Caught on camera: what REALLY happens inside computer stores!
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- I used HIDDEN software to expose what REALLY happens to your personal data, photos, and videos at a Computer repair shop. Spoiler: it's not good!
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I've always known this type of stuff happens but you were able to prove it. So damn creepy.
totally!
Fun fact: A little while ago my brother took his laptop just for a keyboard repair and then complained to me that the laptop was slow... When I opened the laptop surprise surprise! A lot of adware and spyware were installed on his laptop which he swore he never installed (and after checking the logs, he was telling the truth)! Of course I uninstalled everything and did a clean install of windows just to be sure! Be really careful of who you trust your devices with people!
When I was interviewing at a computer repair place, we were actually encouraged to be very snoopy with peoples information, that was my ultimate "OK, I will NEVER take my machines to get repaired by a computer shop" experience.
😲
Encouraged how? And for what reason?
I'm genuinely surprised that with a sample size of 3, you were able to actually get a store tech that DID NOT snoop. Was it a smaller shop where the repair guy may have been the owner or someone with a more direct stake in the shop's bottom line? I suspect an hourly employee is going to snoop and someone who gets paid by the job is going to get in and get out and move on to the next project to maximize profit.
Can't really say but all have multiple store locations. So not an owner run place which I totally get what you are saying.
I am IT geek, I never look at private information.
I ask for login details, for specs and make sure it's charging etc...
I only once opened a photo folder once to see how it performance is....
I work on 75 PCs per month and only once needed to see how it was running via opening a photo...
Interesting topic, I have known and suspected this type of behavior for years. Media and sensitive document information is one thing. My fear is someone planting Spyware, tracing or something else.
Something like this happened to me way back in the win98 days from a computer vendor, whom was big and had stores with repair. Now I wised up, I try to solve issues on my own, I always use a secondary drive for storage of data and use a vault.
However none of this stops them from planting a keylogger or some kind of Spyware and bypassing your antivirus program. I don't trust computer techs just like I don't trust auto techs or a politician. :)
I would say you have to look at the data value of the target.
If you are a high profile executive or journalist, then there is more of a chance of something like this happening then happening to a "regular" person. But there is always a chance.
Mostly its college kids who have a part time job who look through this stuff and share it with their friends. So I 100% agree: as I said, lock up sensitive data.
i wonder how easy it is to detect a keylogger
Of course they do and you'll never know unless it goes viral.
Exactly
And we’ll never know what stores they were unless you tell us.
3:49 As a computer guy myself, I’d like to point out that snooping though people’s data is NOT a way to fix a tech related problem. There are many other ways to fix tech problems that are outside of snooping through other consumers data. I am honestly quite disappointed that some computer repair shops don’t care about their customers privacy because privacy is a big thing in public places. I just hope that in the future we don’t see anymore computer repair shops do the same thing.
It's a testament to your honesty that you feel disappointed as you are a part of this industry. However anyone with any sense knows there are far more honest people like yourself than there are bad eggs. 👍
Now imagine what the situation would be like, if it was a smartphone instead of a laptop. Well done sir, well done 👍
I may or may not be testing that too😉
Can test it by resetting screen time on Apple to see which apps exactly they used and how long
@@LironSegevdefs some easy ways to catch them doing this
Exactly 👍
They could have turned your computer into a bot by adding whatever malicious software in their bag of tricks.
Absolutely
i took my old phone to a store once to get the battery swapped. the guy had the audacity to take the phone from me, immediately go into the photos app and swipe through the photos casually with me standing right across from the counter. I did not get my battery swapped there.
It's not surprising that the computer repair shop delved into personal materials; this suspicion isn't exclusive to computers. Every time I collect my car from maintenance, I find myself questioning if they've secretly added a GPS, microphone, or camera. Sadly, trust is a scarce commodity in the world we navigate, making skepticism a persistent mindset.
yup
Or your dentist has put a GPS in your filling
@@tonymoto1188 There is a story arc in NCIS whereby an agent ended up with a microphone inside a tooth cap.
As a person who has worked in a dealer's service department I know not to trust these guys, from service advisors to the mechanics themselves.
I've seem parts being swapped from one customer's vehicle to another customer's vehicle. I've seen technicians mess and loose things for "later work". Personal property being stolen from vehicles.
My car has multiple cameras and GPS tracker, when I confronted a shop for mechanics taking my car for a joy ride downtown and speeding with it the owner of the shop got furious with the employees, but at the same time completely lost my trust and my business.
I've had personal property stolen at hotel's room service. Now I change my own bedsheets and towels, never allow hotel workers to enter my room.
