Be Careful What You Ask For...From Dell Tech Support
By skysuccess
@skysuccess (8858)
Singapore
July 30, 2010 10:27am CST
And do with your DELL computer.
A woman in Sacramento has to learn this lesson the hard way where she had to undergo an ordeal of letting her exclusive and private nude photos being published on a vulgar website created for the sole purpose of displaying her pictures.
Topping it up, she was actually sold and convinced to send a Dell laptop to her perpetrator from her own purse - a Dell support contractor in Mumbai, India named Riyaz Shaikh.
If that was not enough, her perpetrator then used her credit card details and purchased a computer for his girlfriend in Tennessee, who happened to be another Dell customer who happened to called and be serviced by this same Dell tech support technician.
This is not a dumb blond joke and hope that you are all wary that the party at the opposite end of the line is not your neighbor, your best friend or your family. Know your boundaries and you will be safe from a load of trouble.
Did you reveal more than you should with your online computer tech support?
Have you asked your online tech support to assist you on delicate situations?
I hope you will watch your six after reading this.
Read more:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=7581408
3 responses
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
31 Jul 10
I am technical support rep for more than seven years now and this bit of news is quite disturbing. There are boundaries as to what type of information you can access or ask from a customer, and if it is tech support I wonder why she gave him details of her credit card. Because if its a problem with the computer, then it has nothing to do with sales. Also, technicians are not allowed to communicate with customers privately. This person from India did something really bad and I hope that he gets some sort of reprimand from Dell and I also hope that the victim will get the justice she deserves. As a general rule, I don't have delicate information stored on my computer because it might get stolen.
1 person likes this
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
31 Jul 10
anne25penn,
Well, I don't think this victim actually know these boundaries which at the moment is rather "virtual" or "invisible" from the customer's perspective.
I think this will be rather rampant when the company allows remote access into client's workstation to troubleshoot the problems. It is really like opening your house for a stranger to enter.
This will repeat if companies which adopt such practices in their service and support fail to place protocols to ensure and prevent abuses of such kind by their employees.
I do not think we can avoid storing sensitive data and information in our computers but I think we should always have them password protected to prevent unwanted access.
Unfortunately, this technician turned out to be a rogue in this incident which was totally unexpected and unpleasantly surprising.
@Zaraki_itachi (129)
• Malaysia
30 Jul 10
With that said, I think it'll be wise not to completely trust everyone who'd said that they'll help you. Everyone should be more careful about their info or private stuff they're putting on the internet for people to see. These selfish strangers prey on those info, its like giving them meat to benefit from. As they say "don't talk to strangers" seems to imply to the world wide web as well. I've always been confidential about my info to the person that I know nothing of. I guest some people learn their lesson the hard way.
1 person likes this
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
31 Jul 10
Zaraki_itachi,
I don't think the part about talking to strangers can be avoided when this is actually not only an approved but authorized service technician of a renowned computer company.
However, I am for the point of being discreet with what we store in our computers to avoid some unwanted compromise like this incident. Most of all, knowing what we ask and how we talk with the other party at the other end of the line is just as essential.
Take care and have a nice day.
@katiesueg (257)
• Italy
30 Jul 10
Very interesting story. A good warning to us all. So far I have not used online tech support. I have been able to solve problems with my computer myself, I have also been helped by reading some of the posts here at My Lot. If I find I ever need more technical assistance, I think I will take my computer to a man my husband and I know and have done business with. At least I would know who to throttle if he ever tried to pull a stunt like that.
1 person likes this
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
31 Jul 10
katiesueg,
I can understand what you are saying about bringing your broken computer to someone reliable, however, in this instance the authorized service center's technician was supposed to be reliable and professional.
I think we can gather a few lessons from this incident, where for one which is quite important is to be careful with what we store in our computer. Considering the fact, that most users today had been either careless or ill prepared or both, we just cannot afford to be frivolous and fall on our faces like this.
On the other hand, I have to say that most of these situations are actually our doings as had we been more discreet then those delicate photos would not be in the computer and be stolen or exposed. Even if this immoral technician had not appeared, I am sure her delicate photos and data could still be mined by hackers.
Lastly, even with lawsuits and throttles, I think the damages have already been done and taken place. So, in this instance, I'd still go with the adage that prevention is still better than cure.
