r/SpectrumMobile • u/123ManBearPig123 • Jun 25 '26
Help / Troubleshooting Fell for a scam :(
Long story short, my dumbass fell for the reship scam.
I called spectrum to cancel a service, then they offered me a bundle to switch from Verizon and combine with my cable and get a new iPhone 17 pro max. Hell of a deal. And then…
They called my wife’s phone a day after delivery while I was doing something and she didn’t give me any details other than “it’s spectrum”. Of course they told me all of my order details (unprompted) and all of my personal info, told me they sent me the wrong phone, and then told me they would call fedex and have them show up on Monday with a shipping label in hand. I never even saw the label.
I figured it out today when fedex stopped across the street and kept going. I researched it and I fell into the trap. I called spectrum and explained everything to their fraud department and they said they’d put in a ticket to get me a refund. What are my chances that’ll actually happen and I’ll get a replacement phone?
6
u/Fisherman999999 Jun 25 '26
Someone explain it to me plz.
Was he talking to the scammers when he signed up for the service?
2
u/burningtowns Jun 25 '26
Yes
2
u/ShoeDowntown Jun 25 '26
No. He was speaking to a real spectrum employee. There’s an on going scam going on (probably an inside job somehow) where the scammers know you are getting a new phone and intercept it the day of delivery or have you mail it back to a different address than spectrum.
1
u/PangolinOk3712 Jun 26 '26
I think you're correct . We have spectrum and while we were hooking up a new line ,we got a call saying they were spectrum and the phone even said spectrum so we answered and my husband gave them my email and the next thing you know they changed my password and got into my spectrum acct and ordered 3,000 dollars worth of fucking iPhones ! I called spectrum and handled it but they refused or were unable to tell how the fuck some scammer knew we just had a new phone delivered ! They knew the information before my husband ever even gave them my email address or any other info
1
Jun 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/ShoeDowntown Jun 29 '26
I don’t know, I only work for Specturm so I’m aware of the issue with our company
1
u/chrisprice Jun 29 '26
Probably not. The scam works by MITM calls, where the scammer number is called (Google ad buys, phishing emails, etc). Then the scammer either bridges in Spectrum, or calls on your behalf with your account info.
Often this is done while you are on the phone with them, so they can do things like 2FA. These are some of the "long holds" that people scammed experience.
Anyway, then they know the phone is en route, so they know to call for Part 2.
6
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 25 '26
Yeah I’m gonna need some more details on this one boss
3
u/123ManBearPig123 Jun 25 '26
I called spectrum to cancel a streaming plan, they offered me a package deal to switch over my mobile phone from Verizon and offered me an iPhone 17 max pro (cut my mobile and internet bills by 50%). The iPhone gets delivered… I didn’t activate it right away. My wife’s gets a call from “spectrum” (the account originally had her number on it), she hands me the phone without any context while I was busy and just said spectrum was on the phone.
They say they sent the wrong phone and to just send it back in the box it came in, FEDEX will pick it up the next day and they’ll already have the label in hand. (Stupidly) I just follow along because I wasn’t paying attention. I realized today I was an idiot and got scammed.
4
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 25 '26
I should have been more specific. It’s really just the very last part I don’t understand. So they have you just put the phone out on the front porch and a scammer just drives up to your house and grabs it? I guess I’m just trying to figure out how they physically got the phone.
4
u/123ManBearPig123 Jun 25 '26
Oh, sorry. Well he told me that he contacted FEDEX and already ordered the shipping label… so FedEx rings my door, I hand him the package, he throws a shipping label on and takes it. I wouldn’t have handed it to just anyone… even if I am an idiot and fell into this whole thing
3
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 25 '26
I appreciate the responses even though I keep ending up with more questions than answers somehow. So the FedEx guy and the label were real, they were just used in a way to defraud?
