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Alberta

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I know nothing at all about computers other than how to post to BHF.,so sorry if this is a bit of a saga.
until 12 months ago I had a domain email address paid for by my son but decided to give it up and have my
email with gmail. Wanting to be independent we did this alone without my sons help.
We paid for 2 years support but I have been told that gmail doesn't charge for support so believe we had been taken in.
12months on I can accept emails but not send them. My husband called the support people and they say that many 'ports' on my computer IP address have been compromised and it will take £700 to fix, our computer is really old so my husband said we will get a new one.The bloke said that every tablet ,computer, and phone in our house would have the same IP and the only way to fix it other than to pay would be to move house.
Please fellow members is this old lady being taken for a fool.
 
Alberta
Sorry to hear of your problems. I am almost as ignorant as you with technicalities, but your "support" people sound very unsupporting and a bit like con-artists in my view. I am sure Warren would be able to give you advice
 
Gmail is free apart from Google computers picking on key words and targeting ads at you.
I use Gmail and support is free.
I think you can have up to 11 Gmail addresses. I currently have 3.
My ip address is decided by my internet service provider.
If you use Windows you can see everything about your your ip address with the ipconfig command.
You are paying for unecessary 'support' from scam merchants.
 
I know nothing at all about computers other than how to post to BHF.,so sorry if this is a bit of a saga.
until 12 months ago I had a domain email address paid for by my son but decided to give it up and have my
email with gmail. Wanting to be independent we did this alone without my sons help.
We paid for 2 years support but I have been told that gmail doesn't charge for support so believe we had been taken in.
12months on I can accept emails but not send them. My husband called the support people and they say that many 'ports' on my computer IP address have been compromised and it will take £700 to fix, our computer is really old so my husband said we will get a new one.The bloke said that every tablet ,computer, and phone in our house would have the same IP and the only way to fix it other than to pay would be to move house.
Please fellow members is this old lady being taken for a fool.
its sounds a scam. i have 4 laptops.anda android.all on the same home router. i had a email address,what i bought,but the company went bump.so i use gmail.i have 4 email adres addresses. they dont charge you....and if any thing is a bit iffy.like signing in. they send you a message to ask if its you. i once try'd to load norton,and got a message from them saying some one is using my ip. down south,and again in manchester, they did not know my network roams,so trackers have a job,tracking me.
they said pay us £150 and we will clean your pc. what a scam. she is being taken for a fool.. reset the roughter. switch it off for a while or stick a pin in the wee hole in the back shpoul clear the probs.my gmail is google.there support is ok.but if you forget a password,you have no chance they wont help you. much
 
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There are far more knowledgeable folk here then me Alberta. But I suggest you avoid GMail - it was the only mail I ever used that unwanted mail got through. None of the other addresses I use did so. You must have an email address with whoever provides your internet. (BT, TalkTalk etc.) Use that I suggest. You need to keep the GMail one fr logging om for You Tube and their apps (if you have them) but need to use as a general mail address.
 
There are far more knowledgeable folk here then me Alberta. But I suggest you avoid GMail - it was the only mail I ever used that unwanted mail got through. None of the other addresses I use did so. You must have an email address with whoever provides your internet. (BT, TalkTalk etc.) Use that I suggest. You need to keep the GMail one fr logging om for You Tube and their apps (if you have them) but need to use as a general mail address.
i never have spam.or any rubbish emails from google.gmail... my provider is the useless po. they dont give you email service. there very slow but safe.
 
I know nothing at all about computers other than how to post to BHF.,so sorry if this is a bit of a saga.
until 12 months ago I had a domain email address paid for by my son but decided to give it up and have my
email with gmail. Wanting to be independent we did this alone without my sons help.
We paid for 2 years support but I have been told that gmail doesn't charge for support so believe we had been taken in.
12months on I can accept emails but not send them. My husband called the support people and they say that many 'ports' on my computer IP address have been compromised and it will take £700 to fix, our computer is really old so my husband said we will get a new one.The bloke said that every tablet ,computer, and phone in our house would have the same IP and the only way to fix it other than to pay would be to move house.
Please fellow members is this old lady being taken for a fool.
YES:mad:
 
We all have our favourites but I find Gmail very good.
Their security is top notch. If I use a different computer (not my normal ones) to use Gmail I get an immediate security warning on my mobile and also on my normal computers if they are on. They filter out all spam.
I can use it on Win 10, Linux, and my Apple devices.
If you use Windows 10 with a Microsoft account you get a free basic Outlook email ... it has its uses.
If you use an Apple iPad or iPhone you get a free iCloud email ... very useful.
I have the email provided by my ISP ... it works but I don't use it much.
 
