Victim Location 43056
Type of a scam Tech Support
Upon purchasing a Roku TV we discovered this scam. During the setup process for the TV a phone number was given on the TV to activate the account. When we called, they answered the phone as a legit Roku tech support representative. They asked us for our email and password associated with our existing Roku account. Trusting they were who they said they were, we provided that information. After we provided that information the tech support rep informed us that there was a fee of $79.95 for a five year access to the Roku servers, or lifetime access fee of $150.00. Knowing that Roku does not charge a fee we caught on that it was a scam, however the rep told us that if we did not pay one of the fees our other Roku devices would cease to work as soon as the call was ended and the new TV we purchased would cease to work within 30 days.
We did not agree to the charges and disconnected the call only to discover that they had accessed our Roku account information, changed the username and password, and disabled our existing Roku devices. Luckily for us any form of payment option we had on our Roku account was no longer in use. We went and created a new Roku account which allowed us to unlock our existing devices.
I called the actual Roku customer support number the following day and they informed us that they are aware of a third party scam going around.