Be Watchful of Utility or other service folks

[brin]

One day last week our modem to connect to our DSL went out so I called our DSL provider for the internet which is our local phone company. A service man came out and when he came into the house he had a box and I noticed he had a number of DVDs or CDs in his hand under the box. I stayed right with him as I always do with any repair person in our home...he installed the new router / modem....took about an hour and he made several trips back out to his truck. When he finally left, I watched and he left the DVDs behind...I said nothing, although I almost did but by that time I had a bad feeling, so I said nothing. When he first had walked in with them I thought maybe he needed them to analyze our problem since I knew their was no installation disk when I installed the first one.

I checked the DVDs ...guess what ...? They are all blank which leaves me to suspect he was going to either copy software or confidential banking info, passwords...who knows ? Can anyone think of any logical reason he would bring blank DVDs in ..& not use them. I feel like he left them so as not to arouse my suspicion if he picked them up..you would have had to be there. I am assuming he thought I would just show him where the main computer was and walk away...So be suspicious and be careful who you trust.

 

[two_bit_score]

Sounds suspicious. Did you call the company?

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Sounds suspicious. Did you call the company?

Agree, Ask them if it is common practice to do this, and if so,why?
If you don't get a satisfactory answer, I,d contact the police, and even if they are hesitant to file a complaint, ask them to fill out a report, that way it's on file, for the next time.

 

[jayste]

Yes! I'd follow up on this with the company!:thumbsup:

 

[Big Bri]

I'm in a small town and have a local phone company, well one of the service guys went to a house to fix an internet problem. while there he was looking at files on the owners computer and emailed him self some "private" pic that were on the computer. The owner found out when he noticed new "sent" emails. Long story short the tech got fired, sued and so did the the phone company. There are some creeps in this world. . . got to watch out for them.
here is a link if ya want to read
Brian
2theadvocate.com | News | Eatel, worker sued by couple — Baton Rouge, LA

 

[RonMar]

There is a reason they call them strangers...

Yes, most definitely call the company and inquire. I could see a tech bringing in a setup disc or two to reload drivers for a modem, which would be labeled to their contents, but not a handfull of blank disks...

 

[texasjohn]

No reason for blank disks.... maybe some with tools already on them..I do this from time to time when visiting some friend who is having problems...can't always guarantee that they will have the tools I like to use already on their computer.

There is something not right here... your instincts are likely very accurate here... but what to do is another matter... likely about all you can do is report your observations and suspicions in writing to his company management... I'd go several levels up the chain... if you go directly to his supervisor, risk is that he will be able to determine where the complaint came from, might be vengeful, you never know.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Also just so you know when you take your computer in for service take out the hard drive and let them fix the hardware without your drive - it can be done I do it all the time.

If they act dumb then buy a Small drive just big enough for the operating system and have that in when you get it serviced. NEVER EVER let your drive out of your site.

Another thing always make sure your connections are secure when traveling.

I went to Disneyland last year and when I fired up my laptop six other people popped up on my desktop network. For confirmation I wanted to see if I could get into their drives via the Disney network, sure enough I had no problem looking around their drives. What id I was a bad guy? As I saw the system was open I now only have program software on my laptop and and files and pics are all on a external drive never connected when on line in a hotel room.

So beware when using wifi.

 

[jinjimbob]

I think you are jumping the gun here.

Techs for computers always have blank disks, you never when you'll need them. Who knows how many people ask them, "while you here, can you do this or that"

 

[bstrom]

Innocent until proven guilty. I would have just ask him what the CD's are for and he would have told you. I worked field service type jobs for years. You never know what you are going to run into so you always bring more than you need even if you are just swapping a modem and configuring some software. People are always suspicious of you too which really sucks.

That said if someone is working on your personal computer I would probably stay in the room with them. There is just to much personal info in there. Usually phone/utility company people are ok though and it's easy enough to find out who they are. There are records of who is dispatched to where which managers and supervisors can access.

 

[MMagis]

I sort agree that your jumping the gun. It just doesn’t make any sense to me, why would someone bring an obvious stack of DVDs? Maybe it’s me, but creating a DVD isn’t a quick thing, it takes time. If someone wanted to steal information they’d use a thumb drive.

 

[dmccarty]

Did you check to see if the DVDs/CDs were actually blank? He may have had utilities on them. Does sound strange if the media was blank.

A USB drive would be much faster and much more easily hidden. Heck I have one in my pocket.

DVDs/CDs take time to burn and not everyone has a burner. Most PCs these days do have a USB port.

The last time the phone tech was at our house to fix the network the wifey followed him around because I about threw him out of the house on his a...s. We had to take a kid for a surgical procedure early that day and we had had very little sleep. And a bit of stress. My usual patience had been used up. The network went out and we were told they had made changes at the switch. The dip stick tech wanted to check my wiring. I had already put in a new modem which did not work as along with a new cable. He wasted 90 minutes dorking with the house wiring. When he figured out we had a wiring closet he gave up and did what he should have done at step one.

