Woman Out $250 After Falling Victim To Comcast, Amazon Fake Promotion Scheme

Consider yourself warned: Scammers are taking advantage of the recent news that Amazon is selling access to Comcast services, faking calls from the cable company to steal money from unwitting victims.

One victim tells NBC Connecticut that she lost $250 after receiving a call for what she thought was a legitimate promotion from Comcast.

“I was shopping one day and my phone rang. It said Comcast on the caller ID, so I picked up thinking there was an issue with my bill or my service,” the woman says.

Instead, the call was regarding a supposed promotion that Comcast and Amazon were offering in order to promote their new partnership.

The woman was wary at first, but she says she searched online and verified that Comcast has begun selling service on Amazon.

While it’s true that back in March, Amazon opened the Cable Store and began selling Comcast’s Xfinity bundles, the two companies aren’t considered partners. Last month, the e-commerce giant began offering free tablets for those who signed up for Comcast services through the store.

With this information — along with the Comcast caller ID on her phone – she believed the deal was legit.

The caller, who knew her account number and type of service, told the woman that she could receive a special price on services if she paid five months in advance. The deal would also lock in her rate for two years. All she had to do was buy a $250 Amazon gift card and call back with the card’s claim code.

The woman says that when she did that, she received a recording that sounded much like the one she usually heard when calling Comcast.

After completing the transaction, the woman wondered if she could get the same deal on a second Comcast account and called the number.

This time, NBC Connecticut reports, she was asked for the last four digits of her social security number. That’s when she realized she had been scammed.

“And I’ve since learned that it’s like one of the easiest things that you could do, there’s apps out there that teach people how. It’s called spoofing,” she said of scammers faking caller ID information.

The woman says she contacted Comcast, Amazon, and the Federal Trade Commission about the incident. Because the caller had information related to her account, including her account number, the woman says she changed her passwords and security questions.

Reps for both Comcast and Amazon advise customers who receive unsolicited calls about services to always be suspicious of anyone that asks for personal information and to call the number listed on their bill.

Comcast Customer Warns of Fake Offer [NBC Connecticut]