An investigative report into the state of Britain's independent laptop repair shops has exposed some alarming behaviour on the part of repairmen mining broken computers for customer's personal and banking information.
The expose comes from Sky News which points the finger at a number of laptop repair shops including the likes of bigger chains such as Micro Anvika and PC World.
One Sky News researcher simply unplugged a RAM stick from a laptop to see if the the shop would diagnose the simple fault. All the shops under investigation except one charged more for work that did not need doing, including Micro Anvika and PC World (with some going so far as to replace the laptop motherboard!).
Smile, you're on candid camera!
Revival Computers in London came out worst of a bad bunch, with its staff unearthing documents of Sky's researcher in a bikini, copying the data onto a portable USB drive and opening a text file on the laptop with fake Hotmail, Facebook and NatWest login details.
One technician at Revival Computers attempted to access the (fake) Natwest account. And was (unfortunately for him) caught on the surveillance camera that was cleverly installed within the laptop.
"I'm really quite shocked, both in the range of potential problems this has revealed - people overcharging, mis-describing the faults - but also people attempting to steal personal details," said Richard Webb, an e-commerce investigator for Trading Standards
You can see the full, shocking report over at Sky News.
Your comments (8) Click to add a new comment
wilmslowit
July 30th 2010
8. It's disappointing when things like this happen because it spoils things for the decent guys.
However, events like this are not only happening in the computer repair business but across many industries.
Always work with companies that come by means of recommendation.
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laptoprepairbirmingham
July 13th 2010
7. you would not believe the amount of dodgy guys there are in the west mids!
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dee
July 24th 2009
6. PC World is only useful for seeing whats new whats available..then buying it much cheaper somewhere else!
The whole lot are clueless
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mbb
July 22nd 2009
5. Part of the issue in fake repairs is whether they can get away with it. Ripsnorter makes the point about batteries in new MacBooks, but I think Apple said there'd be a set charge for that job. If you go in and specifically ask for one thing done, then you generally won't get taken for a ride - same as with cars (sometimes...).
As someone who worked repairing computers, I can honestly say that people are very trusting with their data. That said, everyone where I worked was completely honest. Maybe it was rare, but it can't be the only place.
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watcherzero
July 22nd 2009
4. Clueless reporters calling them poking around the laptops "Hacking into files" which were just plain text files on an unsecured laptop. What they were doing was illegal but it wasnt hacking.
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ripsnorter
July 22nd 2009
3. @menelaus
At least with a car you can empty the goodies out of the boot first. With a computer the only thing to do would be to back up everything and delete, as in properly delete, the hard drive or even remove it first!
I forgot: a real garage will also change all the settings on your radio and leave it tuned to a station you hate with the volume set to 11!
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menelaus
July 22nd 2009
2. I like the car analogy, but wouldn’t it be like taking your car to the garage with a filling cabinet in the boot. With the cabinet containing all your bank details, your music & video collections, address book and so on.
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ripsnorter
July 22nd 2009
1. Yes, this is shocking stuff. Just ask Gary Glitter! But hands up anyone who is genuinely surprised. It's the PC equivalent of taking your car to the workshop and entrusting it to the tender mercies of the mechanics. That annoying rattle from the glovebox translates into a new gearbox, cylinder block and, oh yes, another 10,000 miles on the clock! And they even filled the ashtray for you!
I can't help wondering what's going to happen when iPhone owners, as well as those who have the now sealed battery in their MacBooks, take their devices for a new battery.
I once had to take my desktop computer for repair. No way were these guys going to get their hands on my valuable porn collection... I mean, personal and confidential files! I finally found a place that was happy to let me sit in while it was repaired and oversee the deletion of the safety back-up copy. It wasn't easy but with the value of what's on most computers (iTunes, anyone?) worth holding out for.
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