AT&T Community Forums

Internet Backup Scam via phone call and even sent us hardware to install?

Hi Community! My business received a cold call from "AT&T" stating that they are doing necessary upgrades to our internet system. My front desk staff took the phone call so I wasn't aware of any of the conversation. Apparently, they asked her for her name and the correct shipping address to send a "Managed Internet Backup" Box that we're supposed to self install. We have not had any problems with our internet and were not informed via email or letter about this before hand, just a cold phone call.

Fast forward to getting the box and my front desk finally tells me about it. I'm weary about this so I call the phone number included in the info sheet and quickly snuff them out as a scam. They couldn't give me any info about my account and continued to address me as my front desk staff member instead of my name which is clearly marked on the official business account. They couldn't verify anything specific to my account at all and when I pressed them for more information, they hung up on me. They also sounded very unprofessional and stuck to whatever company line they were fed. Now granted, the accompanying parts of the call sounded official: "Thank you for calling AT&T" via a recorded voice, official on hold music, etc, it all sounded legit. But when it came to the details, nada.

I called AT&T directly and was told that there was no record of them sending me any Backup Device. Granted, the person I got at the official phone number of AT&T also sounded lost and confused and could not properly tell me that I was being scammed. She only said "I can only tell you that we did not send you any equipment."

So now I'm here. AT&T, if you're reading this, can you tell me if this is real or not? And if not, you really should take all the information I have and try to figure out this elaborate scam so your customers don't get their data stolen. Please reach out to me and everyone BEWARE!

Responses

skeeterintexas

ACE - Expert

•

26.1K Messages

7 months ago

What, if any, are the markings/logo on the 'box'? A photo would be helpful too.

Please note: This is a customer-to-customer message board and NOT a way to contact AT&T.

ETA: A quick Google search found THIS

(edited)

0

dwongdds

New Member

•

2 Messages

7 months ago

Thanks for the quick response Skeeter. To add to my original post, we got 2 separate and different text messages to our office phone number from "AT&T" asking if we had set up our backup box yet. Seems odd that they would TEXT us that when they called us the first time. The phone number they called was a land line, not a mobile phone. Guess they didn't know that and made an assumption. Also, why would they be SO insistent to make sure we installed our box? Customer service is one thing but this sounded insistent:

AT&T hopes you have installed your AT&T Managed Internet Backup Device. If you need assistance installing it or using it, please call 1-800-223-6965

and then

If you still need assistance installing or using your AT&T Managed Internet Backup Device, please call 1-800-223-6965

From this phone number: 9404687667

As for photos, take a look: Looks pretty official except that the box doesn't say AT&T on it, just Data Remote. I would think the box might have some other logos on it but that's not a deal breaker. The stamp on the box looks official and the instruction page does too. That's why I'm still not sure if this seems legit or not

0

skeeterintexas

ACE - Expert

•

26.1K Messages

7 months ago

You might want to post in the BUSINESS FORUM

This forum is for residential accounts.

0

atb0454

Contributor

•

7 Messages

5 months ago

Did you ever figure this out? We are being charged $15/month for this internet service add-on somehow on our bill now after they shipped us the same white box you got. No one knows anything about this somehow.

The only email we got from them was:

"This is notification that your equipment has been shipped via FedEx and should be received within 5 business days. Once you receive your equipment, please open the box immediately and complete the self-install with the attached instructions. For your convenience we have also added an (optional) installation video you can view when following along with the instructions.

Video Installation Guide: https://youtu.be/zfpvLdrKnmE

If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-223-6965

Thank you,

AT&T Managed Internet Backup Team

AT&T Terms and Conditions: https://www.att.com/legal/terms.attNetTermsOfUse.html

PLEASE, DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL"

and then a few days ago we got this notification about it being up to $20 next month, we never signed up for it and nobody knows anything but clearly they're linked to At&t somehow coz it shows up as a charge on our official bill and not a separate bill:

Thank you for being a valued AT&T customer. In order to maintain the level of service on which you rely for your internet backup service, we will be raising the rate by $5 per month. The increase will appear in the next 2-3 billing periods. Our service has no contract, so you are able to cancel it at any time without penalty or termination fees. If you have any questions, please call the toll-free number on your bill.

Thank you again for your business.

Sincerely,

AT&T Business

(edited)

0

W

Welton

New Member

•

2 Messages

1 month ago

A virtually identical situation has happened at my workplace, except it started with an email, then hardware arriving, and an employee thinking it was legitimate connected it to our network (TODAY). I don't know what damage that caused, still looking, but it is the same hardware, same instructions, same email about it being shipped and contact information. I expect curious we will start being billed for the service on our AT&T bill as well. Was a resolution found to the billing issue?

0

my thoughts

Former Employee

•

21K Messages

1 month ago

The device is in essence a hotspot… switches hardwired connection to cellular (cell tower) when the device detects you have lost your hardwired connection.

Thus a redundant (backup) service instead of using a different ISP for backup.

0

sientatrip

1 Message

1 month ago

Scammers often initiate contact through unsolicited phone calls, claiming to be from reputable companies, internet service providers, or tech support teams. They may try to create a sense of urgency or fear to manipulate you. Some scams involve sending you unsolicited hardware, such as routers, modems, or backup devices. The intention is to make the scam appear more credible. Scammers might ask you to install software or grant them remote access to your computer under the guise of troubleshooting or installing necessary updates. They might ask for personal information, passwords, or credit card details for supposed billing or verification purposes. Scammers may direct you to fake websites that resemble legitimate ones to trick you into providing sensitive information.

0