Krista Cooney of western Pennsylvania may have gotten a little satisfaction writing her payment check to "Comcast Vampires" in the amount of "my right arm and zero dollars," but she stopped laughing months ago.
That’s when a stranger two time zones away called her to warn that the check, with all her personal identification visible, had been scanned into an e-mail, along with her Comcast bill, and was being distributed across the Internet.
The story is chilling to anyone who worries about having their identity co-opted. If it weren’t for a compassionate stranger in Colorado, who had been an ID theft victim, too, Cooney and her husband Chad might have never learned about the response to her joke until their finances were in ruins.
Now, the tale is burning up the Internet, and Comcast once again is taking a righteous hit.
According to the couple’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the couple’s trouble began when they agreed to take the company’s $99 triple play offer. The initial transaction is not detailed in the suit, but obviously the first month’s financial terms were not explained or Cooney didn’t understand them, for she was angered when she received her first post-order bill for $296.74.
The couple hadn’t budgeted that much and paid what they could. They sent a check, according to the lawsuit, for $267.86, anticipating that the $28, and a late fee, would be tacked on the next bill. Instead, according to the suit, the couple got a service suspension warning letter, stating "this means you will not have digital voice, the ability to call 911, Internet or cable." (emphasis theirs).
According to the lawsuit (and this part of the tale varies from versions posted at websites such as ComcastMustDie and The Consumerist), Cooney responded with two checks, one for $170. and the "vampire" check, which also had the memo notation "robbing customers blind." A separate note stated "Some people have budgets, ya know," according to the suit.
That was last July. In August came the call from the Colorado woman, who has no affiliation with Comcast. She said she got the copy of the check and Cooney’s bill in an e-mail, which was being passed around with an accompanying "snide" remark from the Comcast initiator. The lawsuit does not indicate if the initiator is identified.
Cooney called her bank, then Comcast, then the police. She also contacted the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and her state attorney general, before filing a federal civil suit on June 3. The couple alleges Comcast violated the Cable Act, which prevents disclosure of personally identifying information; and invasion of privacy. They want statutory, actual, compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees and costs.
"We have apologized to Ms. Cooney for any inconvenience this caused her and have worked with her to address her concerns. Comcast holds our customers’ privacy and security in the highest regard. The individuals involved in this incident are no longer with the company. Beyond that, we cannot comment on pending litigation," read a statement forwarded by Robert Grove, manager of public relations and community affair for Comcast’s Three Rivers Division in Pittsburgh.
Matthew Collins, the couple’s attorney, told me there is no sign anyone has tried to steal the couple’s identity using the published information as yet, but added the plaintiffs still don’t know how widely the information was distributed. That will be fleshed out in the discovery process. The couple has been offered three months free service for the breach, but no identity protection help, he said.
"This raises disturbing questions. Has this happened before?? Will it happen again?" he asked rhetorically.
This will be an interesting case and we will track it.
