'Destroyed' Hard Drive Found At Flea Market 424
Billosaur writes "From Yahoo News comes this tidbit about a couple who got a very shocking phone call. Henry and Roma Gerbus received a phone call from a man named Ed claiming he had purchased their old hard drive at a flea market. They had previously taken their computer to Best Buy to have the hard drive replaced and were told that the store would destroy it. Now it has turned up at a flea market, still containing their personal information, such as bank account numbers and Social Security numbers. The Gerbus' are a little perplexed and are very worried about identity theft."
As if though it matters... (Score:5, Funny)
Old geek saying (Score:4, Funny)
Even if Best Buy assured me they would destroy it, I would still grab a couple utilities to write nonsense bits onto the entire drive several times.
Of course, my biggest question is who is silly enough to throw out working storage space? My inner packrat insists that precious Gigabytes should coveted.
Re:SSN? (Score:5, Funny)
Drill Holes? (Score:2, Funny)
Why (Score:5, Funny)
Too little too late. (Score:4, Funny)
Quick! Close the barn door! The horse has bolted!
If the drive was being destroyed the store had no reason not to hand it over. He should have asked for it, or at the very least asked to be present at it's destruction.
Another selling point for my business (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Must've been a mistake (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Best Buy? Feh! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Old geek saying (Score:3, Funny)
So, you figure installing Windows 98 two or three times would fit the bill?
Re:Another selling point for my business (Score:3, Funny)
I think your last comment is way off base (Score:5, Funny)
Second shooter? (Score:3, Funny)
This is the fast-food of computer repair so the guy probably took out the old drive which reported several bad sectors in scandisk, dropped it in the trash and forgot about it. Later that day/week a bum that regularly dives their dumpster for crap to sell at a flea market did his normal job. Some dude out for the cheapest possible hard drive buys it then looks to see what is on it, because he's a perv and expects amature porn. Then because he rode the short bus he calls the previous owner to admit guilt.
Why is this hapless joe who accidentally mounted a hard drive then scoured it's contents closely enough to find social security numbers and the like guilty? It's like walking down a street and seeing a house with a door open. You can see the open door, and anything plainly visible from the street because of the open door. The second you walk through that door, you have trespassed.
But forget that amature porn collector.
Best Buy could solve all of this by issuing a 2lb hammer to all employees. It would help morale by providing an outlet for the rage incited by the latest management-speak directive from coorporate or the GM.
Re:Scandalous! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:In situations like that, there is no substitute (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Scandalous! (Score:2, Funny)
Yes, boss, we don't want to compromise security. Coffee anyone?