Sky News has uncovered what it calls a 'data access scam' perpetrated by computer repair shops in the London area, secretly filming a number of attempted abuses including theft of banking information.
After sending laptops with only most minor of technical faults into various stores for repair, The News International owned media firm was able to observe the activities of the engineers thanks to a concealed camera and specialised software, including keystroke logger programmes.
The sting caught one particular engineer extracting personal photos, Facebook log in details, and bank account information onto a memory stick.
"Some computer repair shops, it seems, just cannot be trusted," stated Sky News reporter Mark White.
Iain Shaw, founder of buying group Brigantia Computer Experts, told PCR: "I am not surprised by what Sky News have found and I think this drives home the message for why genuine repairers should join a membership organisation and display their accreditation certificate and membership sticker prominently so the public know they are dealing with a bona fide computer repair professional. If a Brigantia Computer Expert member behaved in the manner of the repair shop shown in the Sky News report they would be expelled for a clear breach of our code of ethics and professional conduct."
The full Sky News Report can be viewed here.
We'd like to hear your views on this issue. Is this representative of a growing problem in the industry, or is it sensationalism which only reflects a couple of bad apples? Let us know what you think in our comments section.
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