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Pervy Repairman Added Spyware to Laptops

'Hot steam' message prompted women to take Macs near shower

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2011 2:33 AM CDT

(Newser) – A computer repairman in California doubled up as a virtual Peeping Tom, adding spyware to the Mac laptops of female customers so he could photograph them undressing and showering, police say. Hundreds of thousands of images and videos have been seized from the computer of 20-year-old Trevor Harwell, who has been slapped with 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud, AP reports.

Harwell installed software that hijacked the laptops' webcams and displayed this bogus error message: "You should fix your internal sensor soon. If unsure what to do, try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor." Police say this prompted many women to take their laptops into the bathroom with them while they showered. He was busted after a man complained about suspicious messages appearing on his daughter's laptop, reports the Los Angeles Times.

This photo provided by the Fullerton  Police Department  shows Trevor Harwell.
This photo provided by the Fullerton Police Department shows Trevor Harwell.   (Fullerton Police Department)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Dorian Mode
Jun 11, 2011 6:10 AM CDT
LOL, now that's good....I almost feel sorry for the little jerk when he takes his first prison shower. 
lvan
Jun 11, 2011 1:34 AM CDT
lol I'm not surprised that this sort of stunt can only work on mac users rofl.
professortech
Jun 10, 2011 9:26 AM CDT
You know they caught THIS guy because he put the stupid message about the sensor. How many other people have the "perve camera" option installed on their machine by some degernerate "tech repair geek" and don't even know it because he was patient or smart enough to just wait to see what transpired? As a public service they should have named the software or a tool to scan for it on someone's machine. Probably thought too many perverts in training would start installing it.
 

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