Sadly the service industry if full of thieves and crooks dishonest people who wouldn't blink before stealing from you like it's part of the business and it's totally legal and expected.
I leave change in the cupholder and bills in the glove box. Usually am cognizant of about how much change, and how much is in the glovebox. It's left there on purpose.
I can't remember how many friends and family members I have saved from the shop. This is exactly why I learned these fundamentals. I also was a MAR for a time, helping refurbish older machines for charity. Thanks for the refresher. I'm always available for charity work.
As an IT Tech im chocked that some computer shop are doing that, as a professional and a casual respectful person of the privacy policies. The only time that the IT should check in the files is after a data tranfer to verified if everthings is correctly transferted, and that without taking too much attention of the special files and pass the to the next diagnostic steps, as I do. I totally hate those bad IT techs that are destroying the reputation of those who are doing their job respectfully.
Thank You Store #1 for being honest. There is no reason to look at data like that for a simple upgrade test. I could understand if it was something directly involving the data like a data backup or recovery to prehaps look at something as a test, still uncalled for, but at least understandable, under no circumstances however should anyone be trying to access your password manager. When I did tech work in a retailer I told every person who needed to give me a password to change it after service (sadly most did not, I know this because some were returning customers). if I needed access to anything due to a service I explained how and why and asked for consent. As well as at the time of service getting signed consent to access the device.
this is why I don't trust computer repair stores... when I needed a part, the store that I went to get the part, lied to me by saying "we don't carry that part." I asked myself, "how is this a computer repair or part store if you don't have any parts that I need?"
I recently started work in a computer repair shop and we barely have the necessary parts. I'm talking no ddr4 laptop memory no graphics cards, we must sell board and chips together (so if someone has the compatible board but a broken cpu or vice versa too bad) still stick using ddr3 no nvme drive or drive enclosures. it's a mess. Almost everything is a format and reinstall. Aged hardware and laptops that barely function and we still sell them. I got asked that same question by 2 potential customers, couldn't answer them because i'm not the owner just a drone trying to make an honest living.
usually there are many repair shops that are like that. they just dont want you to repair it to yourself instead they are the one who will repair yours. in the dark side they just repair it but in reality they gonna make it like a trash. lol. i remember when my printer repaired. instead of been repaired they just soldered the area where the paper is lining. they just making it a mess up. and bill me of almost 1/8 of the printers price. you cant even say no because they have guards that can punch you in the face if you dont pay them.
@@TIsForThomas understandable but that's not what i meant. I mean basic stuff like ddr4 laptop ram chips
Idk if anyone has mentioned it, but I’m pretty sure the first store was Microcenter. It looked just like the Microcenter I used to frequent. Those guys are fantastic
Wow! This is why I only bring my computer problems to myself. LOL Yeah, it would be kinda strange that someone with 40 years in the tech space brings their computer to a shop. I do not want any more customers as of course I'm Tech Support for my family....as is every tech guy right Liron? Haha. Notice I didn't mention friends? exactly. Beware...haha.
Thank goodness I leave my computers empty of photos and of data. Also, thank goodness... I do my own repairs and have never taken a machine in for someone else to fix. Dodged a bullet... More concerned that my machines will be stolen from my home laden with sensitive data, so my stuff stays off the machines in the first place. No big deal...I really have nothing terribly interesting in my machines to erase in the first place, 😆😆. This video is a great cautionary tale! Mahalo for reminding us what we need to do!
I had one of those little chocolate papers with a quote on them stuck to my wall when I was working in IT. The quote was "Trust is earned, not given." I always stood by that because I was the admin and it takes years to earn that trust. I still do and I've never had any problems.
Creepers the lot of em. No reason to be checking out my Corn Hub history...
true story
😂😂😂
Dude, can you share the powershell script? As well as how to use it, and how to revert back to original settings so that recorder would be visible.
I can't share it as these things violat RUclips terms but it's pretty simple. Just lookup psr command line switches and use ChatGPT to write it
Use a folder/file locker to lock up all your important docs temporarily.
Pst...watch the video 😜
It's crazy that dude tried to get into your passwords and stuff. Though i am curious, semi on the same topic and off topic. What if someone takes their computer to a shop for something simple like an upgrade, and the worker decided to snoop and found some illegal stuff on the computer? Is it dismissible evidence because they werent allowed to go in it, or would law enforcement turn the other cheek for the greater good?
