The free version regularly scans your device for remote connection tools such as TeamViewer which are commonly used by scammers to get on your computer and steal your personal information. It also blocks all of these websites. This version is why I’m posting because I want people to be protected from scams that my own family have been victims of.
The premium version is only 2 dollars a month and has other features such as blocking thousands of scam websites and notifying select family members if your loved on tries to install one of these connection tools.
If you have elderly or vulnerable family members, consider installing the free version! It’s so quick and could protect everything they have someday.
(Crossposted to other tech communities and Reddit, trying to get the word out!)
Why should I get another damn subscription? Why not just block teamviewer.com on the router?
I hear you, monthly subscriptions can be a killer financially. The team that made this knew that releasing the free version might hurt their finances in the long run but they genuinely want to help protect people from being scammed.
I will say the paid version is as cheap as they could possibly make it, they may have to up the price in the future to keep paying staff but I appreciate how much they’re trying to make it accessible.
If I was in a position to I’d pay for the subs for my parents and grandparents (maybe in the future), but at least I was able to get them the free version for now!
Someone needs to curate and maintain the blocklist. Paying for software once is a surefire way to have it stop blocking anything a few years down the line because the company stopped updating their lists when the sales ran out.
If you pay a set fee for something that requires continuous maintainance you’re either overpaying enough to compensate for cash flow interruptions or you’re at risk of the software being discontinued. The latter is especially true if you’re getting stuff for free, but in that case you’re also not entitled to any service.
As for “why not block teamviewer at the router”: because then anydesk will still work. And if you block anydesk, Microsoft Remote Support will work. And if you block Microsoft Remote Support, RustDesk will work. And if you try to block every single RustDesk server, grandpa’s internet probably no longer works anymore, because you’ve just blocked off every data center in the world.
Ok, gramps. I blocked TeamViewer on the router to stop scammers.
Two months later, gramps has a small problem with the internet connection. The first thing the helpdesk tells him to do is factory reset the router.
Gramps gets scammed through TeamViewer.
Although I agree with you on subscriptions in general, it is not quite as easy as blocking just one site. There are more popular remote desktop software than a regular person could list easily.
But maybe the good news is, that if blocking is enough for you, that’s in the free version, right?