Archive for the ‘Aware Bear Computers’ Category

More gibberish from Aware Bear Computers (on AA Computers USA)

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

It’s difficult not to roll around on the floor laughing when looking at the latest feeble attempts by Andre Leite Alves to bombard search engines with a lot of gibberish in the (idle) hope of getting rid of many of the negative and critical exposure of Aware Bear Computer Repair.

The most recent attempts include Andre trying to frantically and fanatically putting out a lot of unreadable gibberish on a blog hosted at BLOG i360, using an old domain he’s got for AA computers USA (go ahead, you can find it if you try). This host claims that “By automating traffic-generating functions, making site content management 6th grade simple, and integrating pushbutton easy online persuasion tools — now you can finally have a web site that works hard FOR you; giving you more time, more money and more of the freedom every business owner wants”. You have to wonder just how well this works for Aware Bear Computers because certainly it doesn’t seem to, and won’t. Not now, not ever. But I guess Andre may have different ideas about that. Or, at the very least, high hopes. You’ve got to love the way Andre also uses BOLD and ITALICS to emphasize things to search engines.

Please feel free to look at the unconventional and funny way that Andre elected to use tags for his computer repair ‘business’ in Rochester. Also notice how Andre attempts to add new names into the mix to make the ‘business’ look like it has actual employees (something that clearly isn’t the case unless you consider passing the phone along and trying to fool people is the same thing as having staff). Adding names like Mike James, Mike A, Matt P, etc.

No, those aren’t abbreviated to protect the hapless, these are the names as added to what Andre passes off as “articles”. Single letter abbreviated names, just like the media has standardized on when mentioning suspects and potential criminals in newspaper articles and on TV. That sure makes Aware Bear Computers look a lot better. Or perhaps Andre is being more honest about the alleged criminality that the abbreviated surnames imply.

One has to wonder when Andre Alves is going to finally realize that there is really nothing he can do about all this. Especially when trying to do so with a total lack of understanding, insight, and knowledge on how search engine optimization really works. Of course, when he finally can figure it out, it’ll be in vain yet again because there’s always someone more skilled that will undo any ranking gained from Aware Bear’s spam blogging.

Instead, let’s look forward to the next series of attempts. After all, while it may not serve any of the intended purposes that Andre “Aware Bear” Alves passionately hopes and begs for, it sure serves the purpose of frequent laughter  (at the expense of Andre, but that’s by his choice).

Anyone who can stand to read through even a single “blog post” written by Andre Leite Alves would probably tell him to not give up his day job because writing is certainly not an ability. Of course, many others would argue that Andre should give up his “day job” because there are already too many dissatisfied, disgruntled, and conned former customers of Aware Bear Computer Repair. You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Another dissatisfied customer of Aware Bear Computers

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

The website received the following comments and information (5/3/2009). Thanks for the comments and details Andrea!

Hi everyone.  Rochester native here to let you all know that I recently had a semi-personal experience with Awarebear, and they’re just as bad as everyone says.  I already made sure to post a terrible review on their Yahoo! Local page, but who knows if that will make any difference.

My friend had her computer worked on by this company.  Normally I would be glad to do the work for her but I was out of town at the time.  I found out when she later started having problems updating Windows that they had reinstalled the OS on her computer and used the WPAKill hack to bypass the need for a CD-KeyWhy would a company do this when she already has a legitimate Windows CD-Key sticker on the desktop?  Not only are they using illegal copies of Windows but I presume they must be stealing these good CD-Keys and using them for their own systems.

On top of that, attempts to contact their office and some light research left me with a few other interesting tidbits of information.

1) They seem to have only a few employees, and the technician my friend had was (I believe) the owner Andre Alves.  From what she tells me, he seemed to know his stuff technically (this coming from a woman that doesn’t know much herself, though) but he didn’t seem very trustworthy.  She let him do the reinstall anyways because she needed it done quickly.

2) The person who takes their calls is a sleezebag.  He doesn’t know anything about computers but he knows a lot about bullshit.  I found it very funny that their website has a picture of some employees from a call center (that they probably stole as well) but when you call it’s always the same scuzzy guy answering.

