Shocker! PC repairmen aren't to be trusted
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted July 22nd 2009 12:23PM
posted July 22nd 2009 12:23PM
Sure, it seems like a no-brainer, but when Sky News in the UK dropped a brand new laptop off at several repair shops in London (equipped with a key logger and sneaky video recording software) they caught employees accessing personal data, hacking accounts for banking and social networking sites, and charging for unnecessary work. Who would've thunk it, right? For their next report, the news team is going to investigate whether or not the iPozh is actually manufactured by Apple.
Update: Now with video!
Update: Now with video!
WTF has this got to do with immigrants?
F-off for trying to politicised this.
I think there's only one moron in this post...
You find this shocking?! Listen folks. We live in a society nowadays FULL of shady ppl and not just in the UK or the USA but in the whole world. Ppl these days have far less decency who will take full advantage of info when it is available to them. This is why I refuse to go to PC repairs shops now for the last few years. I had a place that I could trust because I knew the owner but he closed shop and I never went to another place since. Do you ppl honestly trust ANY place not to look through ur private stuff? If you got ur laptop or PC at best buy even or any other Joe Schmoe Computer shop I bet they are going through ur pics as we speak unless u passworded those folders off with third party software which I highly suggest.
Come on ppl. I am sure EVERY shop does this not just the ones in the UK but all of them. Why? Temptation is hard to resist.
Just take out the HD before bringing it in, problem solved.
This makes us honest repair guys look really bad!!
That's why I always take my computers to the Nerd Herd at the BuyMore
We're all doomed! :( Who will fix my ZX Spectrum 48k without hax0ring it?
...
This is a definate issue. I almost got screwed when some idiot tried to tell me my bios was fried and my motherboard was cracked it half. Sue the bastards.
It was my first time with a failure. But it later got fixed my HP... another set of goofs.
You know endgadget should appologize, this article make all of us pc techs look bad just from the title. Sure there are ones that do that but genneraly we don't.
I'd have to agree with you there. I'm kinda angry at them too.
HAha "generally we don't", hahaha.
inb4 geeksquad bashing...
srsly tho, i was geeksquad, and i did my job properly. this, this is sad.
Damn... so I guess that leaves auto mechanics as the only trustworthy repairmen.
Looks like Gollum.
I sure would like to watch him watch the video !
He then plugs his own portable memory stick into the laptop and copies files, including passwords and photos, into a folder labelled "mamma jammas".
Good to know these details, now we can say 'you were mamma jammased'
Snooping is one thing, trying to access the bank accounts and copying the passwords txt file is a completely different thing, imo.
How do you say 'Duh" in British?
Heh, to be honest, I'm guilty of looking at pics when bored.
Bored? You are working and fixing the thing, when done you ship it back to people, bored means you don't have access anymore.
Also, there's the internet where people make millions of millions of should-be-private and shocking pictures available for you to peruse.
This is why I always save all my important data and files on a secondary drive, not the boot drive. The only thing I put on my boot drive are games and applications.
If I run into a problem I can't fix myself and have to bring it to a repair shop, I will just simply pull out the other HDDs and only leave the boot drive in it.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This x9000
But it gets more difficult when bringing in a laptop for service.
lol
Whenever I fixed a client's PC, it was routine to do a quick search for their porn folder. Aside from that, I left all personal data alone.
I'm split on this one.
On one side, the sting was more of a setup for entrapment, making it possibly more difficult for technicians to remain respectful of customer privacy while taming their curiosity.
On the other side, it's the customer's privacy that is the main and true victim, irregardless of the circumstances, and I hope all you naysayers citing the setup factor still acknowledge this. Despite the entrapment, and despite the obviously pernicious setup, an even more pernicious act was committed, and its disappointing.
It's not just the computer repair guy. Do you think so the doctor you visit is giving you only necessary treatment? He gives yo so many extra shots and medicines.
This problem is everywhere where you don't know about the problem.
There are few good people still exist on the planet :)
If you want computer work done right, learn to do it yourself.