I'm a paranoid person in nature, so I never take anything electronic to any repair shop, if something is wrong, or I want to upgrade, I learn to do it myself
as a computer service shop owner this is a good information for me
thanks
You can’t be thrown in jail for logging someone else’s actions on your own computer. If they made that threat, they possibly broke the law themselves.
You can, certainly, be sued for defamation if you revealed who they are, because anyone can sue anyone for anything in this country. Whether that suit goes far, or anywhere, is another matter. Statement of fact with evidence would support your claims because the law basically says you can’t lie about someone else, and providing this evidence would show it’s not a lie. Their policies don’t matter if their employees are breeching them. Their company policies do not protect them from liability if the activities provably occurred.
They like to throw scary legal stuff to scare you into bending to their will. To be honest, I think you should turn this over to a good lawyer (maybe legal eagle?) and name and shame. It’s clear that even if they have data protection policies, they are not being enforced and those businesses should not be trusted. I would definitely like to know who to tell my family to avoid when they need tech support when I’m unable to help them.
Its all with our attorney now. Not worried about the recording on my own computer - its my equipment I can do what I want. Turns out I stumbled onto a much bigger issue which is way beyond just this - may be a follow up video once I can talk about it.
@@LironSegev Uh oh! The digging for passwords is especially troublesome. That kind of person might install malicious software.
Extremely interesting, Lion. I'd like to ask, or suggest, could you give any details or even package your script that you made as a tool ? Sell as a tool ? I could find that really helpful. Even despite the fact I purposely collect and save numerous small videos, office style docs (MS Office + others) on external HDs. I'm not so much a programmer these days, which is why I pose the question. Thank you. I enjoy your posts ... along with a host off others that do so.
Myself been around computers all my life since the C64 was released. So when it comes to building computers and fixing them I'm more than capable of doing the work myself.
I'm also trained in Electronic repair which is nice knowledge to have along side with computers.
This is fascinating. I did wonder if some dodgy ones would try to install snooping software too and mess with my antivirus settings
odds are not unless the person is a high-value taget like an executive or a journalist or celeb. But option is def there
The problem is these companies employ mostly young kids to young men who ... in today's world have no respect for anyone or anything. It's hard to find people you can trust with your stuff these days. Just keep all your files on an external drive and remember to unplug it.
exactly...
Great job exposing these scumbags!
Much appreciated
Yeah this happens all the time. I worked at a cellphone repair shop and the manager and two employees were sending themselves photos and videos from girls cell phones. They showed me they were doing it. The next day when the owner was in I reported it to him. He watched the cameras and caught them doing it. He then had a meeting with the employees and angrily asked them to stop doing it. They continued to do it but off camera. I quit one week later and told the owner I want no part in being around this. To my knowledge no actions were taken against the employees. The business did close one year later though.
Yes I'm a snitch when shit goes against my morals.
We don't have time to look through customer data, nor do we even want to. If you have time to do that, then you aren't busy enough. There is work to be done - find it!
Unless you live outside of the US....they cannot threaten you like that. You are under no obligation to them. Don't let them bluff you. Unless of course you signed something.
Might want to encrypt your files before uploading to Google Cloud. Apparently they will go though all your files too, just without the personal touch.
Or any cloud service for that matter (though especially with Google and co.). Remember: the cloud is just someone else’s computer.
Okay, Liron
Can they look people's emails?
How do we find repairer the computers without looking our privacy?
Thank heavens I have never used a computer repair shop and never will
Thank you for posting.
Hi, I really love your videos and have been subscribed and watching them regularly. I know that you are sponsored by Nord, but would be so kind as to make a video on which VPN service is the best in terms of safeguarding our privacy, including from the provider itself. Thanks
The one I personally use even before working with Nord was Nord😜 only work with companies I personally use and would easily recommend to my own family. I trust Nord because they have zero logs so my data is safe.
I always remove the hard disk from the my laptop when I take it for repair. I never sold my computer with HDD or smartphone . I always for more than 30 years destroy my HDD, sd flash, and smartphones by a hammer. If you follow these steps, you are 100% safe.
true - only problem with this if the issue is a software issue so they need your hard drive to work on it. Also in reality, most people who are not technical so are not going to remove their drives, so that is why you have to find solution that work for most people - like encryption.
When I sell or donate equipment, I use several forensic tools to wipe the drive and then use another tool to try recover the data. WHEN it fails, I know the drive is fine to be re-used. But again, I am technical enough to do it - The hammer method works too 🤣
@@LironSegev Cheers.