3) You simply cannot get a hold of the owner neither by asking for him by name or by title.  Asking for a manager will get you one of their few employees probably faking a job as manager.  They like to use the word “transfer” (as in “let me transfer you to XXXX”) when they obviously are just giving the phone to someone nearby.  Another example of their attempt to put on an act.

4) The address they have listed in the Rochester Yellow Pages is FAKE! How can they think they can get away with this?  The address listed is actually that of a large sports complex.  Turns out their real office is actually residential zoned, it’s in someone’s (probably the owner’s) house.

I found this website after I discovered the problem with her “new” Windows installation so I thought it best that I post here since I don’t see any activity on the comments section since February.  Just letting everyone know these guys are still in business and still scamming Rochester’s citizens.

I’m going to do my best to make sure as many people know about their crap as possible.

Here is Andrea’s comment on the local Yahoo ad for Aware Bear Computers. We have saved this because Andre Leite Alves has a tendency to delete his listings once there are too many negative comments and reviews. Then he waits a few days in the hope that people forget about it and then creates a new listing.

DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE!

My friend had her computer worked on by their “professional” technicians who installed a hacked (read: illegal) copy of Microsoft Windows on her computer. Sure they’re cheap, but it’s because they don’t follow the rules. You also can’t get a hold of anyone important at their office, the owner is conveniently never in, and they list a FAKE ADDRESS in the freaking phone book of all places.

Since I found out that hey had used a fake copy of Windows on her computer I researched the company and discovered that the Internet is full of complaints about them. Don’t believe ANYTHING on their website or anything they tell you, they are very, very sketchy people. Don’t be fooled by the pretty pictures on their website that don’t belong to them, or the facade they put on to trick you into thinking they’re legitimate.

Don’t trust these people with your computer and your personal files and information! You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Andre afraid to use his ‘company’ name

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Something we had already been made aware of but now have gotten confirmed (by someone at Craigslist) is that Andre Leite Alves has become too afraid to use his ‘company’ name (Aware Bear a.k.a. Aware Bear Computers) because that name has been tarnished by his own incompetent actions.

In previous times Andre Leite Alves advertised his (dis)services on the Rochester Craigslist, using the company name Aware Bear. These days he is too afraid to use the name Aware Bear, or even his own name because it has proven to be very easy for people to go online and look up the names and find a truckload of information.

Instead, he is now anonymously advertising on the Rochester Craigslist, offering services such as computer recyling (and offering to “pickup anyone’s old, used computer at your house or work, and give you up to $5 to $10 whether it’s a working or non-working PC” as long as “old PC needs to be a Pentium 3 or better in order for us to pick it up” and claiming they specialize in “computer refurbishing and repair, as well as PC tuneups and upgrades”). If you consider causing damage and increasing your cost to take it to competent experts to be “repair”, that is. Because that’s what Aware Bear is known for, being amateurs.

Andre Leite Alves of Aware Bear Computers in Rochester New York now known as Pinocchio : Two LIARS side by side

Andre Leite Alves known as Pinocchio : Two LIARS side by side

There are various ads that Aware Bear is posting, hoping people will respond to the Craigslist provided response address without having to expose the name in order for people to look it up and find out exactly who is offering these “services”. One of the ads claims that they will perform Troubleshooting and Analysis, Virus and Spyware Removal, System Upgrades, Custom PC Builds, Improve your PC speed, Home Networking Setup, Hard Drive backup/replacement, System Cleaning (temp and registry files), Home Onsite visits at no extra charge, Software installation/uninstallation, Installation of Windows Operating Systems, and Free pickup of your PC for repair.

If you wonder why Andre Leite Alves is now refraining from using his name or that of Aware Bear Computers, perhaps you should read the various sections on this website and learn all about how this “company” passes off other people’s materials and efforts as its own just like you would expect from a Great Pretender that has frequently been caught creating fake awards to make themselves look more reliable. You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Aware Bear Web Design tries to pass off templates as their own

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Over at Mr. Didak’s blog there is a very interesting and informative comment from Kent in Norway who has been very observant and noticed something particular about how Aware Bear offers their Web Design services. Kent writes:

LOL He claim to be a Web designer, and uses thumbnail of Templates from Templatemonster on his promotion pic on his site awarebear.com/design.html

From the picture behind :-)

templatemonster.com/website-templates/17078.html
templatemonster.com/website-templates/17065.html
templatemonster.com/website-templates/16998.html
templatemonster.com/swish-templates/16869.html

Well On the Last template it says RESPECT!

