12/2/14 - I was "called" by advangate reps, who infdormed me that they had detected "errors" on my pc, that it had been hacked, I asked how do you know this? are you monitoring my pc without my knowledge? they replied that Iolo's "LiveBoost" program allowed them to monitor my pc. This guy went on to show me 2 files which he said were corrupting my system, I declined his offer to "fix" this problem, I then googled the 2 files and were assured by Microsoft that both files were system files and both were where they should be.
this did NOT stop the calls, what it did do was make it difficult my windows to load,
eventually, I paid $199.99 for lifetime technical support, and all seemed ok

1/6/15: I received an alert from IOLO: Fraud Advisory", I called and asked about this and also when my subscription for the premium Service would expire, now based on my purchase, I was expecting a "never expires" reply, instead I was told 1/13/15. I then filed a complaint, as follows:

Request Type:
Sales and Customer Support
iolo Application / Service:
System Mechanic
Version:
14

Request Type Detail:
Customer Support - Other

CS - Other, Request Type:
Fraud

Where did you purchase your iolo product?:
Direct from iolo.com

Case Overview

Details:
Michael called because he wants to know why he was contacted by people representing themselves as iolo technologies. He paid $199 to these people for a lifetime technical support , unlimited hardware and digital devices. He received several phone calls. He also received the fraud alert email that iolo technologies sent on 1/6/15

Solution
Solved: 1/13/2015 1:09 PM PST:

Greetings Michael,

Thank you for contacting iolo Technologies Customer Care.

Thank you for notifying us about being solicited by a third party organization falsely claiming to have information about you and your computer. Please know that iolo technologies takes all customer complaints seriously and has investigated your complaint.

iolo has recently become aware that entities with no affiliation to iolo technologies, representing themselves as “System Mechanic,” have been contacting both iolo customers and members of the general public claiming that they have been alerted to computer “errors,” “trouble signals,” “malware,” and possibly other system failures in the call recipient’s computer. We suspect that you have been contacted by one of these imposter organizations.

We want to assure you that iolo technologies, maker of the System Mechanic product, does not make unsolicited calls to our customers. We would like to further assure you that we do not monitor or have the capability to monitor the PCs of consumers who have installed iolo software.

Thank you for alerting us to your experience, and know that we will continue to investigate these imposter organizations. In order to alert other customers and members of the general public about these imposter organizations, iolo has posted a message on its website under the Support center tab and Contact Us page.

If you have any further questions or need any additional assistance, please feel to reply to this case.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your case and for your continued business. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

1/14/2015 5:57 AM PST Solution Rejected

this is not the answer I expected, as a long term iolo customer, I expect to , at the very least either have my $ 199.00 picked up by Iolo or for iolo to renew my premium service contract with a $199.99 discount for the next year.

The fact remains that it is my contention that either Iolo or their service partner, Advangate had to have had a security breach in their customer data server, how else would an unknown party know that I have an Iolo product on my pc &/or how would that party get access to my phone number??? I accepted these calls in good faith, your "fraud alert" came out late, no? you released the alert on 1/6/15, and my dealings & $$$$ were paid to these imposters on 12/4/14.

I have spent a lot of time trying to rectify this and I was assured yesterday that my complaint would be forwarded to the "fraud Department" on an expedited basis: the response from you was nothing more then a standard disclaimer.

thanks for nothing !

I will contact my lawyer and the NYS district attorney to see if legal action is possible, the amount I lost is not a lot, and something one might expect to encounter when dealing on the internet, but, this good for nothing response by Iolo is disappointing at best, a company like Iolo, which specializes in PC care, should be held responsible and should make "good" on the data breach which has allowed this scam to take place.

To treat your customers like this is totally unacceptable, please do not respond with a standard "thank you for making us aware" message, I need resolution


Regards