Weird letter from DirecTV

A curiosity: I've contacted DirecTV but have yet to receive an email or
phone call from them about a weird letter I got last week.

I've been a customer for 14 months. I recently had a receiver fail. I
bought a replacement receiver, phoned them and had it activated.

The letter I got a few weeks later stated that when attempting to verify
my credit information, it "didn't match", so they were not able to
extend me service.

My DirecTV still works great, and they are billing my credit card as
they have for over a year.

Anybody else get a letter like this?

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 15:38:38 +0000, \--\¶¢£¤¥§æ¾½¼ wrote:

The letter I got a few weeks later stated that when attempting to verify
my credit information, it "didn't match", so they were not able to extend
me service.

My DirecTV still works great, and they are billing my credit card as they
have for over a year.

Sounds awfully fishy. Was it a snail mail letter or an e-mail?

Either way, I would suspect it's some sort of social engineering attempt.
E-mail would be the more common vector for this sort of attack currently,
though it wouldn't surprise me at all if this one came via snail mail.

I'm assuming the letter requested that you resend your information (name,
address, Social Security number, Driver's License #, Mother's maiden name,
ATM PIN #, etc so that they could verify it? Have you checked out the
addresses where they wanted you to send it?

If they weren't asking for too much information, and/or all the involved
addresses check out, it _could_ be a legit letter. If it didn't apply to
you, it might just be a clerical error. But I'd be suspicious...

--
Lenroc

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 15:38:38 +0000, \--\¶¢£¤¥§æ¾½¼ wrote:

The letter I got a few weeks later stated that when attempting to verify
my credit information, it "didn't match", so they were not able to extend
me service.

My DirecTV still works great, and they are billing my credit card as they
have for over a year.

Sounds awfully fishy. Was it a snail mail letter or an e-mail?

Either way, I would suspect it's some sort of social engineering attempt.
E-mail would be the more common vector for this sort of attack currently,
though it wouldn't surprise me at all if this one came via snail mail.

I'm assuming the letter requested that you resend your information (name,
address, Social Security number, Driver's License #, Mother's maiden name,
ATM PIN #, etc so that they could verify it? Have you checked out the
addresses where they wanted you to send it?

If they weren't asking for too much information, and/or all the involved
addresses check out, it _could_ be a legit letter. If it didn't apply to
you, it might just be a clerical error. But I'd be suspicious...

--
Lenroc

Lenroc wrote:

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 15:38:38 +0000, \--\¶¢£¤¥§æ¾½¼ wrote:

The letter I got a few weeks later stated that when attempting to
verify my credit information, it "didn't match", so they were not able
to extend me service.

My DirecTV still works great, and they are billing my credit card as
they have for over a year.

Sounds awfully fishy. Was it a snail mail letter or an e-mail?

Either way, I would suspect it's some sort of social engineering
attempt. E-mail would be the more common vector for this sort of attack
currently, though it wouldn't surprise me at all if this one came via
snail mail.

Along these lines, if you (that is, the OP) sent any sensitive information
to an e-mail address in the letter, and if you cannot verify that the
address is legit, you may need to take immediate steps to mitigate the
damage. For instance, if they asked for credit card numbers, contact your
credit card company and explain the situation; you may need to cancel
your current cards and get new ones, as they might have been, in a sense,
"stolen." If you sent your Social Security number, that's very bad; it
could be an identity theft racket, the results of which are likely to be
credit card accounts opened in your name and your credit history ruined.
It'll take years to resolve the issue if that happens, and I don't know
of any steps you can take now to fix the problem.

That said, the scenarios I paint could be overly pessimistic; if the
letter is legit, I wouldn't worry. Without more information, though, it's
hard to be sure what's going on.

--
Rod Smith,
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

Lenroc wrote:

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 15:38:38 +0000, \--\¶¢£¤¥§æ¾½¼ wrote:

The letter I got a few weeks later stated that when attempting to
verify my credit information, it "didn't match", so they were not able
to extend me service.

My DirecTV still works great, and they are billing my credit card as
they have for over a year.

Sounds awfully fishy. Was it a snail mail letter or an e-mail?

Either way, I would suspect it's some sort of social engineering
attempt. E-mail would be the more common vector for this sort of attack
currently, though it wouldn't surprise me at all if this one came via
snail mail.