We all have our favourites but I find Gmail very good.
Their security is top notch. If I use a different computer (not my normal ones) to use Gmail I get an immediate security warning on my mobile and also on my normal computers if they are on. They filter out all spam.
I can use it on Win 10, Linux, and my Apple devices.
If you use Windows 10 with a Microsoft account you get a free basic Outlook email ... it has its uses.
If you use an Apple iPad or iPhone you get a free iCloud email ... very useful.
I have the email provided by my ISP ... it works but I don't use it much.
there ok. safety warning straight away. if some one trys to log on any of my machines, other than me.
 
If I forget my Gmail password as I did once on my number 3 Gmail account I just have to tell them the name of my first dog, my first RAF camp, my wife's middle name, my favorite holiday resort and they will tell me the password I forgot :cool:
 
Alberta - I've read some rubbish in my time but that takes the biscuit! For a start every device in your house will have a different ip address. These are not to be confused with the address of your router which is the one your service provider uses to provide the service - sometimes it's fixed and sometimes not - you don't need to worry about any of this however!

I have used GMail but it's not my usual one so I'm not too familiar with the setup. Do you get any error messages when you try to send? Did it work then stop or has it never worked? Do you access Gmail in your browser - if so which one eg Chrome, Edge, Internet explorer etc.
 
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It sounds like a scam

What would do you no harm at all is to download the program Malwarebytes it is free & let it check your computer.
Come back if you need guidance on how to download it

 
Out of interest, I use G-Mail and never get any junk e-mails (touch wood). I also have a Hotmail e-mail account, and I get junk e-mails fairly regularly, which is why I never use Hotmail for anything I consider important. One small tip: I change my G-Mail password fairly regularly.

G
 
Out of interest, I use G-Mail and never get any junk e-mails (touch wood). I also have a Hotmail e-mail account, and I get junk e-mails fairly regularly, which is why I never use Hotmail for anything I consider important. One small tip: I change my G-Mail password fairly regularly.

G
me too.:)
 
GMail is excellent. I have many GMail addresses (about a dozen) and never had a problem with them.

>>>We paid for 2 years support

Sorry to say it but you sound as though you have signed up to a "scam" support organization.

There are a number of these scam organizations who "scare" people with technical phrases to get them to pay money to "fix" things that are not wrong.

The story about you having to pay £700 to fix a problem is a TOTAL scam and you should ignore them.

PLEASE do not give this company any more money, and if they phone you saying there are all sorts of problems with your computer then IGNORE them.

If they have asked you to install any programs on your computer then please UNINSTALL THEM (they could be used to spy on you). If you don't know how to do that then get your son (or other friendly neighbour) to do it for you.

GMail is FREE and you don't need to pay anyone to set it up, or use it, or support it.

Do you logon to GMail in your web browser? (you should be able to logon to GMail in ANY browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox etc).

Do you have another device (phone, tablet, other PC etc) where you can logon to Gmail? Or try to go to another persons house and logon to your GMail there, this will verify if it is working correctly or not.

Whatever is stopping GMail working it certainly is NOT what this scam company are saying, they just want to get as much money out of you as they can. PLEASE don't deal with them any more.

Do you know the name of the company, are they based in India by any chance (many of these scam companies are).
 
Tripe! as others have already said, download AVAST let it scan, make a cuppa and relax.

as for gmail do you have office? open outlook add account, insert your gmail and it will auto configure everything for you.
Stop paying money to these people.

IP address being compromised and you need to move yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh.

stop contact with them now and run a virus scan.
 
Thank you everyone.Although we feel really silly at paying for support there was no way we were going to
pay such a hefty sum for anything.
My husband has spent the afternoon on computer reading up on email problems and the answers are exactly the advice your have all given. thanks again. Alberta.
 
There are lots of FREE software downloads to sort out most computer problems. Avast has been mentioned. There is also AVG, Advanced System Care from IO.Bit. Ccleaner (although if not careful, that can remove stored Passwords - untick boxes as necessary), and many more. Although, having too many of the same type can, in itself, cause problems.

I tend to use, and run, on a fairly regular basis, Advanced System Care, and Ccleaner.

Have you got Windows Defender, and have you checked the settings? It is reputed to be quite good. It's the only Firewall I use.

There are also progs that protect when using for Internet Banking. I think the most common is Rapport but, being with TalkTalk, they have their own, although I believe it is downloadable as a separate entity. If I go to any Financial site, Banking, Investments, Utitlities, etc, it will 'block' any other activities including if I want to access 'stored emails' for looking up Passwords or Access Codes - not that I store Passwords in 'plain text'. ;) I store them 'coded'. I send an email to myself with the Password 'coded', and store then accordingly.

For example, at one time I lived at an address in Birmingham with a house number of 184. If I used a Password based on that number the 'coded' email would show "Brum184". Whereas, the 'Brum' part, known only to me, could be Quinton, Handsworth, Erdington, Harborne, Sparkhill, etc, or even Smethwick. My choice. Such provides a 'hint'. I actually use a diiferent system, but that is an example.

That way, from any terminal, from anywhere in the World, once I log on to my emails, I can view my 'stored emails' and my stored 'hints' for accessing Financial, or other sign-in, sites.
 
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