New Member
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4 Messages
Billed for DirectTV account that I did not start.
On May 18, 2022 I received a bill for $154.97 for a DirectTV account I did not start. I do not have any DirectTV equipment or service, and in fact have been a cable subscriber at my address for 26 years. After making a few calls and visiting an AT&T store I was able to discover that while I'm the party who is being billed, the person supposedly receiving service has a different name, a different phone number, and a different email address. If the phone number is real, which I can't determine because nobody answers that number, then this person is about 350 miles away. There's a similarity in the name of our towns, but that's it. I have tried to cancel this service, but since the person who fraudulently started this account added a PIN# to protect it, AT&T (I received my bill from them and not DirectTV) says they can't kill the account. I went through the directtv/notmyaccount fraud reporting procedure and received a confirmation number. I called AT&T billing, and while the woman I talked to was sympathetic she said that I was responsible for the bill, and that if I hadn't paid after 2 months the service would be cut off and the account would be sent to collections. This DirectTV account does not appear on my AT&T combined landline/cell phone account page, and according to Equifax, Transunion, and Experian AT&T never ran a credit check on me before opening this account. I would love to kill off this account even if I wound up having to pay the initial charges, even though that would be most unfair, but since I don't know the PIN# I can't cancel anything. Wouldn't I have the PIN# if I'd been the one who'd started the account? I read what other people here have written about fraudulent accounts and billing, and it's pretty depressing.
sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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2K Messages
4 years ago
Since it’s not actually your account, if you were able to cancel it, that would basically be admitting it was your account and you are liable for the charges. Since it’s not your account and service is being delivered to an address that’s clearly not yours, I think you should just let it cancel and go to collections. If this is a big screwup and the person getting service is wondering why they aren’t getting billed, they will likely take action when their service cuts off. If the account ends up going to a bill collector, they would need to prove it’s your account.
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Mudwhacker_1522
New Member
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4 Messages
4 years ago
Believe me, I don't want to pay, but if I don't pay my credit score will take a hit once the issue gets sent to collections, and then I'll have that to deal with in addition to the original problem.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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2K Messages
4 years ago
Maybe but not necessarily. I understand not wanting to risk that, though. I suggest you escalate to corporate by filing an FCC or BBB complaint.
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Mudwhacker_1522
New Member
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4 Messages
4 years ago
I'm considering my options, but I'm not ready to make a move until I see what kind of response I get from my input at directtv.com/notmyaccount.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
4 years ago
Careful. That would be www.directv.com/notmyaccount as they only have a single T in the brand name.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23.4K Messages
4 years ago
Naturally you cannot cancel an account that is not yours. From AT&T/DirecTV perspective you have an unknown person calling in without the security information trying to shut off someone else's service.
The notmyaccount link is their online dispute form that goes to their Identity Theft Team. Either this is that serious an issue or a big error sending the bill to the wrong person. In either case that should get it resolved.
But as the account is not yours, do NOT attempt to pay it. Not only would that be telling them you accept it as yours, but your payment info stays on the account for lifetime and can be used again if they need to collect outstanding charges.
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Mudwhacker_1522
New Member
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4 Messages
4 years ago
Juniper, you're right about the directv/notmyaccount link. The way I spelled it brings an invalid response from my browser. I also appreciate your reasoning and your advice to not pay. You and Sandblaster both seem to agree on that. I'm still kind of up in the air about my next move, though. Until I either hear or don't hear from the folks at the DirecTV Identity Theft Team I'm kind of dead in the water as far as I can tell.
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