Dell Tech Support Scam

Question

I had a problem with my internet not working properly & contacted Dell.  I got some guy from India.  He had me start up my computer in safe mode & took control of my computer through the internet.  The only thing he did was type in yahoo.com to show me that my internet worked through safe mode.  Then he said he suddenly knew what was wrong with my computer & requested a $126 fee for him to fix the problem …. And that if I didn’t pay him to fix it that my computer would crash with a bunch of viruses & spyware on it, & that if I tried to start my computer up again, it would just show up with a blue screen … And that if I ever wanted it to work properly again, that I would have to pay to get it serviced!  He was adamant that if I paid the fee, he could show me what viruses were now on the computer.  He said that my antivirus software was disenabled since we entered safe mode and that since we were able to access the internet through safe mode, that now I had a bunch of viruses & spyware on my computer.  I asked him why he didn’t warn me that this could happen prior to entering safe mode, and instead of answering my question, he went on about how if I paid the $126 fee with them, that I could avoid paying twice as much getting it repaired elsewhere, & that if someone else was to replace parts in the computer, that my computer would no longer be under warranty with Dell.  I didn’t accept his offer.  I asked to speak with customer service, & he gave me a phone number.  I called it, & I was back at technical support with India.  I was so scared that he had just ruined my computer.  I didn’t have any viruses or spyware on it prior.  I restarted my computer & everything looked fine.  I ran my antivirus software & it only found 2 errors.  Then my start menu disappeared – which had never happened before.  So I restarted my computer, & everything was fine again.  I just tried setting up my Linksys router again, doing a few things differently, & I’m back online after fixing the original problem MYSELF.  I really hope he didn’t screw anything up.  I feel lied to, & that he was trying to scam me.  I haven’t been able to find a Dell Customer Service Complaint email or phone number.  Sometimes I wonder whether viruses aren’t created by people who get paid to fix them.

Bugbatter · Accepted Answer

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/contact_customer_service?~ck=ln&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen

Bugbatter · Answer

You're welcome.

Chickalett · Answer

Thank you for the link to Customer Service.  I just emailed them my complaint.

wuzaromine · Answer

I had a similar experience.  I was told if I shut my computer down I would lose everything.  I told him I wasn't paying anything and shut my computer down.  Low and behold when I turned it back on it worked perfectly.

Chickalett · Answer

I got a response to my complaint from Customer Service.  It was from someone in India again.  I don't know why I was thinking a U.S. based representative would hear my complaint.  They said they would bring it up to management.

PudgyOne · Answer

I am locking this thread because it is an old thread.     Rick

ky331 · Answer

we3oks

This is at least the 5th post today in which you've basically repeated the same allegations. DELL considers such repeated posting to be "spam", and as such, your posts are subject to removal at their discretion.

To compound matters, you have just re-opened a thread that's almost 3 years old. Doing so only invites other people to offer their comments, believing it's a current issue.

The situation described by the original poster here indeed constitutes blatant fraud... there's no doubt about it. Unfortunately, as I replied to you elsewhere, your allegations of an alleged scam do not hold water.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for the link to Customer Service.  I just emailed them my complaint. from g  the vlogging tech

Virus & Spyware

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