October 27, 2015
I received an email today from AT&T that my service was suspended for nonpayment of a bill for $72.36. I want to set the record straight.
My service was suspended at my request because my identity was stolen and my account was hijacked, presumably by one or more AT&T employees. I spoke to your fraud department repeatedly and I have filed a complaint with the FTC.
The $72.36 bill is for the period from September 20 through October 19, when I had no service because someone purchased a new phone using my account at a Target store in the Washington, D.C. area on September 19. This caused my SIM card to be deactivated on that date. In addition, the perpetrator added increased data to my account and made numerous calls to the same phone number in Tunisia. Instead of flagging this sudden change in my account and notifying me, AT&T sent a card to me thanking me for purchasing a new phone, which of course I had not done.
Although AT&T removed the charges for the increase in the data limit and the international calls, it expects me to pay for service that was not available to me during that period. Although AT&T sent a new SIM card to me, I did not reactivate my phone. Instead, I purchased a new phone and a new plan from another carrier, and I now have a new mobile number. I did not have a contract with AT&T, and there is no reason for me to pay for a month's fees when I had no service.
Please cancel my account under *** immediately.
By the way, I spoke with no less than five people in your fraud department when I was trying to get this issue resolved. I find it interesting that none of them informed me that AT&T had been hacked by its own employees twice, most recently last April. I found out about this on various news websites.
Instead of being honest with your customers who have been affected by this information theft, AT&T has decided to conceal this information and pass the cost onto its customers. I no longer wish to do business with a company that has exhibited such a lack of business ethics.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Linda
[Edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.]