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Scammers pretending to be from Dell computers phoned me in November — but these scammers knew things about me. They identified the model number for both my Dell computers, and knew every problem that I'd ever called Dell about. None of this information was ever posted online, so it's not available anywhere except Dell's own customer service records. (Even my e-mail account is secured with "two-step verification"...)
I called the (real) Dell, and spoke to a customer support representative named Mark, who tried to explain how the scammers knew my account history.
"Dell has detected hackers," he said. "They're hacking our web site."
I'm not sure I believe him. (Another theory is that scammers are simply getting hired by Dell, and then supplementing their hourly wage by trying to con Dell's customers out of hundreds of dollars more...) But one thing that's absolutely certain is that I'm not the only person who's being scammed. Dell's own support forum shows many more customers are complaining about the same phone scam. "There is no other way the person would have my name, cell phone number, and know I had a Dell computer if it didn't come from your company..." posted one unhappy customer in June. "This is pretty scary, especially since you claim to be able to protect our PCs, but if you can't even seem to protect our info on your servers how can we ever trust this company again??"
In my case the scammers suggested I enter their domain name into my "Run window", which would've taken me to a site where I could download software to allow remote access to my system. (This presumably would allow the scammers to make a more compelling case that my computer was infected and in need of their high-priced support services...) In June someone identified as "Social Media Support" on Dell's forums responded to the complaints by saying it was "under investigation," then reassured Dell's customers by pointing to a post where the same thing had happened to somebody else.
But in fact, there were seven more identical complaints in two other threads.
"How did they gain access to such secure information from Dell? This is very concerning."
"I had the same thing happen to me yesterday... He told me he was 'Tier 3 Dell Support' and knew the model number of my computer, my personal info, etc. "
"Was DELL hacked...?? How did this 'helpful tech representative' have my contact info AND knowledge of my technical issue ???????"
"The same thing happened to me on July 9... I have not seen any report of Dell acknowledging this."
"Same thing happened to me yesterday... I called Dell support and they are sticking their head in the sand."
"Also getting calls from 'Dell', and they know which models of computer I have."
"I had the same thing happen to me yesterday... He told me he was 'Tier 3 Dell Support' and knew the model number of my computer, my personal info, etc. "
"Was DELL hacked...?? How did this 'helpful tech representative' have my contact info AND knowledge of my technical issue ???????"
"The same thing happened to me on July 9... I have not seen any report of Dell acknowledging this."
"Same thing happened to me yesterday... I called Dell support and they are sticking their head in the sand."
"Also getting calls from 'Dell', and they know which models of computer I have."
Using Google, I was able to look up the phone number that had called me, and on two different web sites found even more Dell customers complaining throughout September that they'd also received calls from a similar scammer.
"[H]e had my email and computer Service Tag info!!"
"The[y] had lots of Dell info about me, my laptop id and service I got from them. It was very convincing."
"The[y] had lots of Dell info about me, my laptop id and service I got from them. It was very convincing."
It's been happening since at least last May, according to an article at eSecurityPlanet about yet another victim of the Dell scam who reported that the scammers had also known his Dell Service Tag Number and Express Service Code. And since then ten more victims of the Dell customer support scam have left comments on the article.
"This scam is still active in October 2015. I got a similar call today..."
"This happened to my uncle in October. He lives in an assisted living [facility]... Dell told me today that they are aware of it and the FBI (or some government agency) is investigating it. I was told to cancel his charge card."
"Placed an order with Dell, two days later I start getting voicemails about 'confirming info about my order'. I called Dell, and while they were absolutely no help at all, they did confirm it wasn't them calling..."
"Then, Defendants peddle their technical support services and charge consumers up to thousands of dollars."
But unfortunately, the FTC's announcement makes it clear that that was a much less sophisticated scam that involved simply placing online ads targeted to people searching for solutions to technical problems. ("[I]n some instances, the technicians removed consumers' antivirus and security software already installed on the computers and replaced it with some other programs...") It was disturbing to learn that they'd been in business "since at least 2013" before the FTC finally managed to shut them down. Maybe it's a reminder that there's lots of different phone scammers out there.
But it's very disturbing that scammers are now also apparently in possession of service histories — and home phone numbers — for Dell's customers.
See Also:
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I had a caller ID show up as A S TEL. Its from a new york #, clearly its ppl from india though, I reversed the phone# to look up the info on it, and sure info its ppl calling and claiming to be DELL & HP SUPPORT ETC..
They strted calling me last week. It was about my HP laptop though, I just recently bought a refurbished AIO Dell,
anyway so they call and Claimed they were from the “HP SUPPORT HACKING DEPT” I laughed to myself knowing that HP does not do COLDCALLS.. I went along with it though for a bit to waste their time. They asked for me by name which I would not confirm at all, I just said “NO one stays here by that name, maybe a previous owner? Or maybe the person who now has my HP I sold? lol.. But they read off my tag # on my Hp, my name,and my main email. I have several, but it was still kinda creepy.
