Jovahn Jek
map-marker Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Taking Legal Action

Updated by user Jan 21, 2019

We are thinking of suing Sitelock, HostGator, and/or EIG in relation to their reporting of phishing malware on our website and their "offer" to help us eliminate it. We have an attorney and have hired a professional internet security cleaning company in this regard.

We do not need money from you, but we would like to know if any of you have been affected by similar actions of these companies and want to join us as plaintiffs in a lawsuit. If so, please private message me.

Original review Dec 26, 2018
Hello there! I met with my legal department and we will start legal action against this company . My business has become victim of this Sitelock & Hostgator scheme as well. My websites had been hijacked, in order for us to purchase their services to "clean" the so call infectious files we remove ourselves whenever they sent their emails with sales pitches. They had push it to the limit this time suspending our LIVE websites, which include an active online store, until we contract them. If anyone would like to be included in this lawsuit please contact me via PM, there are details I rather not discuss in an open forum since now it has become a legal matter. Thank you!
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2 comments
Guest

We are having that issue now

Guest

We had same issue.

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Evan T Mck
map-marker Litchfield, Connecticut

Site Lock is a Website Leach

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One day when attempting to upload files to my server they had automatically become deleted immediately after upload. When I looked in the filezilla feedback windows it read 550-Virus Detected and Removed: SiteLock-HTML-SEOSPAM-rje.UNOFFICIAL I never ever ordered site lock!!. When I contacted fatcow they had no idea how this happened, which shows how lacking the security of fatcow is. I even uploaded a totally blank html file as a test and they deleted that too saying it had a virus. Stay away from sitelock. They are rude and intrusive and report tons of false positives.
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Loss:
$1
Cons:
  • Wait on phone for hours listening to stupid hold music
Reason of review:
Never ordered them.

Preferred solution: Get off my sites!!!!!!!! Stop raping my websites!

Bend O
map-marker Los Angeles, California

Unethical

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Email sent about scan they did...I sent email to my host company about their practices. Evidently email went directly to them...and 60 minutes later they had my sites closed down. Called what I thought was my host company...and they were going to charge $300 to clean it up...unless I signed up.
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Reason of review:
Unethical
Anonymous
map-marker Parsippany, New Jersey

Obviously a Sham

This company is a sham. THe inject malware via cheap hosting service so hosting company gets a huge affliate payment. what are you gonna do.

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1 comment
Franklyn Elr

We have years of experience being brought in after SiteLock or one of their web hosting partners has claimed that a website hacked with malware. While we have repeatedly seen and heard claims like yours that SiteLock is causing the malware to be on websites, we have yet to seen any evidence to support that and plenty that disputes that.

Instead of spending time falsely blaming SiteLock for malware being on a website, what those in this situation should focus on is first getting a second opinion on whether the website has in fact been hacked, because they are very real issues with SiteLock and their hosting partners falsely claiming that websites are infected with malware or otherwise hacked, and then getting the website properly cleaned up if it is hacked.

We are always happy to provide a free second opinion and we would hope that other reputable security companies would as well. From what we have seen SiteLock won't properly clean up websites, so it would be best to avoid them if the website does need to be cleaned.

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Bruno Ipj

Pressure selling and telling lies.

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Sitelock - Pressure selling and telling lies.
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My website is hosted at bluehost. I got an email from sitelock about a malware and my account was instantly deactivated.

I logged in to the live chat asking for Security, then I got a call from a weird dude from SITELOCK.

This guy started asking me how much money I make from that website, and tried to convince me to pay +$700 a year to have the malware removed and some firewall installed.

After I repeatedly told him I have no money to invest in that BLOG, he actually told me:

"Use someone else's money. Just use a credit card."

Every time I told him that I just needed to remove the malware, he would try to scare me saying that it wont work, they will come back, hiring SiteLock is the ONLY way.

I felt creeped out and hung up.

After some google searches I realized those guys are a scam.

Went to the live chat again and asked to speak with customer support.

A Bluehost guy told me that all I had to do was delete 3 files on the file manager and the account would be reactivated.

I did that in 3 minutes and solved the problem.

Sitelock is a scam.

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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
7 comments
Guest

This is exactly what happened to me and they are attacking me again right now for domain that I don't own for years now. Sometimes they insert themselves as bluehost customer support.

They are scammers. I paid, I forgot how much but the sum was biting.

Then, I made stink throughout bluehost and they returned my payment and I was able to remove 1 file from my directory and that was it. Now, they started to send me ominous emails again but for domain that I don't own and don't care.

Guest

This holds no real basis, as all of these comments could easily be from competitors to SiteLock....

Guest

They basically extorted money from me, in the middle of a marketing campaign I realized my website didn't work. Called Blue Host and they said that the site had been compromised.

So they transferred me to SiteLock, obviously they get a kick back. They want to charge $50 per month per site to monitor, I told them this is just a one page site that I just made WTF?!?! I had to pay them to get the site back up, did not have time to deal with it. All these people are now clicking to go to a non-working website so I had to pay them whatever I had to.