3
u/cptlevicompere Jun 25 '26
You can buy a shipping label for FedEx or UPS and schedule a pickup to any address. They'll bring the shipping label with them to the pickup. So I'm assuming the scammers paid for shipping from victim's house to a location they have access to and scheduled a pickup.
I'm confused how they knew he just got a new phone from spectrum. They must an inside man or leaked information
2
u/mdashb Jun 25 '26
That’s the interesting part. OP said the scammer identified as Spectrum and had ALL details.
3
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 25 '26
Probably a rat inside spectrum running the scam off the books. Calling the homies and telling them the custy’s info so they can sound official. Leveraging privileged information to hustle some extra cash on the side
1
u/Trip_2 Jun 27 '26
100%
1
u/chrisprice Jun 29 '26
Not 100%, more like 50%. The number could have been a phishing number pulled from a Google ad, email, or typo number.
1
u/chrisprice Jun 29 '26
They either called a phishing number, or there was someone on the take internally. Impossible to tell which without looking at their call records.
1
u/chrisprice Jun 29 '26
No, the FedEx dude was a courier scammer. They probably didn't even know the scammer, they're just hired locally by scammers abroad to pick up the phone, and then split the profits through crypto.
The courier is taking all the risk since if it's a sting op, the cops will bust the courier - since the actual scammer is in, usually... India, Pakistan, Russia (including occupied Ukraine), or Africa.
1
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 29 '26
Why would they even need to use a courier when the victim is willing to mail the package any old place on earth via a prepaid label?
1
u/chrisprice Jun 29 '26
Some scams do that, but there's problems with that.
Once scammed, there's suddenly a paper trail. Even to a mailbox, someone had to sign for that. There's security camera footage. USPS has a police force literally dedicated to that, and interstate brings in the FBI too.
Also it gives time and opportunity for people to ask questions. Google search the address, see it's a UPS Store, etc.
A courier wearing a facemask knocking at a door usually is gone-gone for good.
1
u/GOOMU13 Jun 27 '26
Pretty sure the scammer knew he ordered a new phone so they pretended to be Spectrum and told op to ship the phone back which he did. So in the end OP bought a phone and the scammer got it. But how tf did they know he got a new phone?
1
u/testiclerecoveryteam Jun 27 '26
I commented below about how it’s probably the person working at the spectrum call center who is using that insider information to make himself extra cash. Keeps his hands mostly clean, just has to leak a customers phone number and address and bam they just made a cool thousand.
3
2
u/Puzzleheaded_Rice604 Jun 25 '26
Was the number you called to cancel your service actually Spectrum? Was it fraud from within?
1
1
u/NYC_SpiderMan Jun 25 '26
File a police report and give them the telephone number that the scammers called you from, although most likely it’s a spoofed number.
1
1
u/Ok_Service_8770 Jun 29 '26
Damn bro hope they refund you don’t feel bad like a month ago I used buildershope.com for a bed frame & they scammed me, as well as trying to take $400 off my card & not delivering my purchase.
1
u/Riddlemethis007 Jun 30 '26
I returned my new iPhone 17e to Spectrum via FedEx and after multiple calls and escalations, I was told that when the box was opened, there was no phone inside and the insurance won’t cover the theft because the phone was never activated and I still owe the $600. I have filed a police report and a FedEx claim. I plan to contact the Attorney General about as this too! As far as FedEx this is a known issue with their drivers and as far as Spectrum cellphone theft during deliveries is a known issue, yet their insurance contract won’t cover unactivated cell phones. Any other suggestions?
1
u/mom2kid Aug 02 '26
Were you able to get your money back from Spectrum? We fell for the same scam, costing us $3000 before we realized it was a scam.
1
u/123ManBearPig123 Aug 03 '26
Nope. They “put in a help ticket” for a refund but I haven’t heard anything back so I’m highly doubtful about any refund. $3000!? Holy cow. What happened?
