Recently, a friend of mine told me about a clever and elaborate scheme regarding his Comcast/Xfinity cable bill.
He is an extremely smart and savvy person and consumer. Like the rest of us, he loves a good deal but knows that some can be too good to be true.
And this one was.
Here’s what he said happened:
“I received a professional sounding automated call from somebody claiming to be from Comcast/Xfinity with an offer that would allow me to cut my monthly Comcast/Xfinity TV & Internet bill in half. “Press one to speak with a representative” the message said. So I pressed 1.
Great offer: Simply pay 8 months in advance at the new lower rate, no more bills for the next 8 months and when the billing resumes in June of 2023, it will be the new lower rate ($75/month instead of $150 per month). I called the number using my Xfinity VOIP landline and gave out no information, not even my name.
The person I was speaking to asked if the number I was calling from was associated with my Xfinity account and I said yes. The person on the other end of the phone then asked, “Am I speaking with [John Smith] ” and I said yes again. He knew my address, my Xfinity account number and even how much my monthly bill was.
It sounded like a fantastic deal. Now I was already enrolled for automatic monthly billing against a credit card on file with them and I asked if they were just going to charge that credit card for the first 8 months’ prepayment amount. That is when he told me that the…