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Old 06-19-2022, 07:05 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,140 times
Reputation: 10

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Not sure if I'm using the right term "SPYWARE", but I'm looking to buy a USED laptop off of Offerup/eBay and was told by a friend that he has a friend that actually put a program on his daughter and wife's computers to watch what they're looking at and get into any programs they have installed in the computers
(Supposably he's a computer programmer).

As I started to say, I wanted to purchase a cheap used laptop, but afraid that if this is possible, what is stopping anyone else from setting up computer like this to sell and spy on people.

So, my question is, is this true, and if so, can I tell if I'm not that literate in computers???
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Old 06-20-2022, 06:56 AM
 
Location: Boydton, VA
4,603 posts, read 6,366,715 times
Reputation: 10586
Buy a used and refurbished device from a reputable source such as newegg or tigerdirect.
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Old 06-25-2022, 07:41 AM
 
Location: So Cal
10,032 posts, read 9,509,010 times
Reputation: 10454
Quote:
Originally Posted by ams9656 View Post
Not sure if I'm using the right term "SPYWARE", but I'm looking to buy a USED laptop off of Offerup/eBay and was told by a friend that he has a friend that actually put a program on his daughter and wife's computers to watch what they're looking at and get into any programs they have installed in the computers
(Supposably he's a computer programmer).

As I started to say, I wanted to purchase a cheap used laptop, but afraid that if this is possible, what is stopping anyone else from setting up computer like this to sell and spy on people.

So, my question is, is this true, and if so, can I tell if I'm not that literate in computers???
They’re called monitoring software.

https://famisafe.wondershare.com/par...r-parents.html
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Old 06-26-2022, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Encino, CA
4,566 posts, read 5,421,205 times
Reputation: 8251
Quote:
Originally Posted by gemstone1 View Post
Buy a used and refurbished device from a reputable source such as newegg or tigerdirect.
I agree with this.

If you cannot afford a new laptop, or you prefer not to buy new, the next best thing to do is to buy from a reputable place like Newegg and Tigerdirect. I would avoid buying from private party because you have no idea what you are getting.
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Old 06-28-2022, 05:39 PM
 
425 posts, read 647,471 times
Reputation: 540
Windows has a restore function where it will wipe everything back to factory default and scrub the drive...I would think that should do it. I doubt anyone would go to the trouble to hack the OS on a used laptop to circumvent this restore and build a back door monitoring outlet
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