Created by Mark Fullbright, Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist™ (CITRMS) as a free service for consumers to protect themselves from business scams. Stay Safe, Stay Secure

1. Cable Services Dirty Little Secret

2.  Unlike true identity theft, this scam involves
cable company employees.
 Victims of this scam usually have existing
cable services or have applied for new
services (online or in-store).
 Like most scams, this one is driven by greed.
 It’s unclear the extent corporate
management may know about Cable Flipping
as the scam is blended into the process of
fixing real Identity Theft.

3.  You contact the cable service for an upgrade
or to fix an existing cable box issue
 Cable employees greedy for larger
commissions actually create a new account
with your new services.
 They re-assign your previous account number
with all your billing information to a empty
home or random address in another part of
town or different state.

4.  Bills for the former debt are now going to a
bad address
 Eventually the unpaid delinquent account is
turned over to a collection agency.
 The agency has all your contact information
from the contract.
 They accuse you of not paying your bill etc.
 Even if you prove you have an existing
account they still call and attempt to
collect.

5.  The collection agency then requires the
following;
 A police report listing yourself and them (cable
svs) as victims of identity theft.
 They also require you complete an Identity Theft
Victim’s Complaint and Affidavit, also listing
yourself and them(cable svs) as victims of
identity theft.
 A copy of your Drivers License and something
with your SSN listed.

6.  The employees get a large commission with
new service rather than a simple upgrade.
 The cable company reports the loss for
either a tax write off or insurance claim
 If you don’t follow their directions, they can
ruin your good credit until you do.
 You rarely if at all will see a cable service
report to one of the Three National Credit
Bureaus.
 The Collection Agency they use, will report
you.

7.  If you suspect your existing cable service may
have scammed you, contact your local police
department and provide your concerns.
 Try to locate a previous bill. Check the account
number. Is it different?
 Limit what you write in the original FTC/Police
report, for example:
“My identity may have been used or manipulated
to obtain cable services without my consent”
“I believe my existing cable service may have used
my identity to create a separate service without
my consent. They require I submit this statement”

8.  Federal Trade Commission
 The Better Business Bureau
 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
 www.AnnualCreditReport.com

9.  Request the cable company turn over the
address and information that was used to law
enforcement.
 If necessary request local law enforcement to
require the cable company to provide the
application re: FACTA 609.e Disclosures to
Consumers
 ‘Businesses shall provide a copy of application and
business transaction records in the control of the
business entity’
 This will confirm if the account was established
Internally or Externally
 Cable Flipping is an industry wide problem, not
limited to specific states.

10. Compiled and designed by Mark Fullbright , Certified Identity
Theft Risk Management Specialist™ (CITRMS) as a free service for
consumers to protect themselves from business scams.
Stay Safe, Stay Secure