Hacked or scammed? Let’s lock it down.

It depends on what they did once they were in, and that's exactly what we find out. Sometimes they only ran a fake 'scan' to scare you; sometimes they install remote-access software so they can come back, or dig through saved passwords. Don't beat yourself up — these crews are professionals. Unplug the computer from the internet, don't use it for banking, and bring it in. We'll tell you what they actually touched.

No. Don't call the number back, don't pay, and don't buy gift cards no matter how urgent or official they sound — urgency is the whole trick. If you already paid or gave banking details, call your bank right now (the real number on the back of your card, not one from a pop-up or email). Then bring the computer to us and we'll handle that side.

Usually not. Most scam cleanups don't require wiping anything — we remove what they installed and your files stay put. In the rare case where a machine is compromised deeply enough that a clean start is the honest fix, we copy your photos and documents off first whenever the drive is healthy enough to read, and you'll hear the plan before we do anything.

We'll be straight with you about this. Money: that's your bank's department, and speed matters more than anything we can do — call them first. Accounts: we help you work through the recovery steps for email, Facebook, and the rest, and we secure everything you get back so it stays yours. We can't force a company to return an account, and anyone who promises that for a fee is running scam number two.

Before you pick up, we set up real protection and show you what the common traps look like — fake pop-ups, scam calls, phony invoices. If you want ongoing backup, our Protection Plan keeps always-on antivirus on the computer and gives you a local shop to call the moment something feels off. If 'Microsoft' ever calls again: hang up, then call us. We're real, and we're on Arnold St.