02/18/2020
The idea about a safe word is a good one.
Re the ruses, I am pretty savvy, but I nearly got swindled by at least a trio pretending to be Dell Technical Support. They called; the Caller ID must have been spoofed too and wanted to talk to me about the blue screens I had been having. And, oddly enough, I had been having blue screen problems, 10 just that day.
The Dell service used to call you proactively as this trio did; when Dell stopped, I have no idea. I wish I had been notified; such an action on Dell's part, would have nipped this in the bud a lot earlier!
Yet, these guys had all my contact info, make/model of laptop, warranty info, and nos on all stickers on bottom of computer. Plus, they were able to advise when my coverage expired! Again, another point of breakdown which could have stopped this trio in their tracks. Alas!
When they told me that I needed to purchase a specific new router preinstalled with a firewall that night: My connection was insecure, hence Dell was potentially insecure as a result.
They gave me a ticket no and advised that a tech would be by the next day by 9 am with a check to refund my money and run some diagnostics on my computer to make sure everything was ok. If I recall correctly, the rep would bring a replacement router for the one I'd just bought too which I was supposed to relinquish to her.
So I freak out at first. Looks like Dell, sounds like Dell, seems like Dell - followed same type of protocols as Dell. But I don't have the 3K on hand to do that right then nor would I for at least three or four days. And I feel some heat from the trio.
Then I start to think, "If you're Dell, the potential fallout from any security breach is way biased in your favor - you've got much more liability here than I do. Why am I running to the store in the early evenin, shelling out cash? No, you're Dell; YOU make it happen tonight. You've got the resources, and if it comes down to getting cameras involved, you will definitely lose in the court of public opinion. My family and I make an excellent example of folks big business do not want to be seen railroading; we cut very sympathetic figures next to guys in multi-K suits."
The call ended. They tried to call back the next morning, but I again called their bluff. And another hang up.
When I called Dell about it, they shrugged it off. I asked about these folks knowing so much about my computer and warranty and was told that such information isn't regarded as confidential😳
If a business is so cavalier with any of my information, no wonder there are so many data breaches. They aren't really trying to protect our data so much as their own!
For shame!!!!👎👎👎👎
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