Complaint Review: Aspire Marketing

I was conducting classroom research for teaching summer school when suddenly my computer froze, a pop up window opened and started blaring a warning siren and a female voice was shouting at me that my computer had been compromised and that the operating system was corrupted. The recorded message kept repeating that I had to call the number listed on my screen in order to resolve the problem. It was very loud and very scary! I was completely unable to click out of anything, close any Windows, or even start the task manager - I was literally forced to call the number. A foreign man (Indian perhaps?) named Sunny answered the call and proceeded to explain that he was a certified Microsoft technician and that he could resolve the problem by remote access. He was able to turn the pop up siren off, but I was very skeptical of his intentions. He proceeded to remotely open a search tab on my computer showing his company as one of the listed certified Microsoft technicians, assuring me that he was legitimate and endorsed by Microsoft. He also explained that I was a victim of "click jacking" which apparently causes you to download a virus upon the click of a web link or search engine result. He showed me some report on my computer that showed I had over 3000 unresolved issues (which made me wonder why I even pay for the Norton antivirus crap if this was happening) and then showed me the Samsung website price quotes of what they would charge me to have the computer cleaned and the issues resolved from the manufacturer. I was very freaked out by this point and agreed to allow them to "fix" my computer. He then transferred me to another technician that spent the next two hours remotely cleaning my computer . . . .for the same price that Samsung would have charged me (@ $200). When they called me back to confirm they were done, they left a notepad memo on my desktop with their contact number, the amount that they charged me, and a renewal cleaning price quote for yearly maintenance. They also wanted me to have a password to repeat to any other technicians that might call to gain access to my computer to protect me from fraud in the future. Two days later I received a call from an American follow up salesman that wanted to ensure that I was happy with the service (I had not used the computer again because I was still sketchy) and encouraged me to contact them every couple of months to have the computer cleaned and checked over.  I later found my Credit card charged to an appliance store in Australia and new software installed on my computer that I cannot access. Upon further research (this site included) I discovered hat I had been scammed and immediately disconnected my computer from the internet until I can have it debugged. Also, I am now frantically changing all passwords to all my accounts from my mobile device and cancelling all credit card transactions. I will be monitoring my credit report for identity theft. This scam truly holds you hostage as you cannot get out of it and they seemingly offer the only lifeline . . . But at what cost??