Sprint Customer Receives Fake-Looking Phone Bill
Update: Lloyd, a Sprint "Customer Experience" Manager, wrote in to let us know that the bill below is indeed legitimate:
The bill in question is not fake and is in fact from a third-party vendor that Sprint has hired to help us with billing wireline charges to a customer who does not have an account with Sprint or to a customer whose local exchange carrier does not have a billing agreement with Sprint.
Although this explains the off-brand look of the invoice, we think Sprint—or perhaps their third-party vendor—should take greater pains to make the billing more seamless. This invoice is sort of like the American Express verification call that sounded remarkably like a social engineering scam—in both cases there were several things that we (and our OPs) interpreted as red flags, and they could have probably been explained away with better communication on the company's side.
From the original post:
Roderick writes,
My mother received a fake phone bill today. A few interesting notes:
- The number listed was not hers
- The collect call received was never made
- The P.O. box and 800 number are not in Sprint's database
- The bill stated that the charges would not show up on any other bill.
I suppose that last bit is supposed to snare people who realize that their "Sprint" bill went from vibrant yellow and black to white with a blue table. I was going to wait until the bill was scanned to send this email, but I wanted to make sure that the info went out A.S.A.P.
The guy's address is listed as:
Sprint
PO Box 600670
Jacksonville FL 32260-0670From the letter:
THE FOLLOWING CALLS WERE COMPLETED USING SPRINT'S NETWORK.
THE CHARGES FOR THESE CALLS WILL NOT BE ON ANY OTHER TELEPHONE
COMPANY BILL. AMOUNTS DUE MAY BE REFERRED TO A COLLECTION
AGENCY IF NOT PAID. PLEASE PAY UPON RECEIPT. THANK YOU.
(Photo: RBerteig)
Post a comment
Comments:
If this guy is legitly scamming folks, this should be easy to find him. PO Boxes need 2 ID's, and if provided with a court order, we will release name/address information for the box
I recall years ago when I used to have long distance on my home phone I'd get some separate billing for collect calls. It was on my normal bill, and the calls were valid, but they were originated through a carrier other than my own. Is it possible this is something along those lines and its just sent as a separate bill?
@s25843: Or more likely, but considering we are all good people here and wouldn't do this: watch the box wait for the guy to pick up the mail...
PO box... what an idiot...
they can get that info...
All I can say is that unless the details had stuck out it seems completely likely that Sprint (or even other companies) could have sent a bone headed bill like this.
This follows all sorts of fake company fraud. Stop being scammed by always following these steps when paying for something, or giving out your personal info:
If someone calls you, claims to be from company X, and wants money/personal information explain to them you will call back their main number as listed on their website/bill/in the phone book/on 1-800-555-1212 (yes, it's real). If they protest, ask for a case ID or some other way you can ensure the call will end up with the right department there. If they can't do that, hang up, it's a scam. If the offer a different phone number, politely inform them you will not use phone numbers provided until you verify them (with sources like the above).
The same idea applies to bills. Don't use the address provided on the bill, use the address provided on the website or by the company via phone (as listed on the website/yellow pages/800-555-1212, etc), or the address from your most recent verifiably "real" bill. If it was a scam bill, the worst result is you end up paying too much and you'll have a credit. But, if you do this, you'll notice pretty quickly that it's a scam and check by phoning a verified good phone number anyways.
If everyone would just stop with the implicit trust, the world would be a better place. And software would work better, too. :^D
@shepd:
It's the same reason social engineering scams are so successful. People always trust in the goodwill of others, especially if that person is wearing the trappings of authority, real or not.
By "the 800 number was not listed in Sprint's DB" I assume you mean the bill did list a phone number to call for questions? Can you post that number? The USPS will not release boxholder information without a court order but an 800 number could probably yield some information. Of course, 800 numbers are a lot easier to open with false identification than a PO box.
If he were smart he'd just use a vacant place with an open mailbox.
Interesting. If you Google something like "600670 Jacksonville" you'll see that Sprint, MCI Worldcom, Telecom USA, and Excel all use the same address.
In most of the hits, one or two are listed as creditors in various bankruptcy filings or vendors in campaign finance reports.
I have no idea what this means -- probably either that they're legitimate or that even judges are paying fake bills without realizing it.
This is kind of the dumbest fraud ever. Just submit the letter and the PO Box address to the FBI. CASE CLOSED!
Wokka wokka
Ahhhh real life phishing.
Scams like these are EASY to avoid.
Just ditch paper bills altogether.
Opt to pay everything online.
Just don't use the links in the reminder emails they send you, as you'll be more likely to fall for a phishing attack.
Instead keep a list of URLs/bookmarks to the pages for the companies you owe.
If they don't have an electronic billing option, then check with your bank/credit union. Financial institutions are usually able and willing to take care of bill auto payment.
Then if any bill comes in the mail like the one in this article, log-in online and check your balance-due. If the charges aren't there the bill is a fake and can be ignored/shredded/investigated&sent to the authorities.