I don’t know if this guy can read, or in any other way have Respect for anything, specially the Copyright law. But WTH, maybe he sue TM for stealing his designs to :-)

Wow, Kent! That’s a really great discovery. There have been doubts about those thumbnails on the aware bear website because the web design activities of Andre Leite Alves over the past months have shown a complete inability and incompetence in even creating the simplest of layouts and designs. Then again, the website of Aware Bear Computers itself is a great example of how not to create a site. You would think that a company that pretends to build websites for businesses would at least have a decent website of their own as a showcase of their abilities. Instead, Aware Bear hopes that the thumbails from the Template Monster templates are going to fool potential customers.

It is possible that the “web design” page at Aware Bear is going to undergo some changes again to remove those and replace them with something else (or something stolen  from somewhere else) because it wouldn’t be the first time that happens. Here’s an example. If you use any cache or archive engine that has the site of Aware Bear in its system and look at the changes between time intervals you will notice the following changes (and those four web designs in cascaded mode are the templates from Template Monster):

Aware Bears web design services page before the changes

Aware Bear's web design services page BEFORE the changes

Aware Bears web design services page AFTER the changes

Aware Bear's web design services page AFTER the changes

Spot the differences?

Exactly. The office picture in there (which had also been photoshoped to include the Aware Bear sign) has been replaced with an e-mail address. Of course this was ANOTHER case of “stealing someone’s office picture to pretend Aware Bear is a real company”. The second change is the “fire” picture at the bottom center which has been replaced with the car with the Aware Bear Logo on it. Andre Leite Alves really likes photoshopping his logo onto things. I think Aware Bear is correct in the marketing test that goes along with those stolen images, though. It reads:

“Even the average consumer has developed an advanced eye for good advertising”.

Certainly Kent has proven that there are also people who have an “advanced eye” when it comes to FALSE ADVERTISING, especially when it’s yet more false advertising from Aware Bear Computers and Andre Leite Alves. :-) You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Feeble search spam and fake review attempts

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Anyone who does some deep searching on the public activities and behavior of Andre Leite Alves and his “company” Aware Bear Computers (that claims to do computer repair, software installations, computer recyling, home theater installations, programming of remote controls, and even wedding photography) will discover that many of the positive reviews that AwareBear gets on their various “yellow pages” type advertisements on the internet are riddled with the same spelling errors and grammar mistakes and often use copied sentences that are word for word identical.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Andre Leite Alves is responsible for posting his own positive reviews, something that over at RocWiki he has already been caught doing in the past. Maybe Andre believes that people he deals with are less intelligent than himself and would therefore fall for this kind of questionable and fraudulent business practice. And what’s with those blogger accounts he created in order to post even more advertisements for his “business” and alternating between Andre Leite Alves and Arthur Leite. I don’t think I’ve seen any such acts of utter desperation before, from anyone.

A very recent discovery was made by Jim and posted to the original blog post that started the many discoveries about Andre Leite Alves. Jim reported that, “They also have images on their site stolen from Alienware and Apple. I started looking into these guys over the summer, checked out their DBA and it was filed in 2006, so to say they’ve been in business for 15 years is ridiculous, they are in their mid 20’s. I posted a negative review on their yahoo local page and they somehow got it removed, and then 2 blatantly fake ones popped up. So I posted another, and they managed to get that removed also.”

In addition to Jim’s findings, it is also clear that misrepresentation is common to anything that involves Andre Leite Alves and Aware Bear because that listing mentioned on the yahoo local pages shows the year that Aware Bear was established to be 1993. That is proven to not be the case at all. Only con-artists, liars, and cheats, would lie about the amount of time a company has been around because that tends to instill  a level of trust and reputation. Well, that reputation is rapidly deteriorating as more and more people in the Rochester community are reporting their discoveries and experiences with this “company”.

Also, John posted a review on the very same page that reads:

“I decided to write this because the first three reviews are clearly fake, after reading an account of Aware Bear’s owner’s copyright infrimgment I decided to do a quick search for “Aware Bear” and found these reviews. While I am unsure of the actual service level of this demi-legitimate company, I do know that Mr. Alves and his company are highly suspicious and have continually acted in a manner undeserving of the reviews that are currently shown.”

