dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
view:
topics flat nest 
Comments on news posted 2013-10-02 14:38:30: You might recall how last year, police in Pennsylvania busted a large group of individuals and a Comcast employee that had been illegally offering users a lower monthly rate for a one-time fee of between $150 and $200. ..


Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

Boricua

Premium Member

Oh snap!!

I missed out on a good sale .

BonezX
Basement Dweller
Premium Member
join:2004-04-13
Canada

BonezX

Premium Member

Re: Oh snap!!

oh i foresee them absolutely slamming the customers for huge amounts, as well as going after the guy in charge for much more then they actually "lost"

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Oh snap!!

said by BonezX:

oh i foresee them absolutely slamming the customers for huge amounts

This scam already costs other customers (the ones who actual pay their legit bill) the $2.4 million these assholes stole. No legit customer feels sorry for the scammers, and likely feels angry at every one who knowingly bought in, or hits Comcast for a second, 3rd, 4th. promo because they know they and every other good customer pays the price.
8744675
join:2000-10-10
Decatur, GA

8744675 to Boricua

Member

to Boricua
Essentially, all customers ended up having to pay more money to make up for the loss, he said.

Sounds just like Comcast logic, charging their customers to make up a loss they didn't know existed.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Oh snap!!

They borrowed money and purchased programing for them to see on what amounted to a perpetual promo rate.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Wonder if customers could be liable

I would think it is like receiving stolen property. If a reasonable person would suspect the item is stolen, you are screwed if you buy a stolen item. Seems a reasonable person would suspect this was shady too.
clbowen2
join:2000-10-06
Cleveland, OH

2 recommendations

clbowen2

Member

Re: Wonder if customers could be liable

I would say that's a 1 in 6000 chance.

Sarick
It's Only Logical
Premium Member
join:2003-06-03
USA

Sarick to skeechan

Premium Member

to skeechan
If it's a subscription how can they repossess the stolen content? I assume that the people who relieved the promo discounts couldn't return the received product that they'd be forced to pay back for services rendered.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop to skeechan

Member

to skeechan
I guess it depends on what the lower monthly fee was. If it was something that was an unrealistic to good to be true rate then they could possibly go after them since they should have known better.

It's more likely they will move to guilt them into going legit.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Tit for Tat, Comcast

quote:
“Essentially, all customers ended up having to pay more money to make up for the loss,”
So ... if Comcast recovers any of the money, do we get a refund?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Tit for Tat, Comcast

If they actually recover a profit, you might, not cash but maybe one less fee increase. The trouble is they may end up spending more pursuing this case then any dollar of return, remember the scammers wasted it on luxuries, gambling and things that provide zero return. so they likely can never repay what the took from others.
Next time you(anybody) cheers on a criminal act against "the man" they should consider who ends up paying the bill.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Re: Tit for Tat, Comcast

said by tshirt:

Next time you(anybody) cheers on a criminal act against "the man" they should consider who ends up paying the bill.

I never cheer on a criminal act committed by anyone ... but sadly, when Comcast commits a criminal act, we subscribers end up paying the bill for THAT, also.

mikesterr
join:2008-04-18
Sanford, FL

mikesterr to tshirt

Member

to tshirt

Hammer Lady
Well I still do cheer this lady.

I wish I saw it happen, but the laughs from the hammer lady were worth the price of admission.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to tshirt

Member

to tshirt
LOL, dont kid yourself.

Comcast could be given a billion dollars as a gift from Bill Gates and you wont see any changes in their prices or future prices to the benefit of the consumer.

What you will see though, is a bigger payout to the owners.
chrisgo1
join:2005-03-16
Orlando, FL

chrisgo1

Member

Re: Tit for Tat, Comcast

News flash: That is how every for profit company works! People form companies to generate a profit. Nothing wrong with that. Your 401k and other investments revolve around this concept. You don't personally invest money to lose money do you? If a company is formed to distribute money it is called a charity. Why do so many think profits are bad and the purpose of a company is to service the consumer. For profit companies are built to make money for those who own them. If a company can lower its costs on its cost of goods sold and make money it has a responsibility to either reinvest or distribute the profits to its owners. Servicing the customer is a means to that end.
chrisgo1

chrisgo1

Member

Re: Tit for Tat, Comcast

With this said the FCC should do their job and protect the consumer since it is responsibility to serve their boss (the consumer) instead of being so spineless in so many issues.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop to newview

Member

to newview
Maybe your .0000001 cents.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Re: Tit for Tat, Comcast

said by battleop:

Maybe your .0000001 cents.

Anytime Comcast has to send me money ... no matter how small, or inconsequential, I count as a Victory.

I celebrated for a month after Comcast was required to refund me money after the BitTorrent verdict. Every cup of coffee I bought on the way to work that month was courtesy of Comcast.

FCC Rules Against Comcast for BitTorrent Blocking
»www.eff.org/deeplinks/20 ··· blocking

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

2 edits

batterup

Premium Member

Subcontractors

"The crew used a secret computer installed in a subcontractor's office, in addition to the IDs of subcontractors that were on disability or had been let go." Wasn't Snowden a subcontractor? If they want cheep labor they get what they deserve.

Let me do the math, 6000 customers at $200 each is $1.2 million; must be the new the bigger the bust the bigger the boost math.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

"Comcast estimates the ring caused them more than $2.4 million in losses...."
Implies Comcast lost about $400 per sub average and the perps sold the discounts for 1/2 price, that's probably why people jumped at the chance.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

said by tshirt:

"Comcast estimates the ring caused them more than $2.4 million in losses...."
Implies Comcast lost about $400 per sub average and the perps sold the discounts for 1/2 price, that's probably why people jumped at the chance.

