Who Said Antiviruses Stop Viruses?

We often hear stories from our users on what brought them to use Guardio in the first place. But the following story blew our minds, and we had to share it.

Brayden, a 22-year-old student from Kentucky, got a call from his grandmother one day. "She sounded a bit weary and said that she keeps getting a message to call Windows support", he shared. Ever since he was little, Brayden has loved computers and always helps out family members when something comes up. Even though he prefers to code, they still call him every time the wifi goes out; he told us laughing. And we can relate!

On that day that his grandma called, he immediately understood something serious was going on and rushed over. And thank god he did, because what he found out saved her from losing hundreds of dollars and getting malware on her computer, although she had an antivirus installed.

When he got there, there was a huge message on the screen urging her to call Windows support, with a phone number on the screen. "I've heard of tech support scams but never actually saw one in action", Brayden shared, "I was relieved that I could stop nana from doing anything, but that wasn't enough for me." He explained to his nana that she was right to call him, as her antivirus would have never caught this. "I told her on the spot that it's a scam, not related to Windows one bit." He was right. Calling this number leads to a scam center that attempts to take over victims' computers and then take their money as a "fee" for fixing a problem that doesn't exist.

"I wanted to teach these guys a lesson and also find something that will prevent nana and others from getting scammed like this." Brayden told his grandmother to call the number on the screen as he sat beside her, telling her exactly what to say. "I wanted to expose him during the call," he said, grinning.

Obviously, we wanted the dirty details. Brayden told how step by step, while the scammer thought he was taking over his grandmother's computer, Brayden was actually taking over the scammer's computer! We'll spare the technical details, but we were amazed he could even do this. The reactions on our side of the Zoom call were priceless.

"He didn't see it coming. Nana played the role perfectly, and he got a taste of his own medicine. After reporting this scam, which I doubt will help with anything, the next thing to do was find a way to prevent nana from such threats again." Clapping for Brayden.

Protecting in Real-Time

"I liked the idea of it," he started telling us about how he got to Guardio. "I was searching for a tool that won't be another antivirus, as what good would it have helped us in this case. I needed something that can detect scams like this in real-time and be easy to use." We were thrilled when he told us he tried to visit the tech support scam site that his grandmother saw, and when doing this with Guardio's free version installed - he got a warning.

"To be completely honest, I wasn't quite ready to pay for the premium version at first. But after I saw I could trust you guys, it what made me curious to see what else you could do." We appreciated the honesty and told him we understand that it's harder to trust another service after being a scam victim.

We were thrilled when he told us he tried to visit the tech support scam site that his grandmother saw with Guardio fully activated- and it was blocked.

Run A Free Security Scan In A Few Clicks

Antivirus – out, Browser Protection – in

We're delighted that this story had a happy ending, and we hope we can prevent more people from falling victim to tech support scams and other online threats.

Guardio's users browse the web feeling much safer, as there is no need to worry about every link before clicking. "The more nana and I browsed using Guardio, the more I realized how much we'd both been exposed to scams and privacy threats, even though we both had an antivirus installed," Brayden told us excitedly. "You wouldn't believe how much safer nana feels now".

Brayden and Denise

So - How to Check If Your Browser is Infected? And Avoid Scams Like This?

Guardio is free to install and use the security scan, and if you upgrade to premium, it will immediately remove any pushy ads or malware and alert you on harmful sites and scams in real-time. You're welcome to try the free version, which still offers partial protection.

Over on the Chrome Store, Guardio is rated 4 Stars (out of 5), has a 4.6 rating on Trustpilot, and has been installed over 400,000 times, which means people are pretty happy with it.

To get started, simply install Guardio and run your free scan>>