Oh, and if legit bills arrive call the company and have them stop sending paper copies. Opt for electronic statements if available. it'll reduce the risk of id-thieves trashing for your info.
Do the same with your taxes.
Electronic PDF statements & receipts are MUCH easier to save & store.
USB thumbdrive + truecrypt.
Electronic media FTW!
My $0.02
@Drew5764:
I'm wondering if it is a guy is looking for funds to help pay his defense fund for lawsuits recently? Jacksonville is home of some famous questionable sellers.
@lauy: All the collect calls I was ever billed for were billed THROUGH my own local phone company, even if the call originated through a different carrier. The different carriers didn't even have my address ... they just posted the billing to the phone number.
"does this t-shirt make me look fat?"
Be careful if you google "Transaction Networks, Inc." referenced in my prior link: the top result set off my security program.
Here is the entire website text:
"Welcome to the home of
Transaction Networks, Inc.
We provide direct billing services to
long distance providers who are
unable to recover revenues from unbillable traffic.
For more information, please contact Kelli Turney at 904-287-1123
or at kelli@txninc.com"
It's a rather crude site.
There are other indirect reference results that show it to be located in Jacksonville & provide some sort of data processing services and matches the number for Kelly Turney above
([www.macraesbluebook.com]).
There are other businesses similarly named that appear legit elsehere.
If you check out the originating number on google, it appears to be a payphone in the New York City Department of Corrections. 800 Number belongs to "Transaction Networks" [www.txninc.com] The website is very, generic.. The website is hosted by appliedi.net.
@whyerhead: And to take it a step further, that specific payphone is located at:
George R. Vierno Center (GRVC)
09-09 Hazen Street
East Elmhurst, NY 11370
Per the NYC DOC site: Houses detained male adults.
I'm wondering if this person received a collect call from an inmate at Rikers Island (which is where that center is)
@whyerhead:
The link you referenced caused my anti-virus program to block a "Bloodhound.Exploit.196" "Heuristic Virus" threat twice earlier when I did some googleing myself.
@wvFrugan: Weird.. I looked at the source of the page.. nothing out of the ordinary.. Just a broken image file and generic text.
Text of the website for those who are blocked by antivirus programs:
Welcome to the home of
Transaction Networks, Inc.
We provide direct billing services to
long distance providers who are
unable to recover revenues from unbillable traffic.
For more information, please contact Kelli Turney at 904-287-1123
or at kelli@txninc.com
Seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a $14 scam. I sense an air of legitimacy combined with simple incompetence.
@RandomHookup:
I found a campaign financial report that showed a "BUSINESS TELECOM INC" at the same address, which then produced a document having to do with AT&T & Spint suing them for overcharging (just making up rates) for telecommunications access on their (BTI's) systems in 2001. It appears BTI is a southern telecommunications company primarily in GA & FL. Very confusing.
I would think this should be referred to the USPS, as it is clearly mail fraud. They have the resources to catch this perp.
It's $14 times how many of these they send out, it's small enough many will just pay it.
I like the collection agency warning!
People still haven't commented on the fact that the number ISN'T hers to begin with, therefore no matter what, she doesn't owe even IF it were legit.
But the scam is definately interesting. I've never seen a seperate bill come for collect charges- like some have said, the amounts are usually charged straight to your normal bill.
Thanks for the heads up, Roderick.
I work for a phone company in Florida and we get our customers sending us bills like this all the time. When I research the call date and time to see if there were any calls on our network that match the one on the bill I often find there was. Most commonly the customers are dialing a toll free number for a CapTel ([www.captionedtelephone.com]) and they have not set up with the company to use the long distance provider of their choice. After speaking with CapTel I have been told that if the calling party does not set that up, they will route the call through a default long distance provider. Thus, this produces the bill you see above.
This is most likely a legitimate bill even if the rates are highway robbery.
@shepd: This is happening to me. Every week I get a call from "the billing department" at "the hospital" where I had surgery two years ago to dun me for a "balance". Funny thing is, when I tell them I'll call them back later, and I do, and the hospital receptionist transfers me to the billing department, they have no clue who I even am or why I'm getting calls.
@shepd: The same goes for random collection agencies sending you dunning letters. I had one demanding I pay them for a Verizon account but both of my Verizon accounts were paid in full, active and in good standing. If you think you actually owe money pay the original creditor. If a collection agency is involved the original creditor will forward the funds to them or inform them the account is paid.
There are plenty of collection agency scams sending out invoices hoping someone is foolish enough to pay them.
@RandomHookup: No, small dollar amounts are the perfect scam because people will think less about it. People are more likely to hand over a few dollars without thinking than a large amount.
@s25843: I think if he does this out of state, the feds can jump on him, right? The OP's mom was in Florida, where the fake bill came from, but if he were stupid enough to try this out of state, I think he'd find himself in federal crosshairs.
