The key to distinguishing a fake printer tech support site from a real one is to be ahead of all the people who end up on one of these scams. Type in “HP printer help,” “HP printer not printing,” “Canon printer not printing,” or pretty much any other major printer brand and any problem, and a lot of the best search results will be from sites that are not the manufacturer’s. They’re sponsored ads from printer scam websites made to appear official — and there’s enough of a pattern to it that, once you know what to look for, you can easily avoid paying for an ad that isn’t real.
Why Printer Searches Are Such a Common Scam Target
Printing issues have a distinct set of characteristics that make the person looking for help a target for scams: They’re often in a hurry, frustrated, and not that technical — just the kind of profile that will fall for the first thing they see and take at face value. The two top brands of consumer printers targeted are HP and Canon. The HP printer scam is one of the most common printer customer service scams online. However, the same scam infrastructure is directed towards Brother, Epson and any other brand name that has enough search volume to warrant ads against.
The Exact Pattern Fake Printer Support Sites Use
- Knowing how to protect yourself from a tech support scam printer is the quickest way to keep yourself safe from this scam. Let’s look at it in a step-by-step manner:
- A sponsored ad is placed above the real manufacturer result, with a URL that disguises it as a real manufacturer website: anything similar to hp-support-center.com or “123hp-setup.online” that is close enough to pass a quick glance. This is one of the most prevalent fake printer support scams of the day.
- The printer scam site requests the model number of a printer, supposedly in order to “download the correct driver.
- A realistic looking progress bar is shown: Installing driver… Please wait. It will never work, it’s designed not to work, this fake driver install scam is not a bug, it’s a hook.
- Immediately after, you’ll likely see an urgent error message that will tell you your device is “compromised” or “at risk” and encourage you to call a phone number in order to get it fixed.Then you’ll see an urgent error message immediately after telling you your device is “compromised” or “at risk” and press you to call a phone number right away to fix it.
- A “technician” after an initial connection can ask for remote access to your computer, suggest you buy unneeded software like security programs, “IP lockers” and anti virus packages, and then charge you for changing the wrong software version which you could have downloaded for free from the official website.
5 Warning Signs of Printer Tech Support Scams
- If you’ve ever wondered, “Is this printer support site legit?,” check out this list of things to look out for before calling or downloading anything:
1.Money demanded prior to the diagnosis or an increase in price after you’re already on the phone. - Being forced to install third-party protection software, VPNs or “security” as part of a printer fix — no legitimate printer fix requires this. This is a characteristic of a printer tech support fraud.
- Scare Language: The phrase “Your computer is compromised,” “Your computer is infected,” or “Your computer is at immediate risk” is a common tactic used in tech support scams.
- No true street address or a phone number that only leads to a generic call in queue and not a company name. Any reputable customer service helpline for printers would not fall for this test.
- A URL that is nearly, but not exactly, the manufacturer’s domain name (such as hp-support-center.com, when the site is actually support.hp.com), and that is acquired via a search ad, not a direct typed URL.
What Legitimate Printer Support Actually Looks Like
There are some common characteristics to look for in a real, trustworthy printer support provider, whether it’s an independent provider or a manufacturer’s printer support: first, they have a published, flat fee before any work is done; second, they have a real address that you can look up on your own; third, they do not require you to purchase an unrelated software; and fourth, if they offer a repair warranty, there are clear written terms. The first step is the diagnosis – the cost comes second while you are talking.
When you’re looking at a manufacturer’s official support site, type the URL into your browser, not click on a search ad (such as support.hp.com, usa.canon.com/support, support.brother.com or epson.com/support). The first thing manufacturers say is that scammers pay to be above the real page – that’s their first step to being visible.
If you’re unsure how to choose a trustworthy repair provider, read How to Choose a Printer Repair Service Near You: The Complete Business Buyer’s Guide.
What to Do If You've Fallen for Printer Tech Support Scams
Do not assume that even if you fall victim to a printer support scam, you can’t do anything about it. Act quickly:
- Look at your bank or card statements for any unfamiliar charges and contact your bank to investigate the transaction if any are found.
- If remote access was allowed on the computer, perform a complete scan using trusted anti-virus software and change passwords for any accounts that had been logged on during the scan.
- Report the incident to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov — the U.S. government’s main scam reporting center and provides input to the FTC’s enforcement programs.
- Report the printer scam site or phone number directly to the printer manufacturer – HP, Canon, Brother, and Epson all have fraud-reporting websites, and they report fraud to make it possible to get fake printer support operations taken down.
Frequently Asked Questions
HP and Canon are the most searched brands due to their being the highest volume, the HP printer scam makes up a considerable amount of all reported cases. But Brother and Epson aren’t the only brands that can be targeted with the same tech support scam printer pattern, as any brand with enough traffic to be worth advertising against can be targeted
No. If the pop-up window comes up and it asks you to call now, it’s not a legit manufacturer. The pop ups that immediately try to call a number are likely to be an attempt by a printer customer service scam. Go straight to the manufacturer’s official website (by typing the name into the address bar, NOT clicking through an ad).
A good independent tech can ask for remote access to address a software/driver related issue for the printer, provided that they inform you what they are looking for, but not as a prerequisite to talking to you before the issue is discussed, and never as part of an invitation to purchase unrelated security software. If you have to log into a remote website, it’s a bogus driver install scam or worse.
A credible and independent provider tells you outright that it is not connected to and/or authorized by the manufacturer. Language that might seem official, but does not explicitly state it is a warning, and a good indicator of a printer scam website.
Conclusion
Printer tech support scams are so ubiquitous and common that they all follow the same modus operandi; for this reason, they are easily avoidable: never click on a sponsored search ad for tech support, always go to the manufacturer’s site directly, and always treat any printer “emergency” pop-up as fake. Urgency and confusion are needed in fake printer support operations, whether through a fake URL (like hp-support-center.com) or the fake driver install scam that creates the false sense of an emergency. The scam collapses without those two factors.
Ovron Inc is a stand alone printer support company that works independently of HP, Canon, Brother or Epson and has published flat rate pricing and its warranty lasts for 1 year after repair.
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