So playing along I said soo O mannn whats going on? the hackers have come for me>? what do they want good sir? can you help me? lol, I then said well wait, I dont have a HP anymore, I have a MAC, So maybe you have the wrong guy. He of course said “NO SIR” I have clld to help you. Finally I started slowly dropping my dumb to tech act, but still wasted more of their time, SO Raghead trys to get me to use a service to gain remote access to MY PC, Even though I kept saying Im not on a HP Im on a MAC sir, The commands r different. Then the dumb ass asks me, DO YOU HAVE A WINDOWS COMPUTER? I Lied and said ,well….Yea I work on computer I have about 15 In my shop atm. wHICH 1 WOULD u like me to use? He paused a while, and said “Your are a worker on computer sir”? lol.. I then went on and said so is this gonna cost me? “YES SIR A 1 TIME FEE TO COVER ALL 15 OF YOUR COMPUTERS FOR $300” I said well I dont wanna cover Pc’s and others that are not mine, they are in my shop being worked on.
Finally I said “listen here, I know what your doing, Your a scammer calling several hundred ppl a day hoping to get someone not as smart with computers,or someone older who u use Social engineering and scare tactics so people will let you remote access they comp, you will then either Run event viewer,claiming those errors are virus’s or u may run cmd,”tree|” so the naive user will just see a load of info go past them super fast and at the bottom you can have anything typed!! Then get them to pay u to fix a problem that was never their, while your in their computer u may copy log s that might have private info etc. I Told him he was A POS!! And I had just recorded the whole phone call over my computer and would be submitting it to the FTC For investigation..
He then tried to say “I DID NOT OFFER TO SELL U ANYTHING , I AM NOT WITH HP,ETC ETC, ” I asked would he lke me to replay the part where he said it would be $300 and he was from HP support? hacking dept?
He then Hung up..
SOOO WATCH OUT THEIR R CALLING DELL AND HP OWNERS!!!
sorry for the long post but I wanted everyone to know.
I’d been called a few time last year, but again twice today they called with a similar scam, posing as Dell and already knowing my correct name, work phone number (where they called me) email address and my Dell support ID. this time they wanted to refund the $199 I supposedly paid for extended warranty because Dell was going to a free support model.
Right now today at 3:00 AM 12-3-2016 my Dell is being hacked…
Big mistake, I let them hacked my computer and locked it down waiting for dell operating system to unlock it I pray that data are all okay. 8777903355 maybe and 888-616-8530 for sure
Found new name (not mine) on my Dell acct. 12/172016 — after having lots of contact with Dell for problems with new computer. NO HELP FROM DELL ON WEEKENDS, even for a hack. Dell support evenings and weekends seems like it connects to people who work from home — hear kids in background…
I am frustrated. How do I disconnect my computers from DELL? I feel haunted by their “Tech support scams.” I have been dealing with them for the past 5 months. I have an all
In one Inspiron 2330 and a Inspiron mini laptop. The “Tech support” for the all in one ended in Nov/2015. I only called them once while I had my tech support and I was told that windows 10 was about to come out, if I wanted to upgraded automatically, that I could go back if not happy. April 2016 I called them because I wanted to go back to windows 8, ofcourse with support already expired and more than 30 days since the upgrade made me unable to downgrade, unless I spend $120 for windows 8. I hanged up and continue with my life, do I thought. 5 days later I got a call from a lady with Hindu accent ” telling me she was from Dell and wanted to help me with some issues my computer was sending them. I ess out of time, I told her to call me another day. They kept calling and calling, my husband answered sometimes, until on 8/29/26 a holiday I picked up to what I call a nightmare, I made it obvious that I didn’t trust him. He provided me with an American name but his accent was Hindu and ID#’s that made me trust him and gave him access to my computer. He scanned it installing KASPERSKY Internet Security which apparently stuck deeply into my system, he said he’ll be watching my computer for a week and will give me a call then, which made uneasy to check my email and personal accounts including my bank. I wasn’t at ease at all but what really threw me off was his call 3 days after. I asked him: why are you calling if there was nothing wrong and you said you would call me in a week? Immediately I called Dell “Tech Support@ told them what happened. He told me he’ll fix it, according to him he’ll follow up to make sure my computer was safe for $89″Tech support” for expired computer’s runs out of India unfortunately. As soon as I finished with Dell, I started checking my personal accounts to discover that my bank account had been charged $450 from DENMEDIA for software thru my PayPal account all done from my computer. My computer stopped working properly soon after and when I called Dell to let them know, they were going to change me again. I was upset with this Hindu guy also, do I told him this was an inside job because all these guys were Hindu and they had personal information only given to them by me. Like my home phone # only Dell has it, I asked to speak to a supervisor to what he said I had to pay $39.99 to do. I was outraged. I refused to pay so never spoke to a supervisor. Soon after my computer stopped working. Which makes me think I am right. It’s an inside job. 4 days later 9/15/16 got a call from Dell out of the blue, a supervisor named Dave Hindu also. He said that the only thing he was going to do was give me a refund for the $89 So I could call back again to get “Tech support for my computer. Which I don’t understand. Got the refund but never fixed my computer until today, I called HP they have a service for all computers but they couldn’t help. They told me to call Dell. I called Dell but after an hour and a half going back and fort, the Hindu guy called Depak got lasy and told me that it was going take long .I told him my story about their inside job. I think he already knew and didn’t want to help me. I had waited since September, didn’t tell him about anything, just wanted my computer fixed, his attitude told me he knew, so I brought it up. I hanged up with a computer that doesn’t work and even paying DELL which is now $120 they don’t want to help me fix it. Later when I was going to use my mini computer which is also Dell, was completely disconnected from WiFi, it said that it’s having problems with the wireless capability.I am the only one in my house and it was on while talking to Dell. It’s frustrating that these people have access to your computer and can sabotage as they please. Who do I call? Who do I complaint to? I called head quaters in Dallas but I only get directed to “Tech Support”
I have been getting these fake Dell or Microsoft calls regarding my computer being infected, hacked or something else for over two years. As indicate in other posts, these people must be getting my computer information from either Dell or Microsoft – likely as a result of them sending their technical support work to India. I can only conclude that these groups in India have been hacked and that Dell & Microsoft don’t care.
