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Outbreak of DirecTV Porn Charges Hits Philadelphia

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 4, 2006

DirecTV • Billing Problems • Installation • Maintenance • Rebates • Sales Practices • Billing for "Adult" Shows • About those "Adult" Bills ... --- News • DirecTV Takes Disputed Fees Out of Customer Accounts, Suit Charges • Major League Baseball, Cable Operators Reach Agreement • Major League Baseball Extends TV Deadline • Senators Object to DirecTV Deal that Shuts Out Baseball Fans • DirecTV Settles Do Not Call Charges • DirecTV Telemarketers To Pay $75,000 Penalty • Fired DirecTV Contractors Say They Refused To Lie To Customers • Outbreak of DirecTV Porn Charges Hits Philadelphia • DirecTV Fined $5 Million for Do-Not-Call Violations • DirecTV Will Reform Ad Practices, Pay Millions in Refunds • DirecTV Abandons Satellite Internet Plans

A story that never really goes away is DirecTV's odd habit of billing customers for "adult" movies they insist they did not order or watch. The latest outbreak of bogus bills occurred in Philadelphia, where it was exposed by WPVI-TV's consumer reporter, Nydia Han.

Han reported receiving complaints from more than a dozen consumers hit with collection notices. Oddly, many of the consumers were teachers at a charter school in Chester, a Philadelphia suburb. They compared notes and found they shared a similar experience.

Their complaints are similar to those ConsumerAffairs.com has received for years -- like Elaine of Jackson, Ga., who in 2001 was charged for almost $500 of pornographic movies. "They were charged for times we were not home, or watching regular tv news. I have researched several complaint sites and have found many customers with the same problem, always porn movies. We did not order these movies," Elaine insisted.

What's interesting about the Chester complaints is that only one of the teachers is a DirecTV subscriber. All the rest are being charged for watching adult movies without even having a DirecTV subscription.

It turns out that the Philadelphia address for some of the fraudulent accounts doesn't even exist. A former independent DirecTV dealer activated the account and apparently at least 10 other bogus contracts, Han reported. At Village Charter School, the initial bills were sent to addresses in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And the majority of the addresses Han checked there were also non-existent.

The consumers say Direct TV kept referring them back to the collection agencies, leaving them guessing how they got scammed and whether they're still vulnerable.

One theory is that rogue employees at some DirecTV subcontractors are setting up bogus accounts for the commission. Consumer advocates say DirecTV needs to secure its signup system.

"Their absolute responsibility is to go back and check all the orders from the area where the fraud occurred and confirm them," ConsumerAffairs.com president Jim Hood said in Han's broadcast report.

Presently, to open a new account, the customer must provide an address, phone number, social security number, and credit card number. The card doesn't have to be yours. DirecTV checks your credit report but apparently does not make sure the address on it matches the service and billing address.

DirecTV says it is "evaluating" new identity verification tools, Han reported. In the case of the Philadelphia consumers, DirecTV says it has removed the charges from its system and is trying to help the consumers repair their credit.

But the Philadelphia incidents are not isolated examples Nydia Han's report aired on WPVI-TV on March 23. The very next day, we heard from Kevin of Newark, Delaware, who had seen the WPVI-TV report.

"I'm a victim of a similar situation -- back in 2003 I purchased DirectTV and everything was fine til I got my second bill. I opened up the bill and the bill stated I owed $708. I immediately contacted customer service about this bill and they informed me that I was ordering pornography movies," said Kevin, who was later told he owed a total of $1,008. He is still trying to repair the damage to his credit.

Nor are they the latest examples. On April 1, we heard from Kelly of Thousand Oaks, California.

"We have been charged more than $500 for movies we did not order. ... I also got the same response from customer service: 'You must not know what is going on in your home.'"

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