Talk to the guy back at the switch office in town.

When some smart a..s comes into my house telling me what to do there is a problem. Especially since I have been fixing problems like this since before techy boy was born. But when your only tool is a hammer you fix everything with a hammer.

In any case the wifey followed him around the house watching him and answering his questions.

Later,
Dan

 

[brin]

Look fellas you can take up for the guy all you want...read my original post ! I checked all the DVDs and they are blank - I checked them on my computer and to be absolutely sure I checked them on my wife's computer - they are all blank. Again, in my original post I stated - I saw him brimg them in , 6 of them, and I thought they must have been some kind of diagnostic software he needed ,even though that made no sense since you either have a conneciton or you don't - I sure knew he did not need it for the modem or router instalation since I did not need any software when I first installed it. No, at this point in my mind he was up to no good. Am I going to report it ? No...I am not since I do not want to cost the guy his job ..I hope he sweated a lot when he was here , afraid I was going to bring up the DVDs and did not just leave him alone while he was here..I passed this on as a tip to everyone to keep an eye on service folks at all times when they are in your home. These are different times we are living in now. History is being made and some folks are desperate.

 

[Tig]

I agree with supervising strangers in your home at all times.
Six blank DVDs is odd, but I don't get why he would leave them behind. Are any of your DVDs missing? USB would make much more sense for data theft. Even that is pretty low tech. A networked computer is about as secure as your own back yard.

 

[brin]

I agree with supervising strangers in your home at all times.
Six blank DVDs is odd, but I don't get why he would leave them behind. Are any of your DVDs missing? USB would make much more sense for data theft. Even that is pretty low tech. A networked computer is about as secure as your own back yard.

Tig - I am convinced this phone man was up to no good and if you think about it he came in obviously expecting to be left alone....unsupervised...free to do as he wished..with no one seeing him ! Further, no every computer has an easily assesible usb port . These phone guys do not know what someone has and for all I know he had a USB drive in his pocket and would have used it - given the chance but I do know this...we had no DVDs or CDs in that room - period and when he left we had 6 blank DVDs ..tell me why ! Give me one good - innocent reason - please do ! Not only that - I say again as in my original post ...I saw him walk in with them and wondered, to myself, why he had them. I suppose he either forgot them or figured since I was right over him if he picked them up when he left I might just ask...What were those for..Now that would have put him in an awkward position. Hey, I could have asked him and made a big deal out of it but I opted not to since my DSL was back on and since I had kept an eye on him , I knew no damage had been done. So no harm - no foul..but to a less vigilant person I have no doubt he would have copied something..what is your guess...Believe it or not !

 

[bstrom]

Yeah the cd's are weird but I still say it's better to communicate. Are you going to run those cd's on my computer? What are they for etc. Well, I will have to watch what you are doing because I've got stuff on my computer that I don't want lost and it makes me nervous - blah, blah. I always communicate politely with service guys and I'm not at all an outgoing person. I used to be a service guy so I know what it's like to be treated like a jerk by a minority of people.

Or the guy that posted above - just tell the tech you have a wiring closet. Ask him questions before you decide he's a jerk. He may say something like I need to check the house wiring first - it's part of the procedure I have to do blah, blah.

I get to choose my customers now - if somebody treats me like a jerk, I don't work for them. Just a view from the other side. Not saying anybody is right or wrong. You might be perfectly right maybe he wanted some free software from your machine that he doesn't have.

 

[Tig]

I wasn't there so I don't want to get into speculation on what he was doing good or bad.
I do engage people in discussions of their work, if they are working for me. If they BS me, they risk getting sent away.
Best way to find out, would be to call his supervisor and explain that the tech left the DVDs behind and you were wondering if he needed them back. Mention that 6 blank DVDs seem like an odd thing to bring into someone's home and ask why that is done. If the supervisor can't answer the question, ask him to find out. All this done in a civil, polite manner. I like to play dumb if I am flushing something out. You may never get the full story but at least you have reported the incident in a fair manner.

 

[Bird]

I am convinced this phone man was up to no good

I don't understand this. Some of the responders provided possible reasons he could have been entirely legitimate. But if you are convinced he was up to no good, why are you not going to contact the company? Personally, I doubt that he was up to no good, but since there's that possibility, I'd sure be contacting the company because I'd feel obligated to try to prevent him from harming someone else.

 

[Scooby074]

if he was up to no good hed use a thumbdrive. Way faster and easier to hide.

I will admit the disks are odd,but i doubt theyres anything more to it.

 

[Bedlam]

I agree with Bird.My sister had a cable guy leave the whole toolbox behind.There weren't many tools but lots of connections and splitters .We called the company and they didn't seem to concerned but would send someone for it. They never showed up . So I have a nice box with parts.(probably wasn't much value to them).
Unless you bring it forward you'll never know.
Id present it as the other poster said. these were left behind Id like to return them.If it wasn't on the up and up you might be protecting someone else who wasn't as suspicious.(and sleep well at night).You don't have to sound like you suspected anything .