Direct TV receiver turns off and is controlled by unknown person

Are you in an apt/condo with a shared dish?

I live in a house and my dish is not shared.

In nthat case the most likely scenario is that somone is using IP control to control their receiver, and is controlling yours. As a test, disconnect your system completely from the internet.

What about someone nearby? If they both have Genies which the new remote uses radio frequency (RF) they don't need line of sight like infrared (IR) so perhaps this is being done by accident.

Thanks, I have considered that but it would really have to be a very strong signal. There are at least 20 ft between the receiver and my neighbors home. Plus this only happens with my primary receiver not the other 2 genies I have. I’m sure it’s not “on purpose”. But something has got to give. I’m going to try the option of disconnecting the receiver from the internet. 

One thing to keep in mind, you may only have 1 Genie on the account. The tiny boxes are Mini Genies which are Clients, not receivers. So if they record something, that is the main Genie as they are just extensions of it. Mentioning in case it might be part of the issue if someone is telling one to record, as that is all since they are one system. It is a primary reason I have HDDVRs instead of Mini Genies to avoid that issue.

Okay I understand now thank you

and if the positioning is right, 20ft is close enough for an IR signal from one house to propagate to another. Are any of your receivers close to a window overlooking your neighbors house? Are you sharing internet with anyone else?

No there are no windows on my neighbors side of the house. I don’t think it is my immediate neighbors because some of the channels they use are Childrens and they do not have any children. 

I have confirmed that it is not internet related because I did not activate internet on my DVR receiver and it is still occurring. 

At this point, I’m going to ask for a replacement DVR receiver. 

so your receiver is not even connected to the internet(via wireless for example)

It was connected to the internet but I unplugged my DVR and had it reboot. Then I waited to reactivate the internet to test if that could be the problem but the crazy changes still happened. So that ruled out that possibility.  

Menu > Settings > Internet > Advanced and reset Network Defaults. That will cause the DVR to forget internet information, which simply unplugging doesn't do. This would also clear any WiFi connection settings it may have. Just be sure to do this on the main Genie as the Clients cannot change those settings. That is assuming you have an HR44 or HR54. The 1st generation Genie (HR34) doesn't have WiFi built-in (has to use external accessory) and the Genie-2 (HS17) is a server tower that doesn't go on a TV so has to be controlled by a Client.

Also check your recording options in case anything is future scheduled, especially if anything was a series it might have additional recordings.

Neighbors not having children doesn't mean anything. Some adults do find kids shows entertaining, be it for nostalgia, a break from the day to day world, or even particular favorites that never go stale with time. Just because we may put away childish things when we become adults, doesn't mean we can't bring them back out if we like.

As Juniper says, that would not solve any internet issue. You have to completely disconnect the receiver from the internet and leave it disconnected, with the network defaults reset. See if that has any effect.

Nothing recommended has worked

Have you checked your series links to see if there are any there you did not set?