Comcast brought this on themselves; they have independent sales people out offering all kinds of discounts to get them to come back or pay a pass due bill so people know many are legitimate.

Comcast gives them "promotion" codes to put on customers bills to get the discount. I know for a fact Comcast doesn't know where they are or what they are doing by looking in the computer at the Comcast service desk.

All this ring did was place discount codes on bills and pocketed the money. They must be able to cash a check made out to Comcast too as the $1.2 million was not in cash.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

No actual comcast employees were involved. It was a comcast sub contractor dispatcher employee that stole legitimate comcast employee id log ins. Most likely by looking over someone shoulder as they logged in. Since the subcontractor had a computer that had authority to log onto cable data they simply logged in with the stolen id and applied promotions. you could hack to the end of your life and probably never gain access to cable data. Since he was a dispatcher and had access to cable data it was simply a matter of using a proper log in to do what he did.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

said by rody_44:

No actual comcast employees were involved.

How did they cash the checks?

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

The $1.2 was cash, the door to door says to the sub, "Psst! for $200 , I can switch your box to get premium channels for free"

a few dishonest techs have been doing variations on the for years.
the wink wink "CASH" payment shouldn't have left any doubt in the subs minds that this wasn't comcast offering, but the tech/door to door/phone guy was offering a FIX in return for an under the table cash payment.
The only difference here was the scale, and conspirsy of multiple people rather than a tech or 2 scamming a few extra dollars.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

said by tshirt:

The $1.2 was cash, the door to door says to the sub, "Psst! for $200 , I can switch your box to get premium channels for free"

Then in that case the subscribers are culpable too. I'm sure they saw "The Cable Guy"?




Comcast must make a fortune if they didn't notice millions of dollars missing. Comcast was clueless until a subscriber called to ask about the discount. I'll give them some slack though as there was no inventory or money actually missing.

It also appears to be easier to launder money than the NSA would have US believe.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

You know they've been watching inhouse CSR's for years to see who and how many promos the give out, this guy just figured out a loophole and then spread the promo on to other techs ID#s
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to batterup

Premium Member

to batterup
Actually thats what was reported. Didnt actually go that way tho. The scheme was uncovered at a hair salon. Lets just say they sold the service to the owner of a hair salon. A hairdresser that happened to cut hair for someone that was a actual comcast employee with clout.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Subcontractors

said by rody_44:

Actually thats what was reported. Didnt actually go that way tho. The scheme was uncovered at a hair salon. Lets just say they sold the service to the owner of a hair salon. A hairdresser that happened to cut hair for someone that was a actual comcast employee with clout.

Comcast was still clueless and didn't find this on their own, somebody dropped a dime. It must be nice to have so much money that 4 billion or was that million was not noticed by those who should have been watching.

Comcast is a robber baron so pardon me if I don't shed a tear. I didn't care for Cablevision, my provider, until I dealt with Comcast for a friend. Even Dolen firing war veterans for even saying the word union looks good next to the peacock.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to batterup

Premium Member

to batterup
LOl they didnt get checks. Not many scams involve payment by checks. cash only

Probitas
@teksavvy.com

Probitas

Anon

this would be a good opportunity

for Comcast to address their pricing scheme, show they care about customers, and perhaps lower them somewhat to avoid people trying to get cheaper pricing in the first place. If customers are looking for options, there must be a valid reason for it. It also begs the question, just how were they able to lower pricing? There must be an internal discount for that to even be able to occur.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: this would be a good opportunity

So lowering bills to compete with those that steal their service?
Piracy is NOT an economic driver except in places like Somalia.
It is impossible for any company to compete with someone who sells for less BECAUSE they stole it and thus have NO COST.
In fact because they still borrowed money (from stockholders and banks) all the customers pay high rates to cover those and other costs.
If you really wanted to see the lowest rates you would turn in all the cheats so that comcast doesn't have to spend millions tracking down and prosecuting the bad apples. and you'd encourage more people to use their services at full price and pay your bills on time, and maybe even buy stock and accept a lower rate of return because you wanted the best possible price for all customers.
RokHed
join:2000-09-09
Pennsville, NJ

RokHed

Member

I had that plan

They gave me Blast... Phone.. Every channel except Cmax on 4 boxes for $119. I even talked them out of the $100 surcharge. They tried for the entire year to raise my bill. I had it in writing by their employee so they couldn't. They claim that it was a non authorized deal. I said tough. Then my deal year ran out. $235 I tried to deal with them.. They said nope. I bailed on everything but Internet. I had REAL good deals for 3 years. It was great till they caught up with them.
snarf7
join:2013-08-31

snarf7

Member

why

How was this illegal

•••
davidhoffman
Premium Member
join:2009-11-19
Warner Robins, GA

davidhoffman

Premium Member

Comcast unauthorized discounts.

I wonder if these guys had been smarter they might have stuck with only offering discounts on internet service. Since Comcast has been doing a bunch of nonsense to create phony affordable internet access plans, the person who called it in might not have been so suspicious of an internet service only discount or upgrade to a faster internet speed tier. Thus she might not have called it in. The monitoring for unusual patterns of discounts for content channels by CSRs should have been well known. The customers paying cash to some door to door guy for content discounts should have been suspicious. These guys maybe could have set up an operation that processed payments similar to the way the legitimate Comcast corporation does to avoid arousing too much suspicion.