I just spent 45 minutes with a "tech" person trying to set up my extender as I have a new U-verse network. This person was IN my computer. I followed a netgear.com link. He goes through all these commands on my computer remotely and tells me there is a conflict andI'd have to pay $99 to update the firmware so I could use my$69 dollar less then a year old extender. I shut it all down. This seemed really not above board to me. Not sure I'll buy netgear again. I am so upset

Following directions from the manual, I ended up at the same scam netgear link. 1st person listened to my issue and said "Let me transfer you to Tech Support". 2nd person said he was tech support for NetGear and would definitely be able to help me but he would need remote access to my computer. I believed I was dealing with NetGear so I allowed it. This guy did get the extender working but then said Wow, you don't have a firewall and look at all the breaches in your network and scrolled through a list so quickly. I told him I do have a firewall and he said that is just on your computer not your network, We went back and forth about this and he tells me OK, but DON'T do any banking or shopping until you get a firewall. He went on and on with the dire warnings and then said I can fix this for you with a lifetime premium firewall for all of your devices no matter what router or modem you use. So I relented and purchased a $299.99 firewall. He did some more stuff scolling through my computer and said I was all set and emailed a document for me to docusign. The email was from Technical Support but the paperwork was from Soft Tree. When I asked about that, he said "Oh, we do the tech support for NetGear." and we wrapped up and ended the call.Then I get an email from my credit card company that a charge from outside of the United States had occurred on my account. Warning bells went off and I immediately called Symantec/Norton. I explained what happened and they said they have been getting a rash of calls like this. I gave them remote access so they could see what had been done to my computer. Surprise, Surprise there was NO firewall: not the one I had from Norton nor the one "NetGear" supposedly installed, my Norton virus detection had been disabled, and there was a remote access program left installed.Norton took down all the information about the company to help them in dealing with these scams, I have called the credit card company, they froze my account and told me to call the police. I talked to the real Tech support for NetGear and she told me to post this on the community board because she couldn't handle it. So there you have my sad story and I hope the right person at NetGear sees this and does something about it.

If your experience was like the rest of us, I think you'll find that they did not install a firewall, but perhaps disabled yours. You should check that. Also, if you purchased anything from them, you'll find that the invoice is only for a tech support plan and does not include any of the software they said you were purchasing or told you they installed.

I got caught up in the softtree scam. I thought the link i used was from netgear support

Re: softtree scamMy situation was almost identical to the one following. I have changed the facts that pertain to me.Following directions from the manual, I ended up at the same scam netgear link. 1st person listened to my issue and said "Let me transfer you to Tech Support". 2nd person said she was tech support for NetGear and would definitely be able to help me but he would need remote access to my computer. I believed I was dealing with NetGear so I allowed it. This women did get the extender working but then said Wow, you don't have a firewall and look at all the breaches in your network and scrolled through a list so quickly. I told her I do have a firewall and she said that is just on your computer not your network, We went back and forth about this and she tells me OK, but DON'T do any banking or shopping until you get a firewall. She went on and on with the dire warnings and then said I can fix this for you with a lifetime premium firewall for all of your devices no matter what router or modem you use for $299.99. I resisted so they offered me another deal, a 2 year coverage plan with 1 year tech support for only $199.99. I hesitated so after talking to her "supervisior" the price became $149.99. I relented and purchased a $149.99 firewall. She did some more stuff scolling through my computer and said I was all set and emailed a document for me to docusign. The email was from Technical Support but the paperwork was from Soft Tree. I paid with PayPal and noticed the charge was from outside the US. I called NetGear and they acted as if they never heard of this kind of a deal, but they said they would open an inquiry and let me know what they find. I gave them remote access so they could see what had been done to my computer. I find no indication that any firewall has been installed. Evidently the right people at NetGear do not read our comments since they maintain that they never heard of this company. I do not intend to pay for this so called service.Model: EX6200v2 AC1200 Dual Band WiFi Range Extender

Technical Support - I was also scammed. On September 13, 2019, I called the number for NetGear Technical Support from the website and was connected to Rashmi, a Technical Support person. Convinced that it was through NetGear, I gave her access to my laptop computer. After 2 1/2 hours, I (foolishly) agreed to purchasing a 3 year contract for tech support through Softtree Inc. Later, I called back and the first time the recording said there was no one there to answer my call. Called back later and a male said there was NO such person there. We contacted our "computer guy" who came over and removed all the spyware that SHE had installed on our computer. (paying him for HIS time), Also changed all of our passwords. We contacted our bank to remove this fraud charge - still in the process- and cancel the credit card that was used for the transaction.This is SO upsetting. Money and time have been lost, as well as my trust in anyone on the computer.Now I see posts stating that NetGear is NOT responsible? I called NetGear Help at 1-888-927-4505 and received a phone call back from 1-323-433-9898. I don't know where the problem is, but I believe that NetGear should look into this as many people are experiencing the same scam/fraud.

softtree scam | NETGEAR Communities

51 Replies

Anit
Aspirant
Mar 08, 2021
I called net gear support and she told me she would refer me to technical
Support . She transferred me then after logging on to my computer changing passwords ect . Told me it would be $99 or $199 for 1 yr or $299 for 2 years . I agreed on the 1 yr and they charged me for 2 . They said they would give me 2 for the price of 1 . The next day I could not log on to anything ! I called back and the person had me change everything back to how it was prior to person changing things !!! Printer still does not work ! I was on the phone almost 2 hours the first time and 40 min the second .
- schumaku
  Guru - Experienced User
  Mar 08, 2021
  Anit wrote:
  I called net gear support and she told me she would refer me to technical Support .
  Where have you discovered this phone number? What number have you called? Very unlikely you called Netgear.
  
  Anit wrote:
  She transferred me then after logging on to my computer changing passwords ect . Told me it would be $99 or $199 for 1 yr or $299 for 2 years . I agreed on the 1 yr and they charged me for 2 . They said they would give me 2 for the price of 1 . The next day I could not log on to anything ! I called back ....
  Again, what number have you called?
  
  Anit wrote:
  ...and the person had me change everything back to how it was prior to person changing things !!! Printer still does not work ! I was on the phone almost 2 hours the first time and 40 min the second .
  Sounds like a typical scam case...

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softtree scam