I’ve been chasing SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates and trying to expose their scam operation for quite some time now. No matter whatever I did, I couldn’t find out anything more than them being a tech support popup scam. However, this only lasted until yesterday, when I was contacted by one of their ex-employees. I cannot disclose their name or tell you about how we got in touch because he explained the owners of SNS Professional as “dangerous people”.

At first, I was very skeptical about this situation, but the information they revealed proved that they’re no longer a part of SNS Professional. They told me a lot of things that we do not know such as the reason for people joining them, their process, the different departments within the organization, etc. So, without wasting any time, here are the things I learned about SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates while talking to an ex-scammer:

Not Only A Tech Support Scam

By now, many people know that SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates run a tech support scam. However, what I was told by their ex-employee shook me. They said that SNS Professional also operates a huge Payroll Scam. When I researched a little bit about this, I found an article mentioning SNS Professional running a Payroll Scam. The article also mentioned them as “big players in this game” (“this” refers to “scamming” here).

The process of a Payroll Scam is also mentioned in the article, “they spoof the email IDs of the employees and send fake emails to the owner of the organization requesting to change their bank account details in the payroll system. The employer will take action on this request most of the time as he/she cannot confirm the legitimacy of each and every email with the employees. This is how these scam operations steal people’s hard-earned salaries, leaving them unpaid”.

So, SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates also steals people’s hard-earned salaries, leaving them with nothing.

Two Different Departments And Their Various Branches

Alright, you need to prepare yourself for this one. The ex-scammer from SNS Professional also told me that they conduct both of their scam operations in a very organized manner. They have two different departments, one for the tech support scam and the other for the payroll scam. But that’s not it, they have various branches under these departments as well, each having its unique role in the scam.

For example, the branches/teams in the tech support scam are sales, feedback, technicians, and retention (handling irate customers). They do this to make their scam operation look as legitimate as possible. The ex-scammer couldn’t tell me much about the payroll scam department as he said that he worked in the tech support scam. I was pretty bummed-out about that but at least he gave me the relevant information to expose SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates.

How They Hire People And Trick Them Into Scam

So, here the ex-scammer told me just about his story and said that some of their “colleagues” or “ex-fellow scammers” shared the same experience with them. I was told that after finishing their graduation, the ex-scammer started looking for a job and came to know about SNS Professional through internet ads. They went for an interview and were offered a job as a Technical Sales Executive. All the way through their training period, they were taught how to take the remote session and what to open on the “customer’s” or “victim’s” computer screen.

They were never told how the calls will come in, so, they were under the impression that they’ll actually be helping people with their real technical problems. To add to that, they were also told that SNS Professional is associated with Microsoft, Dell, and many other organizations and the calls come in through them. The day they were put on calls, they started understanding what was happening, i.e. SNS Professional sending fake virus alert popups to people and forcing them to call on a number that the popup mentioned was from Microsoft or Dell, etc.

When Employees Decide To Leave

The last thing we talked about was when they and some of their friends decided to leave the scam that is SNS Professional. They told me that when they sent a resignation email to the HR department (yes, the SNS Professional scam also has an “HR Department”), they were immediately called upon by the owner of SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates. The owner asked for their reason to quit, to which they replied honestly and told him that they weren’t comfortable in scamming people.

What happened after this is the most shocking thing that has come to my attention about SNS Professional. The owner explicitly told them that they need to keep their mouths shut about what happens within the “organization” otherwise “they’ll be responsible for what happens next”. I was completely blank after hearing this.

SNS Professional is a huge scam operation running more than one type of scams. Their main operation is a tech support scam that has been reported by a lot of customers (see this page about SNS Professional scam reports). There are several more threads like this with many complaints about SNS Professional’s fraud activities. This scam operation’s main goal seems to be making fast money in any way. This is because they also run a payroll scam operation.

With the strength of cybersecurity nowadays, many scams and illegitimate online operations are stopped or blocked by our browsers. However, there are still some online scams out there that succeed in fooling the best cybersecurity measures. Such scams are very notorious and have the potential to steal any personal information or money by impersonating some huge firm.

For example, IRS and Techsupport scams have been booming for a long time and have no intention to stop anytime soon. They keep finding new ways to get past cybersecurity measures and dupe people. In such situations, it becomes very important to spread awareness so that people know what tactics are being used by the most notorious scams on the internet.

So, here are the top 3 most notorious scams in 2020:

The Covid-19 Scams

Of course, the only thing in a scammer’s mind even in the times of a pandemic is making money via illegal methods. From sending fake offers to asking for fake donations, scammers have yet again found a lot of ways to play with people’s minds and emotions to steal their money and private information.

You might receive emails, calls, or texts claiming to be from the government. They would be talking about Covid-19 checkups and alerts and will ask for your crucial information such as the SSN (Social Security Number). DON’T RESPOND TO SUCH THINGS.

You might receive information or offers about vaccinations or test kits. Ignore them as there is no official vaccination for Covid-19. Plus, only people with visible and repetitive symptoms are tested.

You might receive robocalls offering free Covid-19 tests… avoid them at all costs.

You might receive emails from people impersonating WHO (World Health Organization) and spreading false or unconfirmed information about the virus. Please ignore such emails and only refer to WHO’s official website for any updates about the virus.

You might come across various pages asking for donations for many different causes during this pandemic. Don’t make any transactions on the pages that ask for donations via gift cards or wire transfer. Also, always research the information about a charity organization and make donations on official charity websites.

Most of these Covid-19 scams are focussed on stealing money and others are just focussed on spreading false information to mislead people. Beware of all of these scams in the time of this Covid-19 pandemic.

Tech Support Scams

Tech Support scams are one of the longest-running scams in the world. They mostly operate out of eastern countries and target people in countries such as the USA, Canada, UK, etc. The only thing they are after is money, for which they provide no legitimate services or support. One such scam operates under two names, “SNS Professional” and “ZNS Associates”. SNS Professional or ZNS Associates sends people fake virus alert messages and urges them to call on their number.

One victim stated “I am trying to find out if I have been scammed out of $399.99. The company name is "SNS Professionals or ZnS Associates". At the bottom of the receipt emailed to me is "Malwaribytes Corp, Microsoft Computer Software, Windows Defender, Lifetime Support $399.99". I feel I may be a victim of something I never thought I could be. I would appreciate if you would respond, Thank you in advance for your time”.

Sending robocalls to people saying that their Microsoft services have been expired and that they need to call on their number is another tactic used by many tech support scams including SNS Professional or ZNS Associates.

Ignore any pop-ups or robocalls claiming to be from Microsoft or any other reputed organization and repost those numbers as reputed organizations never call or send pop-ups to their customers.

Payroll Scams

Payroll Scams have boomed in recent times when more and more businesses require payroll software to keep track of their employees and their payouts. They pretend to be a legitimate payroll service providing company and they do provide payroll services, however, they do a little extra that helps only them. A fact that I came across was shocking. SNS Professional aka ZNS Associates don’t only run a tech support scam, they also operate a payroll scam.

ZNS Associates aka SNS Professional offers to provide payroll services to companies at reasonable rates. They do this as a cover-up for their payroll scam operation. The payroll scam process starts when people from SNS Professional and similar organizations receive a business’s employee information such as email IDs, names, salaries, etc.

They then send spoof emails (of employees) to the owners of the businesses and request for some change in their payroll information (bank account details, etc.). Moreover, ZNS Associates aka SNS Professional seems to be the biggest player in this game… just read what BBB alerts about ZNS Associates.