Of course the key word there is learn, something most people can't do.
Well let this be a lesson to you all just fix your own damn computer. its not that hard trust me.
If its not the Geek Squad thats taking you for all you got its the "Peek Squad".
Alright, this is an unfair test for the computer guys...
Watch the news video. You never see the woman on camera, but you can get a glimpse of what she must look like through those pictures. They undoubtedly used a really hot woman as bait. Men, being what we are, would generally have a hard time not looking at those photos.
Bank account snooping/stealing and overcharging are a different story... but how many of you aren't going to look at the pictures of the super hot mamma jamma? Saving them to a thumb drive is a bit pervy, but looking is really just par for the course...
oh boy oh boy
Sky News is the UK version of Fox News (actually Sky owns Fox). Whilst in the UK I had Sky News on the hotel cable. The news reporting uses less words that the National Enquirer in their delivery. The screen colors are pretty much Sesame Street and the content is nationalist in the extreme. Obviously this stunt was set up to get ratings up.
That said, I am sure that the store staff did get up to all kinds of tricks on the PC in company time. So do we all. Is this newsworthy - not really.
This is a complete duh...
Will fix your computer for some Chinese food.
I don't get your, uhm, joke?
thats why if i cant fix the computer myself i put it down in the basement and buy another one
No no, this is like a town barber who shaves all and only those men in town who do not shave their own manjigglys. So the question is, does the barber teabag Bertrand Russell?
I am just going to pop the question up here. who is not guilty of looking at someones stash of porn while fixing a pc.??? I said, just looking, not making copies..
Me, or is it 'I'? Anyway I have internet if I want porn, I leave people to themselves and respect their privacy and how many people that let you fix their computer are of such physical appearance that you want to run the risk of seeing them naked (or worse) on a picture?
The U.S. _requires_ PC repairers to snoop. If they find child porn on a PC you repaired, you're arrested for not reporting them. This is what we call "brave and free".
Rubbish, you need to respect privacy and what you don't know can't be linked to you, you know the US does have a constitution right? There's no way they can ask private citizens that are hired for repairwork top search the premisses for illegal stuff, be it computer or homes.
In fact any decent lawyer should get them free even if they do find such material since it's illegally acquired evidence if it's in some folder they need not access in the process of the working on repairs.
They should get Chris Hansen to conduct the confrontations.
He should have uploaded naked photos of himself defecating in his sister's hair, watching the Simpsons. She would've loved it!
Snooping on someone's PC is just WRONG. Doesn't matter if there's a folder that says PRIVATE, or even NAKED GIRLS HERE, It's none of your business and has nothing to do with fixing the computer. Testing the HDD is a load of B.S.. You could just as easily go into the Windows Directory. Going after Banking info and other of the really high risk stuff is far, far worse yet. If your PC/Laptop is not working, it's not like you can just clear that stuff off your HDD before bringing it in to be fixed, at least for most people. Popping the Memory Module In (Cheap Fix) and it's clearly working while your snooping and then telling the customer you need a new costly main motherboard is fraud. Nothing Illegal about running a keylogger and Webcam spying software on your own computer. It's not Entrapping them snooping on your HDD just because you name something Private. That so called PC repair shop, could have Popped that RAM in, Said it was a FREE fix or charge a cheap fee. Made sure it worked OK which is easily done without snooping though the whole HDD, and been done. They wouldn't have been busted, and in fact could have been like that 1 other PC repair shop and got a GOOD Recommendation to go there. If anything I think this should be done a whole lot more!!!
A similar type thing is done with Auto Repair Business. A simple Car fix, Camera's placed in the car, and see what happens. Has been done many times. Bust them ALL. I'm sure there's a huge amount of fraud going on in the PC Repair Business. Most being simple and cheap fixes. Popped out Ram, a bad or disconnected cable, maybe power supply. They you tell them motherboard, you fix the cheap problem, and it's the SAME motherboard. You end up making a whole lot more money.