(Wisconsin) The administrator of the State’s Division of Trade and Consumer Protection is warning residents about a DirecTV scam. Michelle Reinen says this particular case began with a cold call in which a person posing as being with DirecTV told the consumer that their DVR system had to be replaced, or it will stop working within a few days.
They promised to send a new DVR for $200 but give the consumer $50 off their bill each month for the next two years. The DVR System arrives and another caller posing as a technician told the customer how to hook it up. It works and the technician asks for the consumer’s email address and sends them an invoice asking them to pay with a check.
She says the invoice was riddled with typos and errors. Reinen says her office checked with DirecTV and they don’t cold call customers asking for account information or solicit upfront payments for services or upgrades. She says in this case the consumer realized it was a scam. It turned out the new DVR System was the same model they had already been given by DirecTV.