Along these lines, if you (that is, the OP) sent any sensitive information
to an e-mail address in the letter, and if you cannot verify that the
address is legit, you may need to take immediate steps to mitigate the
damage. For instance, if they asked for credit card numbers, contact your
credit card company and explain the situation; you may need to cancel
your current cards and get new ones, as they might have been, in a sense,
"stolen." If you sent your Social Security number, that's very bad; it
could be an identity theft racket, the results of which are likely to be
credit card accounts opened in your name and your credit history ruined.
It'll take years to resolve the issue if that happens, and I don't know
of any steps you can take now to fix the problem.

That said, the scenarios I paint could be overly pessimistic; if the
letter is legit, I wouldn't worry. Without more information, though, it's
hard to be sure what's going on.

--
Rod Smith,
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

thesatguy wrote:
As a new sub you are required to meet their current credit requirements.
It would appear that somebody did not enter the new receiver into the
account database properly as you are not really a 'new' sub.
It would also appear that you gave them account info that did not match what
you told them 14 months ago. And, due to the high volume of phony accounts
they watch that pretty close now. The CSR simply enters the data you supply
and based on that info the credit dept makes a decision. You need to call
them and give them the correct data that matches your original account and
get the receiver added to the original account.

I should have mentioned the letter was snail mail from DirecTV.

The guy on the phone who activated the new receiver said all was well.
Later, I got the credit letter. Oddly, I posted this message months ago
and it just appeared, so either my newsreader client or something else
is messed up. Anyway, despite the weird letter, my DirecTV service has
continued uninterrupted, billed to my credit card as usual.

Of course, if you signed
paperwork at the store to buy the new receiver at a discount only allowed
for 'new' subs you now owe the store the new sub fee.

I got a discount, but it wasn't 'new sub' discount. The store has a
very low price for boxes sold with new subs, a discounted price for
receivers sold to DirecTV subscribers, and a higher price for
non-subscribers. I was told that if I did not call DirecTV to activate
the box within a certain time, another charge would be made to my card
to bring the new receiver's price up to that charged to a
non-subscriber. This did not happen. I activated my box the day I
bought it. So, I assume the credit letter - which has had no effect on
my service - was a harmless glitch.

thesatguy wrote:
As a new sub you are required to meet their current credit requirements.
It would appear that somebody did not enter the new receiver into the
account database properly as you are not really a 'new' sub.
It would also appear that you gave them account info that did not match what
you told them 14 months ago. And, due to the high volume of phony accounts
they watch that pretty close now. The CSR simply enters the data you supply
and based on that info the credit dept makes a decision. You need to call
them and give them the correct data that matches your original account and
get the receiver added to the original account.

I should have mentioned the letter was snail mail from DirecTV.

The guy on the phone who activated the new receiver said all was well.
Later, I got the credit letter. Oddly, I posted this message months ago
and it just appeared, so either my newsreader client or something else
is messed up. Anyway, despite the weird letter, my DirecTV service has
continued uninterrupted, billed to my credit card as usual.

Of course, if you signed
paperwork at the store to buy the new receiver at a discount only allowed
for 'new' subs you now owe the store the new sub fee.

I got a discount, but it wasn't 'new sub' discount. The store has a
very low price for boxes sold with new subs, a discounted price for
receivers sold to DirecTV subscribers, and a higher price for
non-subscribers. I was told that if I did not call DirecTV to activate
the box within a certain time, another charge would be made to my card
to bring the new receiver's price up to that charged to a
non-subscriber. This did not happen. I activated my box the day I
bought it. So, I assume the credit letter - which has had no effect on
my service - was a harmless glitch.

Somone wrote in scrip that I can't post:
non-subscribers. I was told that if I did not call DirecTV to activate
the box within a certain time, another charge would be made to my card
to bring the new receiver's price up to that charged to a

My understanding in the cell phone biz is that the followthrough on the
charge back is abysmal. The store would have to realize that in amongst
the charges and credits there is the revocation of the bounty for a new
customer, or existing customer, and they would have to charge your card,
which might not be valid anymore at that point, even if they did actually
try to make the cahrge.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

Somone wrote in scrip that I can't post:
non-subscribers. I was told that if I did not call DirecTV to activate
the box within a certain time, another charge would be made to my card
to bring the new receiver's price up to that charged to a

My understanding in the cell phone biz is that the followthrough on the
charge back is abysmal. The store would have to realize that in amongst
the charges and credits there is the revocation of the bounty for a new
customer, or existing customer, and they would have to charge your card,
which might not be valid anymore at that point, even if they did actually
try to make the cahrge.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5