I've received the same type of bill 2 years ago while I was using Comcast for my phone. I called the number on the bill and complained that the phone calls weren't one's I made. They put my "account in dispute." Then a few months later I received a collection notice from a different firm for the outstanding balance. I sent them a letter asking them to prove the debt and never heard from them again. Nothing showed up on my credit report. Bottom line: don't pay the bill.
Recently I had a similar thing happen while a Verizon FIOS customer. This time Sprint managed to have the bill added to my regular FIOS bill as a 3rd party service. Sprint's story is they "pick up" the long distance calls that I'm allegedly making that Verizon doesn't handle. Of course none of the calls are ones I made. After many hours of the phone I learned you need to use the magic buzzword "recourse the charges" with Verizon to have them remove Sprint's charges from my bill. Most states have laws against "cramming" so if the don't listen to the "its not my calls" argument you can fall back on your state laws.
It seems there is some connection with the firm in Florida and the real Sprint long distance company. Sprint long distance told me not to have the charges sent back or they would end up with a 3rd party billing agency. aka the place in Florida.
I had this idea when I got my last homeowners association bill. Like I even know the actual name of my HOA off the top of my head, or where their offices are located. I had to do a little verification before I sent the check.
I'd bet there's a lot of people who would just send the check. Or worse, send their CC info.
So, you browse the real estate listings to figure out the yearly HOA fee, look up who the HOA is, and ask a realtor when the fees are due. Then send a fake bill one month before the actual bill is due to arrive. Profit.
@grouse: Whoops. Beat me to it. But yeah, if you use the postal service to carry out a fraudulent scheme, it is mail fraud, which falls under the PIS mandate.
Postal Inspectors are federal law enforcement officers who carry firearms, make arrests and serve federal search warrants and subpoenas
Don't f#%& with a Postal Inspector.
You know, I did a reverse lookup on yellowbook.com for the owner of both numbers on the bill. There's a woman listed for the Florida number. I wonder if she's aware someone's sending out false bills with her own phone number on it.
@pecan 3.14159265: Nyet, comrade. The use of US Mail makes it a federal offense, every time.
Although, I do have a new address to send all my shredded junk mail... :O)
The "From" telephone number appears to be a payphone at the Department of Corrections in Queens, the "To" number is some residence in Ocala, FL. Googling that 800 number will give you a bunch of forums reporting similar scams.
"if he were stupid enough to try this out of state, I think he'd find himself in federal crosshairs."
I don't think it matters if it is across state lines are not here. It can still bring the federal crosshairs down. The post office is a federal entity, and he used it to commit his crime.
That's a very convincing-looking bill. In addition to criminal penalties for mail fraud, whoever did this is could probably be sued by Sprint for misuse of their logo. Its most obvious flaw is the need to fold and tear off the portion to be returned... scammer needs to buy some perforated paper. I'm also curious how he plans to cash a bunch of checks made out to Sprint, which probably isn't his name...
Roderick here.
@teknrd: This isn't a legit bill. The number is not ours, and the toll free number at the bottom is not affiliated with Sprint. We learned this after calling the real Sprint company, rather than the number on the letter.
@bohemian: I thought of two possibilities as to the low small dollar amount. The first is that they want to simply have easy, passive income; there are a *lot* of old people who don't know any better who would pay a bill like this without thinking twice. The other is that they want the person's checking account info (which would be on the bottom of the check sent in as payment), in order to commit check fraud. This makes a lot more sense than the former, because I'm not sure how some random guy would go about cashing a check made out to "Sprint."
@WraithSama: It's the #1 security threat for IT departments. If someone claiming to be from the IT department calls someone to verify something or configure something or do upgrades and asks for the user's password, they'll give them their password 9 times out of 10, even if you put signs up everywhere saying not to give your password to anyone including the IT department.
I work in Sprint's Corporate Communications and want to let everyone know that the bill in question is NOT fake. Sprint has contracted with a third-party billing vendor, TXN, for billing of wireline casual charges in areas where we do not have billing agreements with the local exchange carriers.
Customers with concerns or questions should call the number on the bill. (Calling Sprint would not help because we don't have the billing records for these charges.)
Someone might might receive a bill like this if they made a long distance call and used Sprint for call but they don't have an account with us (what we call "casual calling" -- for example, a collect call made from a pay phone). In these instances we would use a third-party billing company like TXN.
I hope that helps. Sorry about the confusion.
Lloyd
I work for a Sprint vendor for customer service. Four observations:
Sprint only uses 9-digit account numbers anymore since the merger, and all current accounts use them.
Obviously, that address isn't Sprint's valid bill payment address.
That number system isn't how Sprint categorizes call detail records. They use a letter system (PU, promotional usage, for night and weekend minutes, for example).
Also, the bottom line is that Sprint phones can't be used to receive collect phone calls. I know this because I've had customers asking if they can use their phones to receive calls from prison.
So the Nigerians are stepping it up to include mail fraud too?