Be warned!

Let’s see if that one also gets removed. Time will tell. It now also appears that Mr. Didak has posted his own experience with Aware Bear on the reviews page.

Tip: Read the reviews posted on various Aware Bear Computers or Aware Bear (Wedding) Photography carefully and notice how these “people” all lack an understanding of punctuation. Just like Andre Leite Alves himself. What are the odds of having all your customers that post reviews suffer from the same inabilities? :-) You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Bye Bye Aware Bear Computers Testimonials

Friday, November 28th, 2008

The page with testimonials that was prominently features on the website of Aware Bear Computer Repair in Rochester NY has been erased, leaving only a “this website will be updated soon” reference in its place.

This should not come as a surprise. As Mr. Didak already noticed and published on his blog, if you were to compare the testimonials used on the old AA Computers website (a former “company” of Andre Leite Alves that has been rumored to have gone down the drain) were being re-used on the Aware Bear website but statements were attributed to completely different individuals and businesses. With Andre’s history of writing his own positive reviews using fake aliases we can only wonder how accurate and real those original testimonials were to begin with.

Expect a whole range of new testimonials to appear on the Aware Bear site… once Andre has found the ability to spell and form coherent sentences. But after fraudulently faking and claiming awards that were never bestowed upon him and trying to fool students at the Monroe Community College we doubt that anyone would believe any material on his site. That’s the direct result of trying to scam people and getting full exposure on the subject. Once again, images and copies have been captured prior to the removal and changes in case anyone wishes to investigate the history of Andre Leite Alves and his “business” activities.

We can consider opening a testimonials page with stories and information from former customers of Aware Bear Computers but they would not be too favorable, not quite positive, and they would read more like a huge list of refund demands from unsatisfied and angry customers. You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

More stolen content removed?

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

The official website of Aware Bear Computers (a so-called “business” operated and owned by Andre Leite Alves) has been undergoing many changes, in particular many of the images that were used throughout the site are being removed and replaced with generic images.

The fraudulent claims of having won choice awards similar to the D&C awards and the actions taken against that have been responsible for one particular page to be removed from the Aware Bear website. Also, the copyright infringement committed and admitted to by Andre Leite Alves already forced certain changes to be made. But it now appears that more content is rapidly disappearing from the AwareBear Computers website.

This includes the fancy home theater installation photograph that was used on one of the pages (certainly a class and level of quality that does not quite fit with the reality of the “business” of Aware Bear) as well as a page where Andre Leite Alves and Aware Bear Computers claim to sponsor a “Futsall” team and several others. Also, a studio office setup image has been replaced with a generic white image with the contact e-mail address.

Maybe Andre Leite Alves is not incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions. Unfortunately his understanding does not increase his levels of professionalism, on the contrary, it only further shows that fear of more litigation and legal trouble takes preference over manning up to his actions. Then again, con-artists never want to admit their wrongdoings and always hope they will silently become part of a history that nobody will know about.

That might have been true in the days before the internet. You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Website of AA Computers terminated

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

Andre Leite Alves has recently changed service provider and host (moving away from frontier.net) in an attempt to better mask his actions and limit the use and exposure of his former static IP addresses. This, of course, didn’t last more than two days before the new information became known and available.

As a result, the AA Computers website (which was relabeled and branded as an Aware Bear Computers website using the older AA Computers layout and design) has completely disappeared from the internet. There are, of course, cache copies in various search archives and snapshot engines, as well as many copies and screen captures in the private dossier of “all things Alves”.

Many are wondering how long it will be before the Aware Bear website and name are discarded and a new operational front will be created for the many fraudulent activities of Andre Leite Alves. You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Fraudulent and Fake Awards

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Note: The link that was listed had already taken down shortly after we received this information on Andre Leite Alves. More on these strange and fraudulent actions of Andre Leite Alves and Aware Bear Computers in Rochester NY can be found on this page here.

Note: The D&C that the reader is referring to is the Democrat & Chronicle.

Information received from a reader:

“This guy copied the D&C peoples choice awards page and penciled himself in under best computer store and created another category for himself. To make dumbo even dumber, he placed in his multiple Frontier Yellow Page ads 3 certificates that he was the People’s Choice Awards winner for 2006, 2007, and 2008. Hey Andre, the 2008 awards haven’t even been made yet”.

