I was watching TV today and a commercial came on for a company telling me they could clean my computer of all its errors. They claim if you go to their site, they can look at your computer, find out what’s wrong, and fix it, thereby making your computer faster.

It’s a scam. I will not mention names here, as the company who owns the majority of these websites is very litigious. They are known for suing people and websites who mention their name. Even though the author is giving an honest review of their site.

Let me state that any company that offers that service through a TV ad via a downloaded program is not being honest. If you go to the site, it will claim it’s scanning your computer, then tell you it’s found all sorts of errors. Then the pitch. A popup window will offer you the service. I’ve heard prices ranging from $29.99 to over $250.

If you accept and pay them, then it will download a program. This program may clean your temporary files and do a registry optimization. But chances are there is nothing wrong with your computer in the first place, or at least nothing that one of my fixes found in these earlier columns of mine, cannot clean up. And the programs I point you to are free.

Still not convinced? Let’s see some comments from people who have used the TV sites:

“I wish I had seen this before purchasing their program, it cost me $230.00 and my personal info is now threatened……beware my friends, stay clear of these crooks!!!”

“Its a huge SCAM. They charge you $29.99 to show you your computers errors then want you to pay $160.00 a year to fix them. They don’t tell you any of this on there(sic) website.”

“I know someone who did install (the) software on a brand new and clean installation of Windows XP Professional just to see what would happen. The software found OVER 500 problems and also said to “fix” the problems it will cost $29.95 etc.”

“I just heard the commercial and was curious on the reviews. My company has been providing network infrastructure support for almost 15 years and we thought we saw it all. Advertising on TV, that takes nerve. Everyone should remember, ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely a scam.’”

“PEOPLE – DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM (company name) I.E.- (website), ETC. IT WONT FIX YOUR COMPUTER AND THEY PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR MONEY. STILL NO REFUND AND AT THIS POINT I PROBABLY WONT EVER SEE MY $29.89 AGAIN. THEY ARE THIEVES THAT TAKE YOUR MONEY AND MAKE YOUR COMPUTERS WORSE. JUST SAY NO!!!!!”

If you really want to clean up your computer and are not sure how to do it, call a certified professional to assist you. Don’t rely on advertisers who you have never heard of. They can save you a lot of grief and money over the long run.