Your tech support company runs scams. Stop—or disguise with more fraud?
Ars Technica 2026-04-13
Michael Cotter had a problem: "Chargebacks" at his tech support company were too high. The reason for this was not hard to find; people at his company, Tech Live Connect, were scamming Cotter's fellow Americans.
The scams usually began with a pop-up message warning that a user's computer might have a virus. The pop-up then claimed to run a "scan" (which was always positive) of the computer and provided a toll-free number to call for more help. Those who called were connected to Tech Live Connect's Indian call center, where they were asked for remote access to their computers, diagnosed with fake problems, and charged hundreds of dollars to "fix" them. Call center workers often pretended to be Apple or Microsoft employees.
Defrauded people complained in droves.