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Existing customer promotion
I just got a phone call, supposedly from Comcast/Xfinity, offering me a reduced monthly bill for the next two years if I paid 4 months in advance. They gave me a phone number of 888-203-6795 for the "Billing department" to call and verify that the promotion is real, and they gave me a code to present for getting the promotion. Is this the real thing? I can't find that number listed anywhere for the Comcast billing department.
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XfinityBrie
Administrator
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667 Messages
4 years ago
Hello All,
As many others have posted, and as our regular contributor BruceW has pointed out, these ‘pay in advance’ style offers do not exist, and any calls you receive in reference to them are a scam. Similarly, any calls that require payment in gift cards, paying through vendors such as PayPal, eBay, or in any sort of crypto currency are also scams. We currently have an active alerts section on our security website, which I’ve linked here: https://comca.st/3xaLR6X
You can report scams online or over the phone by contacting our Customer Security Assurance team:
Business Hours: 6:00am - 2:00am EST, 7 days a week
Contact: 1-888-565-4329
Whenever an Xfinity agent calls, we will always perform security checks before disclosing any information on an account, including (but not limited to) sending a 6-digit two-factor authentication code that will come from our 266-278 number via text. When transferred to another agent within the company, you will often be asked to re-confirm this information as well.
With the rise in spam calls, and spoofing, there are a few actions you can take to protect yourself -- and many providers are not including automatic spam filtering with their services. On iOS devices there is also the option to silence all calls from numbers not in your contact list. I've included additional information below:
Common Phone Scams and How to Protect Yourself
Learn more about common phone scams and ways you can protect yourself. For more information about these scams, go to https://comca.st/3cs72d2.
Cramming and slamming scams
According to the National Fraud Information Center, “Cramming” is a popular scam. Cramming is when telephone customers are charged for services they've never ordered or received. Also common is "slamming" - when customers have their telephone service switched to a new carrier without their permission.
The scams:
- You receive a sweepstakes promotion in the mail telling you to call an 800 number to win a prize. When you make the call, it activates an automated system and you’re unknowingly enrolled in a club or program. The charge is then added to your phone bill.
- You fill out a contest entry form and the promoter uses your phone number to sign you up for a calling card, voicemail, long distance, or some other service. The fine print on the form said that by entering the contest, you are signing up for the service or agreed to switch your long-distance provider.
- You receive a call from a telemarketer asking you to switch your long-distance provider. Although you say you’re not interested, your long-distance provider is changed anyway.
Defend yourself:Making international calls unintentionally
In most cases, you have to dial 011 to call a foreign country. However, there are some locations outside the U.S. with telephone numbers that look like domestic long-distance calls. For example, 809, 284, and 876 are area codes in the Caribbean—international calls with international rates.
The scam:
- You see an ad for a service that directs you to call a specific number, or you receive a page, email, or "urgent" message on your answering machine. The ad or message tells you to call a number for more information, which is actually an international number.
Defend yourself:Call forwarding scam
The scam:
- You get a call or message where the caller asks you to dial two digits and the * or # key (such as *79 or 72#), and then another phone number. The caller says this is so you can claim a prize or help them connect to another party. It actually programs your telephone to forward your calls to another number, possibly a toll or long-distance number. The scammers can call your number to be forwarded to the number you dialed. They then can place calls that are billed to you.
Defend yourself:Caller ID spoofing
The scam:
- Scammers can manipulate caller IDs to make people believe the call is from a legitimate company.
- This scam is not limited to phone calls. Scammers have also started using text messaging, instant messaging, and blogs to send unsolicited commercial email.
- Caller ID has now been enhanced to include a [V] next to the caller’s name for certain calls. These are calls where the caller’s phone provider has verified that the call is coming from a non-spoofed telephone number. Learn about Verified Caller ID.
Defend yourself:How to Report Phone Fraud
To report violations of the National Do Not Call Registry, visit https://comca.st/3pHff2s or call 1-888-382-1222. (If your name is on the Do Not Call Registry, you should only receive calls from companies that you do business with or companies that you gave permission to call. If you receive a call from another company, report it. You will need the name and number of the caller and date and time of the call.)
- Visit https://comca.st/3iFmMxl or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.
- The complaint that you report will be submitted into the Consumer Sentinel Network, which is a database that is used by law enforcement agencies across the world. It helps them to track down the culprits and eventually stop the fraud.
You may also file a complaint with the FCC at https://comca.st/2T8Pfkc.To send a peer-to-peer chat:
We ask that you please include your name, the account holder name (if different), and the service address alongside your inquiry so we can best assist.
We thank you for being part of our forums and helping one another out.
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BruceW
Gold Problem Solver
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26.1K Messages
4 years ago
"Pay in advance" offers for their services are almost always scams.
Comcast could easily verify whether this is legit or not. Sadly, they almost never do.
I would be extremely suspicious.
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dc_pdx
New Poster
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1 Message
4 years ago
I just got the exact same call. Love when they can't provide a phone number to be called back, and when I asked what my current bill is (since they were offering such a savings over my current bill) and she replied "I can see it is over $100" (who's isn't?) I asked "you work for Xfiinity and can't tell my how much my bill is?" And she scolded me "there are over 50 departments at Xifinity I do not have access to all your information". Hah! After giving me the 888-203-6795 number and a promo code - to which I am supposed to call after buying a $240 prepaid eBay card at Best Buy - she wanted to collect my information so as to send a thank you $100 Visa card. No thanks. But scary since I did just call Xfinity yesterday to inquire about new promotions. So for the first 3 seconds I was excited, but then just stayed on to hear how the scam works.
