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IT Repair Installs Webcam Spying Software

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-look-hot-undressing dept.

Vapon writes "A lady noticed her computer was running slower after she had brought her computer in to be repaired. She took the computer to a second repair shop where they found that one of the problems was that her webcam would turn on whenever it detected her around and was taking photos and uploading it to a website. The repair technician that installed the software has done this to at least 10 women and has photos of at least one undressing."

3 of 606 comments (clear)

  1. Speaking of technicians doing things.... by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 5, Interesting
    a friend of mine is real paranoid. So when he took his computer into a large Office Supply Store Chain for optimization, he wrote the serial number down. When he got his machine back the serial numbers didn't match. But it did match for the "new" display model. The techs swapped his machine for the display model. He got his money back. I had egg on my face and now I wear tin foil hats too.

    Lesson. Whenever taking your machine into those places, write down the serial numbers. Unfortunately, if you buy a new machine, repairing it yourself is not an option if you want it done under warranty.

    Extended warranties are rip-offs - no exceptions.

    1. Re:Speaking of technicians doing things.... by CapnStank · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Did the swapout comp at least work? I knew a guy that took his PC into "BigBoxStoreA" for repair becuase the thing 'squealed' and then stopped. They returned it a few days later stating they couldn't find the issue and ultimately determined the mobo had fried. He took it to a different repairshop for a second opinion. Turns out a mouse wiggled his way ontop of the HDD and chewed through the IDE cable; squeek; crash. BigBoxStoreA didn't even open the case, LAME.

      Heck for ranting on terrible repair shops, someone else I knew bought a computer from BigBoxStoreA (Yes, same company) which bust in a week. He took it back, they neglected to repair it for two weeks and ultimately voided the warranty on the HP machine because they were not licensed to repair those PCs.

      I got more, and I'm sure everyone else does. Computer repairmen are becoming the new age Mechanics. Yes, they can do it, some are sketchy, and a lot will rip you off. The simple answer is to learn on your own and know exactly what to look for.

  2. It's a valid question by Moraelin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I see it got modded off-topic, but it seems to me like a valid question. What the heck was this guy thinking? Or the recent story on The Register, where a 47 year old techie got jailed for a similar stunt, except he also tried to blackmail a 17 year old girl into underessing in front of the camera. (Which is how he got caught.)

    I mean, seriously. What. The. Fuck.

    Didn't these guys find enough photos of naked women on the internet? I mean, seriously, how did that train of thought go? "Man, if only I could see some photos of women at least partially undressed... Nah, surely nobody publishes something like that. I guess I'll just have to bug someone's web-cam." Or what?

    Or was it just a psychopath's power game?

    Since the story is about him, it doesn't seem to me offtopic at all. No, seriously, I want to know. What goes in the head of that kind of idiot? How do you recognize one?

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.