They told me I could get out of the contract within three months, that was a lie. They want to lock you in for a year! I then read reviews, they are a SCAM!! Blue Host and Host Gator apparently are both doing this, if Blue Host is going to refer their clients to this SCAM of a company I said the *** with Blue Host.

I moved all my websites and domains to SiteGround, they have been great! So I canceled my credit card, then started transferring everything. Site Lock immediately called me and then tried to hit my credit card again, well before any payments were due!! Screw them, and on top of it I am still getting "complimentary reports" from SiteLock saying my website is being compromised, hello, I MOVED THEM ALL.

They have no access to my websites any longer and they are working just fine!! They suck, if your website goes down call Blue Host and ask them to help you locate the files that are affecting your website that you do not want to work with SiteLock.

Then if they give you issues like they did me, cause I did ask Blue Host to help remove the files but they were reluctant to do so. I say move all your stuff away, cancel your Blue Host account and above all, stay away from SiteLock!!

Guest

you are right dude. they are scam....

Guest

Had similiar experince - host gator locked account for issues, recommend site lock, they quoted, then prince with 10X higher during night when pron was redicrting after they took control. Beware

Guest

I experienced a similar episode with BlueHost. Quite frankly, I think hosting companies are far too aggressively focused on upselling services that in my experience are highly questionable or in many cases the representatives providing support aren't adequately trained.

Guest

My hosting company offers a package with some basic Sitelock features which doesn't cost much. All along I was under the impression that my website was secure via the hosting company and the added Sitelock bonus.

I then noticed a loss of functionality in my site in which someone changed a couple of permalinks. I didn't view that as malicious malware but as suspicious. I fixed the issue, reported it to the hosting company and within a week a get a call from Sitelock telling me something is not configured properly. This is after having this for a few years.

The reason sounded flaky, the Sitelock representative tried to hard sell me as if my site was in mortal danger.

Hosting sites make a lot of money because of the high fees associated with Sitelock. I can't say with absolute certainty that there is a real pressing need for this service, but my gut feel tells me it's not worth the money.

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Anonymous
map-marker Scottsdale, Arizona

Gets your money with malware and web hosting suspension

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My sites were hosted with Bluehost and I received an email one day that my sites were infected with malware and my entire account and all the websites were suspended immediately with no warning.

I tried to contact Bluehost's technical support and was given a phone number to call to fix the malware on my websites and it turned out to be a salesperson from Sitelock.

I was wary about paying them any money because I saw that there were complaints online about it being an extortion scam between Sitelock and Bluehost (and other EIG hosting companies) but Sitelock was manipulative and told me that I would not get my websites back unless I paid them $500 and they said if I tried to go with another malware cleaning site and it wasn't properly cleaned, I could be banned from the hosting company forever.

I paid them $500 to clean the sites and allegedly protect my websites from future attacks. A few hours later they said my sites were clean but then a few days later I got a notice that my sites were reinfected with malware. I realized at this point that Sitelock was only scanning my sites and was not cleaning anything else. They tried to upsell me to pay several hundred dollars more to re-clean my sites just a couple days after they allegedly fixed the problem (which they obviously did not).

They were also very aggressive sales people, not technical support, and they lied to me several times. They were sexist and used phrases like "Let me explain this in a way that you would understand..."

I called to cancel my account and was told clearly that my account would be canceled. They never sent an email confirmation so I emailed later on and asked them to confirm the cancellation and said that there was no record of me calling to cancel. I had to get on the phone again and talk to half a dozen people in order to get my account cancelled and got everything in writing this time so they could not lie to me again or continue to charge me.

Do not do business with these people.

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Pros:
  • Extortion
Cons:
  • Poor practices
  • Scare tactics
Aaliah Sfc

I believe SiteLock hacked my websites

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I had just renewed my subscription to bluehost and i truly regret it. All seven of my websites were hacked. Bluehost is partnered with Sitelock. Sitelock contacted me first to tell me my websites were hacked a few days ago. Bluehost deactivated my account 2 days later and then informed me of this in an email also.

I have never had a site hacked with any other webhost. I think it a strange coincidence that suddenly now ALlL my sites were hacked.

At first, I innocently called Sitelock and spoke to a rep. She asked me what kind of sites i had - any e-commerce that would bring in revenue? They forwarded me to a web page with quotes of $50/$70 or more a month to protect my websites. That's a lot of $ for a small business! I'm sorry, but I instinctively smelled a scam, and told the representative what i thought.

She, of course, denied it - but i reiterated my take on the situation. She hung up the phone with a snide "Good luck with your sites".

Now, all my websites are down. I asked bluehost if they would reactivate my account if i deleted all my current files and then request they do a "restore" using an older server backup. They said they would, but i only see a small portion of of my originals - no whole websites. Actually, nothing anyone csn even look at.

I believe this episode was a total scam. Hope someone sues bluehost/SiteLock or starts a class action suit against them!

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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
1 comment
Guest

I heavily suspect that SiteLock are hacking websites. I have many clues that point toward them.