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BruceW
Gold Problem Solver
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26.1K Messages
4 years ago
I've never heard of a legitimate Comcast offer that involves "buy gift cards to pay us in advance", but it's a very common scammer tactic. Once again, Comcast could clear up this "offer" for us, but they almost never do, just leaving their customers twisting in the wind, victimized by scammers.
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Grateful668
New Poster
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1 Message
4 years ago
Just received this same offer. They called me on my cell phone and knew my name. The call appeared to be local, but it was offshore. It was only 2 digits off from my cell phone number. Said they were from the Xfinity promotion department. They pitched me, and then I was transferred to somone who said they were with Xfinity in Philadelphia. New guy asked me if I had been provided with the details of the promotion. I said, Yes. I then asked why Comcast would require 4 months advance payment for a promotion like this, and he immediately hung up.
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drywallmusic
New Poster
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1 Message
4 years ago
I just got this scam call as well.
I was immediately suspicious - mostly becuase Comcast has never called me in the past offering to lower my bill and increase my speed. Also, the first guy double-talked and said it would require a 24 month commitment, but that I could get out of it at any time. He also promised up to 600Mb speeds, which I know would require new hardware.
After agreeing that I would be interested in a promotion (the only thing I had admitted to at this point was A) I'm an existing comcast customer and B) that my bill is "about a hundred a month" - and refusing to give them any more PII over the phone, I got transferred to the 2nd represetnitive who asked if I needed more details on the promotion.
When i asked them to verfiy the comcast billing phone number, and to give me the "promotion code" they promised, he asked if I wanted him to give me the billing phone number. I told him "Yes, I have the existing billing phone number on my screen, can you verify it?" I was hung up on immediately.
The interaction was disturbing enough for me to google it... which led me here. I thought I would share my experience as it might help others who are looking up the same scam information. My gut said it seemed too good to be true... and turns out it was. I'm curious if anyone got hooked and had a different experience?
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Mel1234
New Poster
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1 Message
4 years ago
I got this same call. A couple of things sounded suspicious:
1) They had no clue what I currently pay - they should know this if they are truly from Xfinity/Comcast
2) The phone number was from my same area code (even though I no longer live in that area) - if the promotion were a local promotion, I would expect it to come from the area code where I am now located; if the promotion is nation-wide, I would expect it to come from a 1-800 number or to be the same number I have stored in my phone for Xfinity/Comcast, not just some random number.
3) They wanted a prepayment of 4 months in advance - this sounds like something a scammer would ask for so they can take my money and run
4) No contract/No cancellation fees - this is not how Xfinity/Comcast works
5) Sounded like an offshore guy (hard to understand his accent) - if the call was coming from my local area, he should have been easier to understand.
Eventually, I told him I didn't believe him and just hung up.
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XfinityRay
Official Employee
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2.3K Messages
4 years ago
Hello, @drywallmusic, @jimrfelix, @dc_pdx, and everyone else in this thread! As a 6-year Comcast employee, I can say I have never seen an offer where we have you prepay your account or request a large payment to make a change to your account. I do from time to time see offers with Visa gift cards. Our Customer Security Assurance deparment handles all of our security. You can report suspicious calls and emails to them, https://comca.st/3qBX2Tq.
We also have our alerts page here, abusehttps://internetsecurity.xfinity.com/help/alerts. This shows the latest scams that we are aware of so you can be too. I looked but do not see the number listed in the thread but see a lot of things like what you all described listed. When these things get reported we add them to the alert page.
From the discussion, it sounds like some of you may want to review our package options to help save on your bill. For any of you that are needing help with that feel free to send me a Private Message. To send me a Private Message, please click my name “ComcastRayana” and click “Send a message."
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user_6f0d33
Visitor
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1 Message
4 years ago
4/15/2021 2:30pm. The offer gets better AND I was given the small catch. Offer is my same services for 24 months @$89.99/mo with 5 premium channels and $100 Visa gift card. The catch is I must pay 4 mos in advance with eBay prepaid cards. The promotion is being subsidized by eBay to promote their prepaid cards, otherwise it would be a big loss for Comcast. I was also told I must call billing dept by 9pm eastern, since biling department is in Philadelphia. Billing department number is 1-888-451-3299. The verifier to whom I was transferred to confirm details of the offer was [Edited: "Personal Information"]. It was oh so convincing. Thanks to all who provider details of their experiences.
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user_9f182f
Visitor
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2 Messages
4 years ago
Thank you for this blog. I received the same call today [Edited: "Personal Information"] with an incredible offer to reduce my cost on a current plan. As I was speaking to the so-called agent I googled the offer to see if it was legit and again Thank You all for your post because I would have probably went with the offer.
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user_51c2f4
Visitor
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1 Message
4 years ago
No this is a scam. These people are getting more creative. The phone number changes each time, I just received the same call first stating they are Comcast/Xfinity support asking if I had any problems with Xfinity, this was a hook and bait, I said no, then he said there is a 30% discount promotion if I was interested all channels the same, HBO, Stars, Etc..Etc. and the catch to get this great deal was to pay one payment amount to cover the first three months, then the monthly discount would follow for 3 years. I asked for the promotion code, and if I can do the deal online on my own or call the xfinity back, They said how it would be paid is through eBay, red flag. I immediately told him you are a scammer, he hung up. The number to call back goes to nothing disconnects. Beware Xfinity customers.
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