Victim Location 90034
Total money lost $345
Type of a scam Tech Support
Jinigram first lured me in under false pretenses. When I began having problems with my printer I googled HP support and called the number which turned out to be Jinigram’s. They told me they were contracted by HP to do their support and I believed them. Because I believed they were associated with HP support, when they offered to remote access my computer to look at the problem, I let them. I never would have let strangers I found on the internet onto my computer otherwise. They remote accessed my computer and looked around for a bit.
Then, the Jinigram employee said my computer had been hacked and had a virus. When they told me they could fix it for $345 I remember saying I would prefer just to get a new laptop at that point, it was almost the same price. The Jinigram employee said I could do that but insisted that whoever hacked my laptop would have stolen my information and had access to everything I had ever used my laptop for, even if I replaced it. He insisted that the safest thing for me to do was to pay them to clean it up and that would protect my identity from being stolen. This is what he claimed as the annual care package. I was pressured into thinking my identity and private information was vulnerable to being stolen and that my only option was to allow them to fix it. I did not think of getting a second opinion or questioning it as they listed their phone number under false pretenses (HP support). If you look up Yelp reviews of Jinigram, they have also listed their phone number as Microsoft support and done this to others.
In the last month of my annual care package my computer started to act crazy. There were large white circles appearing and it looked like someone else was controlling my mouse. It would open and close things and would not let me do anything. This happened within the last 2-3 weeks of the supposed care package, so once again I called Jinigram since this shouldn’t have happened. I asked them to fix it as they said this Annual Care Package was “insurance” and anything that happened for the year would be under that. They started asking me for more money and said for a monthly fee they could keep fixing my computer. That’s when I realized this wasn’t making sense. They had previously said the Annual Care Package was supposed to cover my computer. I also had virus software so between the two, how was my computer still getting viruses? I asked and all the employee would say was that a computer, like a car or bike, needs regular “tune ups”. I insisted that it didn’t make sense and again asked how between their care package which was supposed to protect me, and my virus software, I did not understand how this happened. Again the employee just responded that computers needed regular tune ups and would not answer further. I started seeing red flags with everything he said and immediately went online and found reviews of Jinigram. Everyone has had similar experiences to mine. It is not a legitimate business. Anyways, as I started to see these reviews, the panic set in and I realized that someone who at that moment was remote accessing my computer and asking me for more money, also knew I no longer believed their scam. I immediately said ‘I am revoking your right to access my computer, get off right now.’ They employee did not, he lingered for several minutes. From what I have read online, I believe that they download viruses to your computer right before their care package is up and then insist on you paying them more money. They have access to do so because people calling them are calling under false pretenses. They list their number under HP and Microsoft Support so people believe they can trust them.
Since learning of the scam I have changed all my passwords and had to buy a new laptop, costing about $500. So in total, Jinigram has cost me a new laptop in addition to their $345 “Annual Care Package”.