Lawsuit: Comcast Leaked Customer's Banking Info After She Sent Check For "My Right Arm"
A woman who sent a sarcastic payment to the "Comcast Vampires" for "My Right Arm" is suing because she says Comcast employees posted a copy of her unredacted check on the internet. She says she was alerted to the security breach by a stranger from Colorado who received the check in an email that said: "This is too funny not to pass on. This is an actual payment we received via yesterdays mail."
The woman says "attached was a copy of my personal check with my name, my address, my phone number, My account numbers, my signature... nothing was blacked out...Nothing! And a copy of my comcast statement."
Here's her story as she tells it, from the Comcast Must Die website:
My gripe with comcast started when i received my first bill after signing up for the Comcast Triple Play. $99 a month, right? No...It was an additional $30 on top of that because i was already a comcast customer. If you have cable in my area, yes, you have to be a comcast customer.
So my first bill was for $228. When i paid my bill i paid $200. Leaving a $28 balance to be tacked on to next months bill. When i had family visiting, my cable wasnt working for a few days, finally i called and the reason was because my account was past due. In order to get it turned back on i had to pay $169 (not my $28 balance)by phone immediately. So i did, electronically... and before i hung up the phone the tv was on again. That fast. Embarrassing.
So since i paid over the phone i disregarded my next payment and instead sent my check to the "Comcast vampires" and paid in the amount of "My right Arm and zero dollars" memo "Robbing customers blind". Haha, i got my little dig in there, so i thought.
About 2 weeks later, i was out of town visiting family when my husband calls from home telling me that he just recieved a strange phone call from a woman in Colorado. We live in Pennsylvania. She just recieved an email that said "This is too funny not to pass on. This is an actual payment we recieved via yesterdays mail." And attached was a copy of my personal check with my name, my address, my phone number, My account numbers, my signature... nothing was blacked out...Nothing! And a copy of my comcast statement.
Immediately, i called my bank, then comcast, then the police. I had to cut my visit short to come home and take care of this situation. That was last August. Since then i have filed complaints with the BBB, Attorney General, and the FTC. I have searched for an attorney to file a case against them. No Luck. There are 3 Consumer Rights attorneys in Pittsburgh. I am afraid of the whole identity theft thing. A comcast employee put all of my personal information out there, its just a matter of time in my eyes. They have given me so much runaround, i dont even want to go there. I even spoke to a comcast security agent that couldnt even tell me her last name, she just had an Agent ID B!<. How ridiculous is that. She gave the the number for the comcast legal dept, 1-800-871-6298 and fax, 1-720-267-2794. She claimed that she had reported the incident and it was now out of her hands.
Nothing has been done, i have had to change my bank account, get new checks, and constantly keep an eye on our credit report. They issued me credit for 3 months of services.
A few people got fired, but that doesnt help me any. For all i know, the email could still be circulating. Now i am not sure where to go now. I just know that this incident could haunt me for years to come. And i still write my checks out to the comcast vampires.
The Associated Press says Comcast has no comment.
Woman sends Comcast check for 'my right arm' [Post-Gazette]
(Photo: cmorran123 )
This is a test using rich text formatting and html links. It's the generic "company" ad that should appear on all posts with the Company category if they don't have an ad attached to a specific company.
Post a comment
Comments:
that sucks. close out your account... you probably already did that. not much else to be done
IF your going to send in a check like that . why not just black it out yourself?
@sgodun: "Backfire" would have been if they actually came to her house and demanded her right arm. Mass emailing her personal information is totally inappropriate.
Comcast get thousands of checks each month. Being responsible with the personal information on those checks should be a no-brainer.
I guess be careful what you send to people.
Not excusing what they did but she acted like a moron this entire time. It's just bad karma.
Yeah, it sucks but am I missing something? She thought it was funny to send the check, the receiver thought it was funny and shared it, and then everything went to hell. What does she want... Witness Protection? $1,000,000.00? A public flogging?
Nothing got done... some people got fired, I changed bank accounts, got new checks, keep an eye on my credit report, they gave me three months credit.
Yeah, one of the times where it's actually correct to blame the consumer. Someone wants to be a bitch and do something stupid and is then surprised when it bites them on the ass. If she hates Comcast so much why is she still a customer, even after this??
I guess as they say there is no patch for human stupidity!
Comcast get thousands of checks each month. Being responsible with the personal information on those checks should be a no-brainer.
I agree in general, but the only thing that gives me pause here is that this clearly was designed to get attention. She wanted someone to actually look at it and notice it, not just process it for payment like with the other thousands of checks they get. Again, not excusing what they did at all, but it can't be the case that she wanted her check to go ignored.
Was there information on this particular check that isn't on every single check she hands out during the month? It wasn't exactly private information. However, theremay have been private information on the copy of the Comcast statement.
I hope she at least gave this stunt some thought in advance. The idea of that check having 20-30 sets of eyes on it within 5 minutes of it being opened isn't something I consider outside the realm of possibility - let alone it being shared outside the office.