Is there a recommended wipe tool? I have several hard disks I keep meaning to wipe . And a way to connect them to my laptop. Some are probably ancient IDE drives , some may be SCSI
having worked on several laptops and desktops for people as a side hussle, i warn them that if they want me to back up files before reinstalling windows that there's a good chance i'm probably going to see some stuff depending on their settings that they may not want me to see. so i give them the option back those files up on their own first and delete them from the pc or just have me do it. they have all just had me do it. i've seen things i'd rather not have seen. it's bad enough when it's a stranger, but it's worse when i'm working on my wife's friend's computer. one laptop i worked on was for an older couple whose son gave his mom his college laptop after he graduated. it wouldn't work due to a broken key board. i replaced the keyboard and fired it up. the wall paper was him banging some chick in a bathroom and he had left a folder full of porn open on the desktop when he put it to sleep. all the porn from the little i saw was him and various college girls. i wiped the machine so his mom wouldn't have to see that.
but if you have pin/password set to access the computer they can't snoop around, right?
or create a guest account, I created a separate, guest account the last time I needed to use repair shop
this is crazy man cant trust some shops thanks for this video.
No problem 👍
The techs who snooped must have very boring lives, why bother😂
I was working at a computer repair shop in the late 90s. I actually had to do a house call. I go to troubleshoot the PC....and the desktop wallpaper is.....well, very NSFW. So yeah, sometimes, the complete opposite is true and we're forced to see things we don't want to see. Luckily, while I still work in IT, I only work within a company, not with the general public, so I don't have to worry about stuff like that anymore.
True
My best friend has worked at Best Buy for over 20 years now. He told me that they go through all the personal stuff of the people who drop off their computers. They all gather around and show each other your private stuff. Have fun
sad but true
After working as pc repair tech, this is news to me. I could actually go through someone's files and pictures? Nobody told me! Years of opportunity wasted!
keep in mind, it is the individual employee at the #2 and #3 shop(s) that is to blame for invasion of a customer's privacy and abuse of trust - these employees can quit the one shop and work at the one the 'trustworthy' employee works at too. If possible, best to just remove all personal info/data from the device you don't want shared.
Hi can you install both windows 7 64 bit and Windows 11 on same machine
it looks like its standard procedure to them. its literally the first thing they do when they open the PC, into filesystem, and click photos/videos. creepy
I never keep anything important on any computer I use. I backup everything on separate drives. I also tend to make several backups to my backups since drives can fail. If it is super important I also keep a few physical copies of it stored in a few locations. I never use any bank's safety deposit boxes either.
One shop didn't do it though and they are the honest ones. A good technician doesn't care about looking at your private stuff. In fact a good repair shop shouldn't ask you for your PIN number or password
agreed
Excellent video I appreciate the information I definitely will encrypt all the data maybe nord plus, but I have a bit longer a separate encryption tool that’s good enough that I will be testing today and using Blocker and other stuff such as BIOS password possibly
They have failed the vibe check
What camera are you using?
Is there a download link for the PowerShell commands you created with the Step Recorder Utility?
what if the laptop are not bootable, or broken? can we simply ask the shop to handover our drives? or is there any other solution if someone didn't take preventive measure prior
if its not booting, they need the drive to make it work as it could be the software on the hard drive or could be a harware fault. But either way, there is not much you can do. Some places will do the initial look in front of you while other places will tell you to come back or will call you once they have an idea of what needs to be done.
We took our PC in years ago and we had someone else picks on it when we got it back. A man and a woman on a week vacation and when the pictures was of a very private moment.
When a middle aged man brings in a laptop the first thing a repair shop does is look for CP so they can call the cops.
I need a LOCAL ONLY, NOT Online program for pass-wording individual folders on drives other than C:\ drive and external drives without using Encryption, ZIP, RAR, etc..
I need this for older and newer Windows systems. Specifically Windows 7, 10, 11.
I also need this for Linux Mint Cinnamon.
I don't trust anything online connected for my sensitive data.
I can't find anything to do this.
Is there anything out there?
Thanks.
Now you know why I do my own repair work or ask a close friend how to do something.
The most fun part of repairing a PC is this
good job bro!
Appreciate it!
That is true, that's why I stay with my computer until it's repaired.
Tesla has Valet Mode. All modern computers should have something similar. Lock everything down except the valuable info needed by the repairshop.
I don't deliver my computer to repair shops, so personally it's whatever for me, I fix computers myself.
I’m just glad I have the tech skills to fix, repair, and build my own systems. I feel bad for the average layperson. I personally would never let anybody touch, or repair my systems for exactly this reason. At the very least I’d tell someone just take out the hard drive/sdd entirely before brining it in and just ask to have a replacement drive installed during the repair.