“The D&C has been notified and isn’t very happy about the stolen graphics and copyrighted content he used, along with his blatant plagerism and false advertising. Based on his character I expect him to go under, switch names, and get out of paying for his Yellow page Ads, then link to them under a different name and get free advertising out of them. You can see this guy coming a mile away. Only the beginning Andre, run and hide”.

Another reader took the time to comment the following (The PC Repair Boy on November 15, 2008):

“One one of the other sites of Aware Bear Computers he has an image with “Voted #1 in Rochester for affordability, exceptional service and reliability”.

Voted by who? Voted by what? Anyone here in Rochester? NOT.
Just like the other fake awards he attributed to himself.”

Update: December 8, 2008. Jeff wrote:

“Actually, I do think Andre and Arthur are 2 different people and brothers. I believe Arthur graduated from college in 2005. They also refer to each others as coworkers.

Read the D&C choice cached page carefully. He actually seemed to have created his own awards which are “like” the D&C awards and claims to have won that one. So he is not claiming to have won the D&C award, but creating his own and so confusingly referencing the D&C award so people will be confused into thinking he did win it (or is claiming to have.) So it is shady but a slightly different shady than you think.”

Attempts to pre-empt expansion of a bad reputation

Monday, November 10th, 2008

The ever so cheap Andre Leite Alves registered a .com domain for his full name at 123cheapdomains and pointed it to a free website hosting service. We can only guess that this was done to pre-empt any potential negative publicity that was already starting to unfold and compound in the weeks leading up to the registration of his domain. Unfortunately for Mr. Alves, the same day in a different timezone another domain for his full name got registered. :-)

On the website for that domain he registered is the most hilarious and funny display of amateurish clowing and foolishness with an overload of utter gibberish that just can’t be articulated in words. Andre doesn’t understand much and his 15+ years of experience that he claims clearly does not amount to anything at all so in his own little world he believed that putting his name on the page a few hundred times, in various sequences and different combinations, would lead to him being able to push away all the negative attention he’s been getting on the internet.

The other thing that shows the true nature of Andre Leite Alves as the town clown is how he’s been pasting various articles from different sources, under his own name, on various article repository sites, in the hopes that these will help suppress the bad press and exposure surrounding him and his fraudulent business activities that includes things like copyright infringement and image theft, fraudulently claiming awards, spamming, fooling students at the Monroe Community College, and lying. Unfortunately for Mr. Alves all he is doing is wasting his time and providing a strange and twisted form of entertainment and satire because he has neither the knowledge, skills, or funds to cover up his history and questionable business practices.

You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Legal steps against the exposure of fraudulent activities?

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

Andre Leite Alves, the owner of Aware Bear Computers in Rochester NY has been having a very hard time trying to deal with the overload of negative attention he has invited upon himself after stealing other people’s images and pretending they and the property they represented were his own.

His latest actions include making statements whereby he claims that he has taken on legal representation, hired a law firm, and is going after the website of Mr. Didak to get the negative material published about him and his fraudulent misrepresentation removed. You can read all the details on this page and this page.

Update: It’s now December 8th and there is still no sign of the pretended and “promised” legal action. Of course we already knew from the start that these would be just more lies told by Andre Leite Alves to combat the destruction of the reputation of his Aware Bear Computers “company”, a destruction that he himself had unleashed and invited. Oh wait, there was THIS. But surely, that is not what Andre meant when he told people he was taking legal action, right? :-)

Conclusion: In the mind of Andre Leite Alves HIS version of “taking legal action” really means “making a total fool of myself, ensure myself a reputation of town clown, incriminate myself to the point where no lawyer would even touch my case, admit in writing and under penalty of perjury that I’m a thief, and at the same time show myself as being delusional enough that I feel entitled to take anyone’s material at any time and claim it is my own while attempting to get the original material removed using overtly amateurish DMCA take-down notices”.

You can stay away from Aware Bear Computers at 5 Monroe Ave in Pittsford NY (585) 473-7035.

Your Comments

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

Feel free to comment on Andre Leite Alves and Aware Bear Computers and the material you have found on this website. All comments will be under moderation and guaranteed to be read.

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