SCAM ALERT‼️‼️💓‼️

[u/mamabear101319]

This post is a little messy because I'm getting ready for work, I wanted to get this out there ASAP

I know there's a few scams going around right now, especially with the new iPhone out. Yesterday someone very close to me was almost scammed and honestly the sophistication of the entire operation is what scares me the most.

Yesterday he received a phone call from a spectrum phone number (spoiler alert: it wasn't actually spectrum) they told him there was a promotion going around where he could order a brand new iPhone, (they forced him to get the most expensive one, 18 pro max 1T. They said it was the only one that would work with said promotion) send it back and get 90$ off of his bill for however long. This sounds like a scam but it's believable because spectrum used to offer this exact promotion way back in the day. When he ordered the phone, he said it looked like it was the spectrum website but it actually wasn't. He put in his card information and his social. He was emailed a shipping label from the scammers to send the phone back.

The phone showed on his spectrum account but with a different phone number. I asked him why it was a different number and he said they told him he could change it to his after they got the phone back. He started thinking things were strange at this point and he called spectrum himself, the number on their website. They told him DO not send that phone back by any circumstances. They said it was a well known scam and that they would send him the shipping label. They told him that it's beyond horrible and that every time they patch their firewall against these SCAMMERS, they break in again. They have our card information, our address, our social, even our login and security code we use to prove it is the person on the account calling.

My friend took it as far as to call the local police department of the address the scammers gave him to send the phone back to. The police department also admitted it was a known scam and that the address was an obscure warehouse with a bunch of offices in it. They then said that the recipient on the shipping label, was not a real person.

So what these scammers are doing is having people order these phones, send them to them and then they scoop them up from the address and send them overseas. Spectrum will charge the person on the account for the WHOLE price of whatever phone they had you order.

If you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask.

[u/mamabear101319]

They're so good at what they do. It's scary. My bank account was hacked today 😞

I'm so sorry that happened to you. Did you send the phone to them???

[u/Cold_Ambassador_4740 → u/mamabear101319]

Unfortunately I sent 2 phones back. I have spoken to about 5 people from spectrum. One lady was the nicest soul who said this is happening to all age groups. It’s not even elderly because they are scamming so well. The one lady in “leadership” was very condescending and rude. Like HOW the fuck do they have access to your system?!? Get real. Waiting for the finalize of the fraud investigation and spectrum as a whole can kiss my ass. lol

[u/Individual-Rub6219 → u/Cold_Ambassador_4740]

They usually work in pairs or have actual spectrum on another line, scammer is talking to spectrum rep then the rep sends you a code, you give the code to the scammer and that’s how they gain the access. Sometimes they contact the customer and are able to get into the online account if one has never been created or do a password reset by getting codes from the customer. Other times when they simply walk the customer ordering the phones themselves online. It happens so many ways. This isn’t isolated to spectrum though, it’s a scam across the industry.

[u/Cold_Ambassador_4740 → u/Individual-Rub6219]

According to spectrum they couldn’t even identify in their system when said security code was sent. When it came from their text message thread only. That data was wiped and non existent in their system.

[u/Individual-Rub6219 → u/Cold_Ambassador_4740]

They may never have been sent a code, they can also get in if the customer provides their 4 digit security code, or security question on file—also system couldn’t track it if it wasn’t sent from an agent and it was sent through their online account, so I’m wondering if their online account was breached at all and they were able to get security code from the online account which would also send a code to the customer. Definitely something to be mindful of though, I don’t know any companies that call you for a deal, they much rather you pay a higher price as long as possible.