Scammers posing as Dell

We are receiving complaints regarding fraudulent callers and emails promoting Dell sounding products. These may be from 3rd party entities posing as Dell representatives. Customers have stated that they are receiving calls from these fraudulent entities stating their system is infected by a virus/malware. The 3rd party entities offer to assist them for a fee.

To protect yourself, do NOT provide any confidential information such as password, Customer ID, Credit/Debit Card number, PIN, CVV, or DOB to any email or telephonic request, even if the request is from Dell. Do NOT transfer funds to or share account details with unknown non-validated 3rd party.

The scammer may have installed malware or a virus. Please scan your system for malware or virus using something reliable like the free version of malwarebytes or the free version of SuperAntispyware.  Be certain to backup your files (favorites, bookmarks, documents, pictures, music, etc.) to external media just to be safe.

Unfortunately, phone scams have become prevalent across our industry.

If you get an email

Scammers will "spoof" our legitimate Dell email address by embedding a non-Dell email address. Scammers use email spoofing to hide their identity and the origin of an email message, which can increase the chances of a recipient responding as the scammer wants. Spoofing involves disguising an email address, sender name, phone number, or website URL. In the email, with your mouse, hover on the links, do not click them. When you hover, the embedded email address will show.

If you get a call

If you get a call from someone who claims to be a tech support person, hang up and call the company yourself on a phone number you know to be genuine. A caller who creates a sense of urgency or uses high pressure tactics is probably a scam artist.

Keep these other tips in mind:

• Do not give control of your computer to a third party who calls you out of the blue.
• Do not rely on caller ID alone to authenticate a caller. Criminals spoof caller ID numbers. They may appear to be calling from a legitimate company or a local number, when they are not even in the same country as you.
• Online search results might not be the best way to find technical support or get a company’s contact information. Scammers sometimes place online ads to convince you to call them. They pay to boost their ranking in search results so their websites and phone numbers appear above those of legitimate companies. If you want tech support, look for a company’s contact information on their software package or on your receipt.
• Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone who calls and claims to be from technical support.
• If a caller pressures you to buy a computer security product or says there is a subscription fee associated with the call, hang up. If you’re concerned about your computer, call your security software company directly and ask for help.
• Never give your password on the phone. No legitimate organization will call you and ask for your password.
• Put your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, and then report the illegal sales call.