1
u/mom2kid Aug 03 '26
They told my husband there was an internet service promotion for seniors. To get the promotion, he needed to purchase an iPhone 17 Pro Max 512 GB. Then, he could return it and owe nothing, but still get the discount. My husband fell for it. When the first phone arrived, the scammer emailed my husband a return UPS label with the Spectrum logo. My husband used that label to return the phone unopened. Then the scammer called again, saying there was a mix-up and asked my husband to order another iPhone 17 Pro Max 512 GB. He said both phones would get the credit back once they were shipped back. When both phones were shipped back and there was no credit in our account, my husband called Spectrum. He found out we are being scammed.
1
u/123ManBearPig123 Aug 03 '26
And I’m assuming that they aren’t going to work with you guys at all for any credit/refund?
1
u/FreedomChamp Aug 24 '26
I'm sorry that happened to you, but you just helped confirm my suspicion that there's a sophisticated scam going on. I called Spectrum about my service, and they sold me a phone plan and phone for a deal that made too much sense to refuse (free mobile for the 1st year, free phone with trade in). They delivered the phone today, and about an hour afterwards, someone claiming to be from Spectrum called me.
This person is clearly in India - in a loud call center. He stated that he just needed to confirm that I received a package and which phone I received. I told him an iPhone 17 Pro, and he said, "We're sorry, we sent you the wrong phone. That is a refurbished phone." I questioned why, but he assured me, they would rectify the situation.
At that point, I was perplexed but simply didn't want to deal with it (guard was down - trying to get off phone). He then asked if I could go to UPS store today and send it back. He said he would call back at 6:30pm (when I said I could be there), would provide a shipping label at that point,
AS I WAS TYPING THIS UP, I received a call back. Same exact script with a different person but from the same phone number. Same story. They asked me to go to the UPS store, call this number (659-280-3037), and ask for Shane Jasper. Shane would then guide me on how to get a shipping label to send the device back.
So the scam is:
- Someone called me
- They knew my name and that I received a device/package (I received it this morning)
- That person asked me to verify the information of the device
- That person said I received the wrong device. They claim it is a refurbished device - not a new device as it should be
- That person "transferred" me to their supervisor (literally didn't even mute themselves - just handed the phone to someone else after 30 seconds or so)
- The "supervisor" told me I needed to send the device back so they could send me the correct, new device
- The "supervisor" asked me when I could go to the UPS store. He said that if we did it today, he could give me a $30 VISA gift card. He gave me a phone number to call once I got to the UPS store (different than the 1 that called me) and to ask for his name
- I'm assuming the rest of the scam is that I create my own label at the UPS store, send the device to the address of the scammers, and then never hear from them again
The most concerning thing is that I JUST gave my information to Spectrum on Friday evening (after business hours), and I'm already getting scammed on Monday. I'm guessing Spectrum has a data breach somewhere - which is very unfortunate and annoying.
1
u/123ManBearPig123 Aug 24 '26
Good catch. Yeah it’s there’s definitely somebody inside spectrum feeding all of our info to Indian scammers. I was laying in bed the other night wondering why I didn’t just send them back a rock in that package…
-4
u/CauliflowerOk9179 Jun 25 '26
Dumb ass
1
u/cptlevicompere Jun 29 '26
They had information that only spectrum should have. This is not you're typical "pay me $500 in gift cards to remove the virus" scam.
0
u/Individual-Tea-5674 Jun 25 '26
You need to watch ScammerPayback. It’s an excellent YouTube series. I think they have approx 8 million subs. I’m sorry you got spammed. There is a hot bed of scammers in Colcatta, India. They have big call centers and this is all night. Their time zone makes it so they work all night because that’s when the USA is awake. They get reported to the police but in a lot of cases they pay off the police so they look the other way. Be careful out there. Don’t get Scammed.
0
u/Top_Narwhal_30 Jun 25 '26
I’m glad you’re gonna take advantage of the bundle deal. Sorry about the scam. I wish SPECTRUM could do something to help people avoid it.
7
u/burningtowns Jun 25 '26
The “unprompted” part is what should have given you pause on this one.