HP Fraud Alert: Protecting Yourself from Scams

This document is for all HP products.

Telephone technical support and order-related scams are an ongoing threat to technology companies such as HP and our customers. Scammers might call you on the phone or send you an email pretending to be representatives from HP technical or customer support. In some cases, scammers mask their originating phone number (Caller ID spoofing) so the calls appear to be from a genuine HP contact number. Scammers may also send phishing emails from an email address that seems like it is coming from HP.

The scammers attempt to gain your trust, and they might employ one or more of the following tactics:

Try to convince you that your device requires urgent technical support, and then request payment information (such as credit card, debit card, or online gift card) to bill you for phony services.
Request you to call them back at another time to "complete" a fraudulent technical support case and potentially further the scam.
Request remote access to your device, or try to convince you to install software that enables remote access to the device.
Try to trick you into installing malicious software including malware, viruses, or spyware that could capture or jeopardize the security of your personal information, such as online user names or passwords.
Request you to provide confidential information such as user IDs, passwords, customer support case numbers, or account history.
Email you using an authentic looking request to return your product for a replacement or asking you to provide confidential information such as your phone number, address or password.
Become aggressive and demand that you follow their instructions.

Protect yourself from telephone and email tech support or order scammers

HP never contacts customers to provide unsolicited technical support or to ask you to return a product. If you receive an unexpected call claiming to be from HP, you should hang up or request to call them back at a validated HP phone number (not one which they give to you). If you receive any emails about your order from HP, they will only come from an HP.com email domain.

Do not rely on caller ID alone to authenticate the caller, as criminals can change the caller ID display to make it appear as though the call is coming from a legitimate HP number.
Do not provide any confidential information such as user IDs, passwords, social security numbers, credit/debit card numbers, PINs, or account information.
Do not transfer funds or agree to make payment in the form of online gift cards.
Do not give callers remote access to your computer or device.
Do not install any software suggested by the caller.
Do not trust an emails that come from an email domain other than HP.com (for example, do not trust emails that come from addresses such as: example@hp.something.com or example@anothercompany.com). Examples of valid HP.com email domain include: example@hp.com or example@dept.hp.com.
Do confirm your shipping information when you place an order with HP and monitor delivery status with the tracking information provided by HP.
Do follow official instructions for authorized HP replacement programs and product recalls by going to https://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/recalls.html and not responding to emails.

What to do after you have been contacted by a scammer

TECH SUPPORT: If you believe you have been contacted by a scammer and are concerned about the security of your device and personal information, take the following actions:

Change the password for your device and all accounts where you might keep personal information, such as email and financial accounts.
Run a security scan or contact your security software provider to determine whether malware has been installed on your device.
Write down all details related to the scam call, and report this information to the appropriate agency.
- United States: Federal Trade Commission (in English and Spanish)
- Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (in English and French)

ORDER-RELATED / SHIPMENT THEFT: If you believe you have been contacted by a scammer or are concerned about the security of your order, take the following actions

Write down all details related to the phishing attempt, scam call or order intercept attempt.
Contact the store with which you placed your order to report the possible fraud.
Report this information to the appropriate agency.
- United States: Federal Trade Commission (in English and Spanish)
- Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (in English and French)

Learn more about tech support scams

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with federal, state, and international law enforcement partners, has initiated “Operation Tech Trap”, an international crackdown on tech support scams. As part of this effort, the FTC provides information about support scams on their Tech Support Scams webpage (in English and Spanish).

What HP is doing about tech support and order-related scams

HP considers the security of our customers’ devices and personal information a top priority. We will continue to investigate tech support and order-related scams and implement proactive and preventive measures to combat cybercriminals. HP refers cases to law enforcement authorities when appropriate and will cooperate in any related investigations.