And now, another exciting installment from the world of tech support–in this case, Dell’s (surprise!). It was sent to me by reader Jack E., and its subtitle could well be, “When Tech Support is Outsourced–and Common Sense is Dead.”

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Dear David: I enjoy your work. Today after I received a phish e-mail, a fake Dell order confirmation from a crook in Taiwan posing as someone from Dell and trying to get credit card information. I thought you might enjoy hearing what happened.

I went to the Dell Web site to report it. There was no obvious way to do so, so I ended up connecting with one of their customer service agents for a “chat.” Here’s the transcript of that online conversation:

Agent: “Thank you for contacting Dell Customer Service Chat. My name is Shiva. How may I help you?”

Jack: “I just received by e-mail a phony Dell order confirmation from a spammer. Would you like a copy of it? How should I send it in?”

Agent: “As I understand, you have received a confirmation mail. Correct?”

Jack: “Yes, and it is not genuine. It is from a spammer from Taiwan, posing as Dell. Do you want a copy of it?”

Agent: “Sure, let me check what best can be done.”

Jack: “Thank you.”

Agent: “May I know if you have placed the order with Dell?”

Jack: “No, I have not. That’s how I know it is not genuine. It is not for a real order. It is from a spammer who is trying to get credit card account numbers by posing as Dell.”

Agent: “Sure, let me check.”

Agent: “Jack I am from small and medium business for America, and do not have the excess to Taiwan order. Please get on our web site to get the number for customer care for Taiwan.”

Jack: “I’m sorry, but you are not understanding me. This is not a real order. It is an attempt by a criminal in Taiwan to pose as Dell to steal credit card numbers from customers in the United States.”

Agent: “Hope you understand why I am unable to help you and asking you to contact the Taiwan customer care department. I have excess to check only order numbers for America.”

Jack: “I don’t think the order number is genuine for Taiwan or for any other country. But thanks for your help. I will simply delete the false order confirmation.”

Agent: “I am really sorry for being helpless Jack. Is there anything else I may help you with?”

Jack: “No, thank you.”

Agent: “Thank you for visiting Dell Small Business Customer Service online chat and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. Also, feel free to visit us again at support.dell.com.”

Agent: “Thank you and have a great day ahead. Bye!”

Session Ended