When I have been victim from their attempt, they tried to ask me 70$/month to resolve a stupidly easy thing to resolve. In my opinion SiteLock are bandits.

Martin T Ckt
map-marker Scottsdale, Arizona

I new this was a scam from the beginning and I was right.

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This is a total rip off. They make the promise of fixing your website then extort money from you. I could have fixed the problem myself had I taken the time.
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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
nick m Lsm
map-marker Scottsdale, Arizona

Appalling service that just does not work

These guys are a con. They tell you your site is infected but won't say how or what the issue actually is. They do try to sell you a new service though.
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Pros:
  • Harrasing
  • Extortion
Cons:
  • Harassment
  • Relentless calling
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund

brian A Zsw
map-marker Scottsdale, Arizona

Ripp-off customers

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My year package was renewed not long time ago and wanted to cancel, but they refused to refund the rest. Don't do business with this company. There are others at lower cost than this company. This company is just about your money. not worth headaches. They policy is completely unacceptable on how they can take advantage of customers. They don't know even bother to issue any refunds and they are all about making money without earning it. Their staff are not properly trained and they also made clear that this the final answer and refused to transfer call to their managers. Sitelock security is the worst company. Don't do business with them.
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Loss:
$100
Cons:
  • Not transparent
  • Worst support
  • Unorganzised
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund

mike c Ams

They wont stop calling, scam

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They prey on you via hostgator inside information. Their relentless account reps wont stop calling, ever. Their information is not accurate, a google scan done today shows my sites are free and clear of malware but their money hungry reps say no, they are going to suspend and blacklist. They use threats to extort money out of you and make you scared that they will take your site offline if you do not sign up for their monitoring or site malware scan or removal services. I highly recommend you not use them, they are the worst. They are scammers and host gator sends them the call lists of their customer to call and harass.
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Pros:
  • Extortion
  • Scary
  • Harrasing
Cons:
  • Scare tactics
  • Extort
  • Relentless calling
Reason of review:
Pricing issue

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

Anonymous

Pushy Salespeople, Total Scam

Received a call today from Sitelock. I had their service on my previous web host nearly two years ago. They called and said they had "concerns" about my site and the security issues. I checked with my current provider and they scanned my site as part of their hosting services.

Guess what? NO ISSUES.

The Sitelock guy called me back and after telling him more about how his own security service worked than he knew, he told me that there weren't any actual issues with my site but that there was "risk" and that Sitelock was taking a risk with my site. This is hard to understand since Sitelock doesn't host my site, they don't pay for the hosting, nor do they do anything to maintain my site.

Eventually, he was going to tell me about their "services" that range from $30 to over $150 to help with my "risk".

The only thing at risk here is the money I would have lost to Sitelock. DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THEM!

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Ilan C Ory

Got ripped off

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Why you should not subscribe to this plan: I subscribed and got my site hacked. Called SiteLock and spoke with them, they sold me a "super scanning plan" that will entirely scan my site and remove any malware from it. Great. Two days later, my site gets massively hacked, the root file gets erased, they have no backup, so I lost everything. I call HostGator to cancel my subscription because I purchased it through HostGator, HostGator sends me an email saying that the plan will be canceled. Then a few weeks later, I get an email from SiteLock saying that my credit card will be billed soon. I call them, and of course, it's impossible to cancel my plan, so I'm locked in for a year at $65 per month for a totally useless service.
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Loss:
$270
Cons:
  • No security
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised

Preferred solution: Full refund

Anonymous

Constant Sales Calls And Messages on My Cellphone

I signed up with Host Gator for a personal website. I don't need or want e-commerce or SSL and I didn't choose this feature. I think it was included but may have been 1 month free or something like that. I Immediately started getting phone calls from Sitelock everyday about an alert on my website and they wanted to talk about security. My website wasn't even set up yet so clearly a sales call. I hate sales calls with a passion especially when they leave messages every single day. Why don't these dirt bags get it when you don't return their calls? Why do they think it's okay to harass people that didn't ask to be called? Host Gator supposedly doesn't sell your personal information but they are the only ones that could have shared my phone number. I canceled my hosting service with Host Gator and won't sign up with another one that uses this company. I hope they see this review and I hope more people will complain about being contacted without permission. If I want to buy something I will initiate the contact and I view constant sales calls on my personal cell phone as harassment.
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Reason of review:
Problems with payment
jen y
map-marker Scottsdale, Arizona

Website redirect

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Watch out for your EIG hosting company, hostmonster or bluehost, to change your .htaccess file. They will add redirects so that on mobile phones the site will go to a *** site. If you call the hosting company they will try to sell you SiteLock protection and cleaning services. They will say that you are infected with malware. It is unethical fraud. get the chat tech support to clean the .htaccess file change your hosting provider away from an EIG owned company. They are unethical. Never use bluehost or hostmonster. They have gone to the dark side.
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Loss:
$799
Cons:
  • High pressure sales and unethical practices
Reason of review:
scam

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

1 comment
Guest

Happened to me. This week has been ***