I have a Dell PC with MS XP 2010 system programming and AT&T as Internet service provider.
At 8 P.M. Today, I attempted to access the Internet. My access was totally denied - a virus alert balloon appeared, immediately followed by firewall alert balloon, immediately replaced by a security/identity theft breach, followed by rotating alert balloons. My system was 100% locked up and would not permit access to ANY site - it kept blocking all access with security warning error messages. I could make NO Internet access, no matter what attempts I made.
My system was totally locked down with ONLY ONE recourse offered: purchase the XP Internet Security 2012 package or never gain access to the Internet again. The package was offered at three levels:
(a) 1-year at $59.95 with another $9.95 required to gain customer support service;
(b) 2-year at $69.95, with another $14.95 required to gain customer support service; and
(c) life-time at $79.95, with additional fees to gain customer support service.
There were no options - buy the product or never get past the error messages that denied access to all internet availabilities. This is piracy. This is hijacking computers with a demand for ransom.
After handing over my credit card information, getting the "license key" code (which I shall provide should you need this to pursue a resolution to this scam), paying the ridiculous fees, ALL THE ALERT BALLOONS MYSTERIOUSLY / DISAPPEARED AND MY SYSTEM WAS THOUROUGHLY "CLEAN." At this point, I went online to locate the FREE SECRITY ESSENTIALS DOWNLOAD avaliable at many sites (which of course I could not access while Microsoft had my computer locked down!).
This is a VERY expensive scam being perpetrated on who-knows-how-many-customers who can receive the same online protection FOR FREE, or better protection for much less money.
This SCAM must be stopped!
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