I suspect that both Dell & Microsoft have some liability – if not legal at least morally to fix this.
Are there any Class Action Lawsuit Lawyers who would be interested in going after Dell, Microsoft and others to encourage them to correct their problems in India?
And I have made a personal decision to not buy another Dell Computer. Stuck with Microsoft but I will be very careful to purchase software from companies other than Microsoft – when I have the choice.
I was hacked yesterday by a man with an accent. He implied he was with Dell or Microsoft support. I can’t remember. He told me messages were being sent from my computer that hackers from another country were getting my information. He had me type commands and the next thing I saw was him typing in my computer amounts of money I could pay them for “protection “. I said no and he locked my computer.
Bought an Dell notebook online yesterday and that same day (at night) recieved a call from someone saying they were from Dell. They knew my home address and other personal details (company I work for, role, etc.). They told me there had been an issue with my order and that they needed to verify my identity. To do so I had to send them and email from my work email account, that sounded very strange so I asked them to send me this in writing. Here is were it gets even more weird, received an email from Mamatha.P.S@dell.com which made me think may be the call was legitimate. Just to double check I called Dell and told them what happened, they said no one with that email address worked for Dell even though the email ends up with @dell.com. How is that possible??
These people called me today. The number they called on is 877-790-3355. The caller ID read Dell Tech Serv. The caller’s name was John Sanchez. They knew every Dell computer I own, all service tag numbers, and other personally identifying information they only could get from Dell directly. They used a remote access program and said I was hacked by someone in Nigeria. They wanted to send “Rebecca” a Dell cyber crime expert to my home next day. In order for her to work on protecting my Dell equipment they needed me to go to a Walmart or 7-11 and buy gift cards so they could overnight my new Dell firewall saying they could not let me use my credit cards and my Dell preferred account was “frozen” due to the hackers. The call back number for the gift card purchase was 888-991-2418. They have heavy accents and knew absolutely everything I’ve ever purchased from Dell along with service tag numbers and any issues. This has to be an inside job.
I too had a scam call today and also with a legitimate Dell phone number,1-800-624-9896 at 2:14 PM ET and also earlier same number at 1:07 PM ET. The caller had a heavy accent, called me by name, knew the case number of an outstanding open case, knew the types of both of my computers, and then proceeded to tell me that my computer had been compromised and a virus had been planted on my computer. Knowing that this was a scam because Dell does not call their customers to tell them that a report has come in that the computer has been compromised, so I was rather nasty and hung up on them. This is happening far too often. I only answer to call because I have an open case which is now closed I hope so I assumed it might be the technician with who I instigated the call myself to follow up. Also since I am a subscriber to Concierge I get preventative maintenance calls asking if I need help and if not just end the call. I hope THOSE calls are legit.
I am also getting scam calls from India, on my cell number, with my real name and real service tag number. They are claiming to be working for Dell technical support. Interesting, that Dell’s real technical support also based in India. It was nice to know, that I am not alone or going crazy. Dell, as a response to my complaint, gave me a bowl of crap, about how safe their customers data.
These scammers are practically stalking me, calling 3-4 times per day for over two week. It is usually a man with a thick Indian accent identifying himself as James. The number comes up as UNKNOWN. Both my husband and I have told them to stop calling and now they are calling more, all hours of the day until 9-10:00pm at night. They are asking for me to give them access to my computer and then want to charge me $500. Seriously, these scammers need to be identified and arrested.
I was just called by someone pretending to be a Dell technician. It was confirmed a scam by Dell, But this guy had my service tag, my cell phone, and knew my computer model. There is no way anyone but Dell would have this info. Dell has been hacked, and won’t admit it.
Guess what! It’s still going on. I have received two calls from someone claiming to be a DELL service representative. They are spoofing the DELL phone numbers and come up on the phone as DELL. They know the model of my computer. The first one I convinced that I didn’t have that model. The second I tried to play along and was friendly and asked what he wanted. He apparently got confused and stopped talking. But it is still happening.
No calls yet but the dedicated email address created for use message only from them are getting mail from non-dell contacts which mean they sold the info or was hacked and our money is on the latter as we opted out of everything.