There are plenty of other ways to voice your dissatisfaction with a company that don't involve writing it on a sheet of paper containing your bank account number and personal contact information.
Really? It's the customer's fault?
So, maybe she shouldn't have sent the sarcastic cheque. That in no way excuses Comcast employees forwarding her PERSONAL and PRIVATE information to other random people. If nothing else, they sure as hell should have redacted the info.
Are you kidding me? Comcast = fail.
I can think of few companies that deserve the negative publicity as much as Comcast.
Wrong as the Comcast employee was to release that check image outside of the company, the customer used REALLY bad judgement in sending in a prank to a person she will never identify.
@smirky: What's different about this check is that it's gonna make the first person who looks at it go "LOL HEY GUYS GET A LOAD OF THIS" - all of a sudden it's all over the office when it otherwise wouldn't be.
@kylo4 What the customer did didn't hurt anyone, it was just a statement about how she felt. What Comcast did caused the customer a lot of anxiety and time.
Obviously she has every right to be royally pissed off, but she's being melodramatic saying "this incident could haunt me for years to come." The account is closed, there is no further identifying information available -- exactly what more can happen?
Plus, she accepted the three months of free service, which probably was not a good move if she's looking to sue.
Unless satellite or Fios is not an option, it's hard to believe she still writes "my checks out to the Comcast vampires."
@smirky: I think the problem was it got out in email, apparently enough that strangers contacted the person. Yeah, it's kind of crappy to send in a check like that but there is no reason for someone at Comcast to send out a copy of someone's check to someone not involved in the billing process at Comcast.
I understand her frustration at the situation, but I agree with other posters that it's hard to feel too sorry for her.
Based on most of our initial gut reactions, I doubt a judge/jury is going to award her much, if anything. What has she lost? What are her actual realized damages? You need to prove actual damages before a court will award you anything. Fear of future identity theft might not cut it...
@44 in a Row: Showing the check to the other people in the processing center =/= spreading it all over the internet. I wouldn't have a problem with emailing it if they had blacked out her personal information. Even just her account number.
One time a woman paid my department $25 in pennies and got upset when we told her we had to count it all. It took 20 minutes, and she had to wait there. Why would a business not count the money you give them?
Acts like this just require a little forethought. What these employees did was definitely wrong, but you have to think about the possible consequences of your actions in any situation.
She probably shouldn't have done what she did, but there is no reason to blame her for Comcast employees scanning a check and emailing it around. It's just not okay to do that.
As for some type resolution, I would suggest Comcast should pay for a year of credit monitoring. People have been fired and there is no reason to fork over large sums of cash.
I have had people calling me sayin g that there monitor was broken and that they need a new one. I get over there and it was just turned off. I walked away cursing after that one.
The reason was screwed up but charging them 40 bucks to remote in was a normal thing to do. The tech has no idea what is wrong and it could be a wrong setting making the monitor not work.
She said nothing go done, and then went on to note that "some people got fired" and she got three months credit.
I wonder if the Comcast people thought it was a gag/fake check?
@smirky: There is a huge difference between sending a check to a company you regularly do business with, and having a copy of your check spread around on the internet, giving all of your account information to strangers.
She behaved childishly. The Comcast employees behaved negligently, and there's a huge difference between these two things too. I can't believe there is so much 'blaming the victim' in this thread.
You shouldn't play games with your own financial instruments containing personal info, but Comcast's behavior was worse. Their financial department needs bitch-slapped. How can someone whose JOB is to process personal checks be so negligent?
@BlondeGrlz
And sending an immature check to employees who probably deal with crap all day is not inappropriate? That was just a dumb attempt at trying to feel better for signing up for a service without properly reading the terms.
The reason she can't get a lawyer to take this case is because she doesn't have one.
1. The info on that check is available to anybody she's ever written a check to. It's not exactly confidential.
2. Comcast could argue that, since the check clearly wasn't valid, it wasn't a "payment," and hence any responsibility they had to keep it confidential was obviated.
3. She took $350+ from Comcast (3 months of free service), so they can argue they've compensated her.
4. She hasn't shown any actual _damages_ - if someone had actually stolen her identity, she might have more of a case.
Can't say I feel a lot of sympathy for her - she knowingly didn't pay her full bill, and then got irate when they decided "you don't pay, we don't provide service," then decided to send in a joke payment rather than the next bill, and then gets ticked off when it goes haywire.
@chevychic55: Comcast fired several people for this, so even they agree emailing the check was inappropriate. Please see katra, nytmare, and mjane79 for people who understand the meaning of the word "negligent" as it applies in this case.
No matter how funny anything is on a account transaction. Be it a comment or a name. It led to unauthorized transmission of personal and account information.
I wonder how funny names, like Richard Head, Harold Beahre... On Comcast payment checks are to be found floating around the internet.
Honestly, I'm a bit suprised at all the negativity towards the customer. There is always a bit of that here, but the overwhelming "customers fault" on this one is unexpected.
