Was I scammed...? Computer repair

[goemon_guy]

Don't want to be mean or anything, but why didn't you did that in the first place rather then calling for "professional" help ?

I understand what you mean.
I could have done it for free, sure.
But I didn't want to pirate the software.

EDIT: I know that it sounds like I was prepared to buy the software from these people; I wasn't.

Also, it was my dad's idea all in all. (Not to direct the blame elsewhere)
I was probably just going to get a new laptop soon anyways. He's just stubborn.

Anyways, I don't see any reason for anyone to continue lurking here.
My issue is as resolved as it'll get.

Thanks.

 

[Attila13]

Well...you're welcome then...

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

At least a 90% chance the activation code was already in the BIOS of your machine, most computers manufactured since Vista store the activation information this way. Or they used one of the popular BIOS emulation bypass's... SLIC is so nice lol

On another note, your PC is most likely compromised... A custom Windows 7 install would be pretty easy to whip up with pre-installed spyware and make it a torrent.

If they are scummy enough to do what it sounds like they did, they most likely did a few other things as well. I would advise you not to use that machine for any sort of banking or anything until you do a clean format and reinstall from a known clean disk.

 

[goemon_guy]

Thanks for the tip!

I don't normally do online banking, for this reason.
Glad you brought it up, though!

 

[Originality]

This reminds me how "Microsoft" keeps calling me every now and again saying they're detecting my "computer" sending out viruses/error messages. They never specify which one, and always immediately point me to teamviewer. I even once got passed through 3 levels of "supervisors" whilst arguing with them for an hour, each one being dimmer than the last.

You just can't get good help these days.

 

[Foxi4]

Anything that involves teamviewer and downloading torrents is uber-unprofessional and illegal - you should report this to the authorities. Whoever did this scammed you big time - if your laptop came with an OS, its serial number is on the bottom of the case. For all intents and purposes you could've downloaded the appropriate OS version, re-install it and use the code from the sticker all by yourself.

 

[goemon_guy]

If anyone's interested, the website my dad went to was:

http://www.dialtech247.com/toshiba/toshiba_customer_support_number.php
The number is 1-855-847-1972.

It appears to have been the first result on Google when searching for "Toshiba Customer Service."

 

[Alexrose]

Torrent doesn't mean illegal. Their original purpose was for entirely legal data transfer.

It could've been a torrent seeded by their company of versions of windows that they have legimitate keys for, and then he gave you a key. That is perfectly legal.

 

[MegaBassBX]

Actually they did this just to get a clean copy of Windows then they activated it by entring the product Number, if you have a laptop it will be under the base of the laptop , if you have a desktop it will be on the case,it looks like a sticker with a shiny strip.

 

[goemon_guy]

They downloaded a Fully Activated torrent.
And the product key provided when it was installed was "invalid."

>.>
These people really shouldn't be allowed to operate. :/

 

[MegaBassBX]

I gut what your saying, but I did that before with a fully activated windows, and it was fine as long as the Microsoft server got the authentication process out of the way.

 

[Foxi4]

They downloaded a Fully Activated torrent.
And the product key provided when it was installed was "invalid."

>.>
These people really shouldn't be allowed to operate. :/

Technically they could've injected the ISO with their own OEM key although that's very unlikely. It would be a scam anyways since they made you buy something you didn't need in the first place - you already had a legal copy of Windows.

 

[MegaBassBX]

plus asking for a copy of windows is free,but asking for a copy of windows with the serial number is not so yes you got sammed.

 

[goemon_guy]

Technically they could've injected the ISO with their own OEM key although that's very unlikely. It would be a scam anyways since they made you buy something you didn't need in the first place - you already had a legal copy of Windows.

I don't think so.

The readme that came with the torrent states that it was provided by "Moviejockey"

And running a Google search of the torrent name brings up several identical torrents.

EDIT:

Also, I'm fairly certain that I was scammed, and have been for a few days. Haha

 

[celcodioc]

If you haven't checked it yourself, here's the domain info and the registrant info: http://who.is/whois/dialtech247.com

If he's using his real info (which I believe ICANN somehow needs to verify to keep the domain up), his name is Amar Pahwa and he lives somewhere in this area: http://maps.google.com/?q=Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, Haryana, India
The whois also says his phone number is +91.9971566033 and his e-mail address is [email protected]

 

[dsigamerxl]

This reminds me how "Microsoft" keeps calling me every now and again saying they're detecting my "computer" sending out viruses/error messages. They never specify which one, and always immediately point me to teamviewer. I even once got passed through 3 levels of "supervisors" whilst arguing with them for an hour, each one being dimmer than the last.

You just can't get good help these days.

is it an indian voice if it is well let them listen to music full of horrible sounds

 

[nukeboy95]

wow what quick 150 bucks and torrenting in the eyes of the feds is illegal to them and will fight tooth and nail even if it was not copy righted
soo you got scammed and this might help
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud

 

[LockeCole_101629]

beside the high cost, that's also illegal.
I always wonder why everyone got problem they never check to official website.

they did that for convenience, I did this a lot
but never charge anything for it.

it just too much hassle too ask many things to customer.
Do you remember your OS Serial Number?
-what's that?
Can you tell me your device serial number?
-how am I supposed to find that number?
etc.

basically when customer call customer services provider they just want to get their broken things fixed.
but in computer area things are so much complicated, for us who were"expert" with this stuff probably will never need to call unless things are getting worse (such a hardware failure)

when Customer service ask something related to their things that they didn't even know/sure, customer are tends to get angry/grumpy.

 

[Carnivean]

Be sure that he actually gets the card cancelled that was used to pay and try and get him to actually harass the bank to do a chargeback on it.