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Scammers Lower Comcast Bills, Get Jail Time
An anonymous reader writes with news about a scam with a twist. The scammers purchased login details to internal Comcast systems from an employee using them to lower the bills of Comcast customers, for a price. "Alston Buchanan, the mastermind of a two-man scam to lower the bills of Comcast customers for a price, pleaded guilty last week and awaits sentencing. His accomplice, Richard Justin Spraggins, who also pleaded guilty in February, will serve 11-23 months in prison and pay Comcast $66,825. Their operation purportedly cost Comcast $2.4 million, and Comcast claims that the loss has forced them to raise the rates on all their customers. However, the allegedly huge financial loss went undetected until a Comcast customer reported his/her suspicions to Comcast customer service."
So supposedly they lost $2.4 million yet the fine for one accomplice is is only $66,825??? And of course Comcast uses this incident as an excuse to raise the price on everyone including the fool that reported it... I guess the old adage "no good deed goes unpunished" applies here.
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"Forced them to raise the rates on all their customers"
Literally everything forces them to raise their rates.
Customers were not charged retroactively for the discounted amounts, but their bills were "corrected on a moving-forward basis."
Well, of course, otherwise they will lose this great excuse for a price hike.
Also, unless their billing system is completely ridiculous, an employee account would only be able to switch users to a lower existing plan (e.g. some sort of concession), and I doubt that even their most discounted plans lose money. In the end, they claim to have lost 2.4 million (not clear if it is in less than a year) out of 16 billion annual revenue - so, what is it, a 0.015% price increase? But anyway this is Comcast...
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His entire point was that you don't have to blindy pay Comcast a single cent, there are alternatives. You could even go without television at all without much difficulty. Food prices are rising faster than television rates, and that isn't something that can be avoided nearly as easily.
As we know, only small time crooks get jail time.
Their error was that they didn't operate out of Wall Street.
If things continue along their current path, in the not too distant future crimes against Comcast will carry the death penalty.
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I'm not justifying the theft, asshat. I'm pointing out that that its such a tiny blip in their expenses that it doesn't justify an across the board price increase.
For example... lets say I own a sandwich shop. And one day, my father comes to visit my sandwich shop and I give him a free sandwich. That means my shop made less money per sandwich sold then it would have if I had made my father pay for his sandwich.
Will I now have to increase prices on all my sandwiches to cover this expense?
Obviously fucking not.
Thank you for arriving on the same page I was reading from. I am NOT justifying the theft. I am saying rather that Comcast has billions in revenue... 2.4 million lost here or there spread across the whole subscriber base wouldn't add so much as a PENNY to the cost of the average user.
Not one fucking cent.
So comcast on that note can blow it directly out their ass. Were they robbed? Yes. Is that bad? Yes. Do I approve of robbery? No. Do I think Comcast is a terrible company that should get ripped apart why wolves? Yes. Will I release those wolves on it to do just that? No. Will I clap and giggle should that happen? Yes.
Just what is, my bucko.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
In other news, Comcast announced record profits today. First-quarter earnings up thirty percent.
Liberty in your lifetime
The basic cable rate IS set by the government agency that issues the franchise (legally forced monopoly). That's known as the LFA. Until 1996-1999, the FCC mostly set that rate, now it's primarily set by the LFA.
During the period of double regulation, 1992-1999, rates increased at 5.6% per year. Once the FCC stepped aside, that was reduced to 4.6%.
So knowing that having Washington bureaucrats set rates increases them, what reduces rates? Rates are 22%-30% lower in areas with competition.
When I read the title, I was like, holy crap, someone got sent to jail for tricking Comcast into giving them a lower rate? That's a new low.
But no, after reading the whole description - while I have absolutely no sympathy for Comcast whatsoever, that definitely sounds like a legitimate crime that deserves jail time, even if the victims of the crime are also scum who deserve getting ripped off.
Excellent comment, thank you. I too lost access to slashdot today for some time...
Comcast claims that the loss has forced them to raise the rates on all their customers
And that is how you know you are dealing with a monopoly. If there was actual competition, then it would be hurting only their shareholders as they'd be forced to keep their prices at competitive, market levels.