We've been getting a few calls lately where a customer has looked for support using a search engine and gotten the wrong company on the other end of the line. Typically, there's nothing wrong with making a mistake, but if the folks you call act like they're the right company, and then request access to your PC or network, and you let them in, you may find that they then install stuff you don't want active on your computer, like malware or back doors and then tell you you're infected. You may feel a little more than foolish. You may find that they've also accessed your secure info and managed to get into your passwords or banking info. That's a worst case scenario, but it does happen.

Today, many people have so much technology that they have no idea where to begin when problems happen. Allowing a hacker access to your PC is very bad, anything can happen in a very brief time. Your first line of defense is to understand that people want you to drop your guard and hope that you blindly will trust them, unsuspecting that they're not truly the agency you intended to contact. We also get calls from folks who have been called by support companies that claim your computer is infected. The ONLY company that will ever legitimately contact you is your ISP, they'll have seen traffic coming from your network connection that tips them off to serious viral infections. Microsoft - Windows - and many other companies will NEVER call you first. They might call you back, but only after you have contacted them, and established that you are eligible or willing to pay for their support.

Now the big issue that we've run into a lot recently, involves our customers experiencing problems with their PC or network, or Printer, and calling a number they found using a search engine. Getting the wrong company on the line can be very hazardous, especially if they don't take the proper information from you to verify the nature of the problem. A legitimate company will ask for identifying info from you, specifically:

1. Your name
2. a number to call you back at
3. the model of the product in question
4. the serial number of the product
5. whether or not the product was ever registered
6. They will also let you know whether or not the product is still under any support warranty and request payment for support if it's not. Usually fairly reasonable costs between $50 and 150 may be incurred.

When using certain search engines provides dubious answers at best. Bing is notorious for being wrong, Yahoo sometimes as well. Google usually has the right answer, but that mostly depends on the company you're looking up. Expertek has some guidelines that we use when getting help from a manufacturer, because occasionally we run into something we've not seen before and need some experienced help from people who know their own products. Our first suggestion is to go DIRECTLY to the manufacturers website, and using their Support and Contact us pages to get help.

The quickest way to tell you are in the right place when calling a manufacturer, is that when you call, you don't get a person right away. You get an Interactive Voice Response Menu system (known as an IVR) that says the name of the company you're calling, offers a list of departments, and the ability to quick dial an extension to get directly to a previously contacted person. If you don't get that, hang up and try again.

Below is a list of common companies that people need when looking for technical support, along with their support site, and a legitimate support contact phone number. But again, don't take our word for it, check their site, google and bing, and yahoo search, and compare results.

The bottom line is, don't just blindly trust the person on the other end of the phone unless you have verified some info with them. Exercise caution and listen for the above tell-tale signs that you're in the right place.