Dell tech support scam

Hi steveloz, and welcome.

You describe a textbook case of a classic phone scam, in every aspect. You were right to not give them any info or to visit their website.

The aim is to get you to surrender your computer via remote control to the scammers, for their various nefarious purposes. It is so easy these days for scammers to mine various 3rd party databases for your personal info, to lend a sense of legitimacy to their calls, but these calls out of the blue are all scams that have been going on for years.

It bears repeating:

1) No computer (or operating system) vendor can detect problems (including malware) on your computer over the internet. Not Dell, not HP, not Microsoft, not Apple etc.
2) No legitimate vendor will cold-call you (phone or email) with such a message.
3) Never turn over control of your computer over the internet, unless you have initiated contact with the vendor, using contact info you trust, in order to solve a problem you have identified with their hardware or software, and their tech support recommends this approach. In practice, this will rarely, if ever, be needed.

I second your question about how he got my information though.  Has there been a Dell security breach regarding purchases, communications, etc.?

We seem to be getting a lot of these. Perhaps Dell should be a bit more proactive about finding the answer as to how does this personal information become known to the caller.

I received a call about a month ago from a restricted number from a Filipino sounding man saying he was from Dell. He asked how my Dell computer was doing. I said I don't use it. He said you don't use it?? I said no, I bought a laptop. He said the Dell PC was sending out a virus and he needed some information. I said its not possible the Dell is sending out a virus. He verified a few bits of personal information that can be easily searched online. Then he asked if I had my laptop with me, at this point I hung up because my laptop is a Toshiba!!  However, I would not have let him access my Dell unless I was able to call and verify he was an actual Dell employee.  Watch out!! So many scams out there, its really too bad that these people cant make an honest living like the majority of us. 

Call recording on: Listen to an actual Microsoft support scam as it happened

Criminals are a tricky bunch. One of their favorite scams targets those who own a computer, but lack any real technical knowledge other than how to browse the Web.

The scam starts with a call that warns of problems, and immediately offers to connect you with a Microsoft support staffer. Their goal is to remotely control your system and install malware and rogue anti-Virus software.

www.csoonline.com/.../listen-to-an-actual-microsoft-support-scam-as-it-happened.html

I had a similar experience but captured the phone number <ADMIN NOTE: Phone number removed per privacy policy>

 and on calling back that number I got the same accented individual.  I hung up on the call without following the advice given!

I called Dell support and they reiterated that Dell will never call a customer (no surprise there :-) ) .

In that this individual had legitimate trouble ticket information from a call 18 months ago, I'd say Dell has a serious problem with the security of their database.

I had a similar experience but captured the phone number <ADMIN NOTE: Phone number removed per privacy policy>  and on calling back that number I got the same accented individual.  I hung up on the call without following the advice given! I called Dell support and they reiterated that Dell will never call a customer (no surprise there :-) ) . In that this individual had legitimate trouble ticket information from a call 18 months ago, I'd say Dell has a serious problem with the security of their database.

Read this.

Been getting calls five days in a row from a IT Support Scam group. Phone numbers have been varied. 

1 800 519 0402
IT Support Scam

I received a similar phone call today from the number 929-800-2178 but informed him that I was at work and couldn't address whatever problem he was reporting any way.  I then promptly came online and found many posts similar to yours. I second your question about how he got my information though.  Has there been a Dell security breach regarding purchases, communications, etc.?

There might be a security breach, or there are some crooks inside Dell who sell those data/information to them. Whatever it is, people should always be wary to these scammers. For the number above, I found some people also reporting them at http://www.whycall.me/929-800-2178.html. I prefer to always check the number online before I answer them, especially if they are the numbers I don't recognize.

See DeLL's policy response here:   http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/customercare/w/wiki/11402.scammers-posing-as-dell-technical-support

I also just got a call from the same people. They said that they were Dell technical support and they detected that I had downloaded a virus in the past 2 weeks and wanted to help me. He knew my service tag!

I asked him for a number at which I could call him back. He gave me the same number. I googled the number and saw it was a well known scam.

I then called Dell and asked how he could have gotten my service tag. The Dell representative, who, to be fair, was probably  not an expert at these things, told me that the guy must have just guessed my service tag.

So there seems to be an issue with Dell service tags being in a hackable database?

Seems to me, if they can hack your service tag info, they can hack your Dell Financial Services Info.  Dell has a serious problem, they are not addressing with their customer base.

The odds against someone guessing your Service Tag Number are astronomical... it just doesn't happen!   Indeed, there's no way for a random caller to even know you have a DeLL system.

The evidence seems obvious-enough (at least, in my opinion) that there has been some type of breach... or voluntary sharing of information (which subsequently went awry)... but DeLL is not admitting as such.

As I said above, read this, and go to the link on that page to file a complaint with Dell.

Thanks. I already used that link to report it. Have not heard a thing back from Dell.