I have a separate email address for banking/financial matters. Tick, different e-mails for sites I visit frequently.

 

3 I always do a history removal after using the telephone for internet searching. Same applies to my PC Tick, cookies cleared at end of session (automatically)

 

4 I have Norton on my phone, if the green light does not appear in my search against a result, I do not visit. Same applies to my PC Tick, Kaspersky vets sites, marks anything dodgy.

 

[zarniwhoop]

2 hours ago, N10 said:

Sorry to hear about the scam

I have four rules.

1 never bank on my mobile telephone.

Nice if you can do that. For stopping a standing order (remember them?) I had to use the bank's app, could not do it on my PC.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, zarniwhoop said:

Nice if you can do that. For stopping a standing order (remember them?) I had to use the bank's app, could not do it on my PC.

Obviously not with Lloyds then as you can use either.

[The Johnster]

Plan of action is to approach the company first, if I can access them, and then the bank, but I'm not hopeful.  The problem is that the app was on my iPhone, whether I downloaded it or not.  I've now deleted it but am keeping an eye out for it's re-appearance.  At the minute, that's as much as I can do, that and ensuring that the bank will not pay them again, as you can't block apps because, in the normal run of things, you have to download them yourself, but this one turned up without any such action on my behalf.  It's worrying that these people have my bank details as well.

[Steamport Southport]

Don't. If it is a scam and it seems highly likely that it is you are just giving them more details.

 

Straight to the bank and get them to sort it out. They are trained for it. Don't feel embarrassed as they will deal with hundreds and thousands of similar cases.

 

 

Jason

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Plan of action is to approach the company first, if I can access them, and then the bank, but I'm not hopeful.  The problem is that the app was on my iPhone, whether I downloaded it or not.  I've now deleted it but am keeping an eye out for it's re-appearance.  At the minute, that's as much as I can do, that and ensuring that the bank will not pay them again, as you can't block apps because, in the normal run of things, you have to download them yourself, but this one turned up without any such action on my behalf.  It's worrying that these people have my bank details as well.

Don't forget, this company has your details. Nothing to stop them attacking your account again and taking more money out!

 

Otherwise it's like the colloquial man, whose wife had her credit card stolen. He didn't report the theft, because the thief was spending less money per month, than his wife!

 

Report it to your bank and they will cancel the card and issue a replacement. They should reimburse you too, but the longer it goes, the less chance of this occurring.

[Siberian Snooper]

I bank with Lloyds and I have to approve online purchases, other than Amazon or Paypal. Before Christmas I had a message to approve a purchase for a few Euros, as it wasn't me, I rejected it. It did come back to bite me, when I tried to book a couple of hotels, using that card, as the transactions failed. I phoned the bank to find out why and they told me that because I had rejected the fraudulent transaction, they had put a stop on it, for internet purchases. I haven't tried to use it since the embargo was lifted.

 

[chris p bacon]

6 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Plan of action is to approach the company first, if I can access them, and then the bank

Go straight to the bank.

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

I bank with Lloyds and I have to approve online purchases, other than Amazon or Paypal. Before Christmas I had a message to approve a purchase for a few Euros, as it wasn't me, I rejected it. It did come back to bite me, when I tried to book a couple of hotels, using that card, as the transactions failed. I phoned the bank to find out why and they told me that because I had rejected the fraudulent transaction, they had put a stop on it, for internet purchases. I haven't tried to use it since the embargo was lifted.

 

Would have thought that your bank would cancel the whole card and reissue it. After all the bank doesn't want to have to reimburse you either.

The point is that it's compromised and no one knows if the crooks have sold a 'working' card details on. Even if they pay $1 for a thousand credit card numbers, still worth a try, as obviously they'll make money. Always possible that someone has a card with a decent credit on it, but doesn't use it and so wouldn't have reported it stolen.

[YT-1300]

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Plan of action is to approach the company first, if I can access them, and then the bank, but I'm not hopeful.  The problem is that the app was on my iPhone, whether I downloaded it or not.  I've now deleted it but am keeping an eye out for it's re-appearance.  At the minute, that's as much as I can do, that and ensuring that the bank will not pay them again, as you can't block apps because, in the normal run of things, you have to download them yourself, but this one turned up without any such action on my behalf.  It's worrying that these people have my bank details as well.

Straight to the bank, ASAP, get the bank to block any repeat withdrawals.  The longer you leave it the more change you could get you're account emptied.

 

Tell them what happened, there is a good chance they will re-imburse you, but the longer you leave it, the bank will take the view that it's a purchase you've changed your mind about and wont entertain you.

[Flying Pig]

My dad installed Total AV adblocker as it was heavily advertised (click here to install) and initially very cheap.  However the small print advised that the next payment taken would be over £100.  I was not pleased and uninstalled the software, but payment was arranged through a card and not a direct debit, so could not be cancelled easily from his end.  I urged him to contact his bank (Santander) but he clearly didn't do so, as about a year later they contacted him about a repeat card payment which Total AV were trying to take and asked him if he wanted to proceed, so he was able to block it.  We suspect that Total AV are blacklisted by that particular bank, which is very fortunate for Dad.

 

@The Johnster - to repeat what others have said contact your bank immediately. There may be a phone  number on your card or you can call 159 and you will be directed to your own bank.

 

My thoughts about those who defraud the vulnerable are not suitable to post here.

[2E Sub Shed]

On 01/02/2024 at 17:35, rovex said:

I had £3.50 taken from my account for an alleged Amazon prime account I don't have.

Alerted the bank, they agreed it was fraud refunded me and cancelled my bank card.

 

My wife has had same issue with Amazon payments appearing on her statement, in her case her Bank Statement showed  2 x 1 month £3.50 & 2 x 12-month subscriptions, with the 2 x 1 month subscriptions credited back.

 

On contacting Amazon, they stated it was fraud and gave reference, contacted Bank and a credit was generated along with new Bank Card(s)..

 

Pays to read through statements.

 

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, 2E Sub Shed said:

Pays to read through statements.

 

Certainly does. I've read of people ring up a reputable supplier to cancel a regular service and got told that it would happen.

 

Fast forward 2 - 3 years and while applying for a loan, the would be borrower submits their bank statements. The loan officer asks about a regular payment appearing within - yes it's the same one!

On querying the supplier, they claimed that there was no record of such a request, but would be prepared to offer a 6 month refund - mostly on the basis that it was an internet service, with no usage shown for years.

 

So while the company was in error, so to was the customer, for not noticing. It pays to check your account. It's possible to miss it once, but damned if I'd let someone take my money for years and not notice!

[N10]

3 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

My dad installed Total AV adblocker as it was heavily advertised (click here to install) and initially very cheap.  However the small print advised that the next payment taken would be over £100.  I was not pleased and uninstalled the software, but payment was arranged through a card and not a direct debit, so could not be cancelled easily from his end.  I urged him to contact his bank (Santander) but he clearly didn't do so, as about a year later they contacted him about a repeat card payment which Total AV were trying to take and asked him if he wanted to proceed, so he was able to block it.  We suspect that Total AV are blacklisted by that particular bank, which is very fortunate for Dad.

 

@The Johnster - to repeat what others have said contact your bank immediately. There may be a phone  number on your card or you can call 159 and you will be directed to your own bank.

 

My thoughts about those who defraud the vulnerable are not suitable to post here.

Get yourself a Tesco+ debit card, it is free to use. I use it to buy say insurance, and other purchases that might do automatic renewal. Keep the card with a low balance, and just top up when you are making a purchase. That way nobody can take money out unless you have topped it up.