7:30 another way that's SUPER SIMPLE to prevent this is, either, make a new user account with nothing on it and call it just a generic name like "Bob smith", or if your on Mac or Linux, you can just sign in on the Guest User account which locks off the entire rest of they system
technically that is correct HOWEVER the problem is that when you take a computer to be fixed for an issue, they will need access to the system as Administrator so they can install/ check etc. If you are just looking for a quote to upgrade, then 100%. It gets trickier if it needs diagnostics
Great video. I understand the non-disclosure with shop 2 and 3, but since shop 1 was honest, can you disclose which one that was?
I can't say what it is, but if you paise the bit when I am outside in the car you can see the sign. It's complicated legally
Just because 1 tech was honest or dishonest, doesn't mean squat in the grand scheme unless we know how many techs exist in any particular business. If each store has 5 techs, what about the other 4 techs?
Hey Liron, hoe gaan dit? are you able to share the powershell script for this as I think it would be super useful to have
step recorder video is being phased out, windows are encouraging people to use the snipping tool instead.. will it work the same as step recorder ??
That’s crazy! Curious if you’d be willing to share the name of the utility you used to capture their activity?
It's in the video
Step Recorder Utility
@@faintent Thanks. I watched it again and saw where he posted it in the video.
I know you can't reveal them. But I know for a fact that the first place you went to, even though it's a different, at least one employee that would copy your hard drive anytime he wanted.
They also had a guy that ran a script at the registers to copy down information off of your credit card which illegal. That happened in California and that location is now closed down.
Remember what happened to Hunter's laptop? 👀
1:13 will you consider sharing that power shell script (or the code from it)? Please and thank you
Anyone else pickup that first location was MicroCenter? I recognized the flooring and sidewall walking in….i think I spend too much time there. (The sign outside when he’s back at the truck alao says MicroCenter on it; but 🤫)
How did you make the recording program invisible? Someone might want to try this
Very enlightening.Wow😮😮😮
Glad you liked it. Scary though
I like to use an external hard-disk drive full-time for my more sensitive and private data. For the reason that if my computer needs to go to a shop for repair, that hard drive stays at home with me.
Of course, the computer itself may hold some 'artifacts' that could be rooted out, I reckon. Remarks?
how do i hide the step recorder interface then like in this video? i looked online but couldnt figure it out
What Scrip are u running? Where can I get a copy
So Micro C3**** had honest employee's thanks for the info.
Don't give them your login! Make a "Technician" non-admin account for them to use. If they need and account with full admin rights, then they could still access your files, so not perfect safety.
This is why I prefer DIY when it comes to technology.
I do this kind of thing myself but with the owner with me to test the device.
also me: Takes out drive and replaces with plain windows drive
This will help me with evidence that the person used the device to frame me
i would crowd source an attorney and find a way to release the store infos
Can you share that powershell script?
It's pretty simple. Just lookup psr command line switches and use ChatGPT to write it 😜
@@LironSegev thank you brother. It’s funny how I use ChatGPT so extensively for writing letters but often ignore it’s other superpowers.
You don't need to do any of this stuff. Create a guest account. There is zero reason they should need access to your personal account. Think about it. Would you hand a random stranger your credit card and walk away for a while?
I hope you reported shop #3 to the police. No need to wait for a company investigation.
How did you make it screenshot can you make the power shell script public?
You have to contact police and make a report. Do it for us, please.
its with the attorney now
I remember, a few years back in the West African country of Ivory coast, the affair of a government minister got leaked to the press after he got into a bad argument with the IT guy from the shop that was supposed to fix his laptop... The guy restored his deleted sexting pics & videos then sent them to some journalists (dont remember if he got paid for that or not). So that minister ended up losing his job...
oh wow
Quick question, does Nord service slow your PC speed or affect your computer at all?
No, I have been using NordVPN since 2017 and it is has been great.
Not in my experience. Might affect start up time a bit if you have it enabled at start up.
Anyway you can share your powersshell script as this will help me immensely when doing a step by step for work
And people wonder why I don't trust most people
I never look at any, besides you need to look at the board to see if it can be upgraded. I normally take the bottom off to see if therer is an mvme or ram slot. you dont need to turn the laptop on at all.
100% that's what the first shop did. He switched it on to see the model number to make sure it matched the laptop to see how much ram it can take according to the manufacturer.
@@LironSegev You could name that shop.
I was right to never reparing my pc's in a store, do it myself always.
I saw the sign you went to Microcenter. 😂🎉❤
I can not confirm or deny 🤣