While I agree that what she did was an effort to get attention, but it was an effort to get attention from within the Comcast office. She didn't post the check, or anything about this online until after she found out it was making its rounds.
I wouldn't presume to know the law on this one, but I would not be suprised of there was some duty on the part of Comcast to safely and privately maintain their customers information. While this wasn't an actual payment, I wouldn't expect that the duty would change.
There was one comment above about how she couldn't know who opened the letter. That's irrelevant. Comcast opened the letter. They are responsible for their employees actions.
Lastly, if she accepted 3 months credit in satisfaction of her "claim" she's now fighting windmills.
I hope she's suing for $54 million.
one time where i can't find any fault on the consumer's side. i don't know what the rest of you are talking about
so you think she's a bitch and had it coming to her because she sent them a sarcastic check?
in no way does that give employees the right to start scanning your check onto their computers, and attaching it to emails to send all over the country.
i'm pretty sure there's probably a dozen employee guidelines forbidding that kind of behavior.
what next, some employee says, "look donald trump is a customer of ours" and emails out a check from the donald to prove it?
also, sure anyone she's ever written a check to has that information.. but SHE sent them the check. she can decide who to trust. circulating it out to a million strangers over the internet is hardly acceptable behavior
@JustThatGuy3: "1. The info on that check is available to anybody she's ever written a check to. It's not exactly confidential."
Awesome. Can I have your checking acct # and routing number? Since it's not really private info and all, you shouldn't mind.
so first, this deadbeat doesnt pay her entire bill, and then is appalled when they shut off service to her? check one that she's a moron.
i also don't understand why she would sign this joke check. check two she's a moron.
One other thing - Comcast would have been fully within their rights to endorse that check on to someone else, who could have endorsed in on, etc. etc.
Was it appropriate for these employees to do this? No, and I would have fired them too.
Is Comcast liable in any meaningful way? Again, no.
@JustThatGuy3: comcast is definitely liable for what their employees do with their customers' information....
or is verizon not responsible because 1 person decided to sell 12,500 unlisted phone numbers to somebody?
@spindle: Add phone number and home address.Account number and other fun items for a potential scam. Never mind that a total stranger can call the home number on the check. Or send a nice official looking letter.
@BlondeGrlz: Look, i am just saying, there was no reason for her to look for any other sort of retribution. She already accepted an appeasement gift from them, so that should have been the end of it. if I had sent in a jopke check and it ended up on the internet, I would have felt like an ass and moved on. I am an extremely chill person though, and it takes a lot to get me upset.
Comcast is a huge company... there is no way they could ever possibly prevent something like this from happening. It happened, and they dealt with it by firing people. She should just let it go now. Also, I say she is one of those "freak out" people seeing as how she cut a visit short for this. she didn't have a phone with her? there was no reason for that other than the mere fact that she can now claim she was forced to come home early for this. People need to RELAX sometimes.
Customer -- bad joke. Funny, but dangerous.
Comcast -- bad move. Should be smarter than that (we all know that they aren't.
Share the blame. 35% customer, 65% comcast.
For all the people who said she deserved it, I would like to see this happen to you. Yes what she did was a little immature but still no reason for Comcast to put out all of her information. I hope she does sue that employee that sent out the check not the company.
Also, for all of those people how say Comcast needs to do something to prevent something like this, what do you propose? she they invent some sort of new technology that will cause a check to spontaneuosly combust when it comes within 1 foot of a scanner? I work in an accounting office and I can assure you that scanners are vital.
@BlondeGrlz: "Backfire" would be if they didn't cash the check due to improper payer information thus resulting in a late fee so that she owes the vampires more money.
Personally I think that whomever did this took more pride in their company than they should. Comcast doesn't do anything special or well. Their commercials mocking DSL are simply comparing apples to oranges. I can't imagine working there. I'd find no satisfaction in being simply poor or adequate.
@spindle: Can I have your checking acct # and routing number? Since it's not really private info and all, you shouldn't mind.
Can I have your address? Can I have your real name? How about your birthday? I'll send you an awesome birthday present!
Exactly what he said about checks is accurate. You're extending his statement to imply things he didn't.
Let's all blame the consumer!!!
Oh wait...
And the first comment blames the victim! Damn what's wrong you people? Why do you even read the consumerist? The security of personal financial information is the obligation of Comcast. She has no obligation other than to pay them what they owe, and every right to do that in whatever legal way she cares to. I hope she sues and wins.
@chevychic55: I totally agree that she is taking it too far, since she already accepted compensation from Comcast. The most she deserves is some free credit monitoring. My problem is with the idea that it was somehow OK for this Comcast employee to do what they did.
@twiddling_my_thumbs: I thought the exact same thing about people with funny names. I've seen some funny things on employment applications but that doesn't mean I scanned in someone's personal info and sent it to everyone I know. Common sense: not a requirement to work for Comcast!
So, a woman pulls a "joke", it backfires on her, and she gets pissed off? Do I have it right?