Fraudulent use of sky card. Please Help!!

Shout

Just received a phone call from a friend of mine who has the basic sky package.
Last night while watching the telly his sky box went off. He made a phone call to sky to see what the problem was and they told him that his sky card had been used fraudulently abroad and they had cut him off. Now he hasn't been abroad in the last two years, so where does he stand on this. Any idea's??

steveon

Never heard of this happen before. Does he have multiroom?

statto25

Maybe someone was using his account details to watch the Sky Player content?

gtg60

If they're (genuinely) in the clear, get them to ring up and DEMAND to know why?

Shout

No Multiroom- just the one.
How would anyone know his account details?
Oh and another thing, he rang the ombudsman's office this morning and the person speaking to him asked him did a relative of his make a phone call in relation to the same problem as someone had already phoned in with the same query.
Don't know what the upshot was with the ombudsmans office as my friend hasnt been back to me yet. He's fairly pissed off with been accused of fraud though.

smodgley

2 diff people same name similier addresses ??????????????????????????????

steveon

Who installed it originally? I have heard of some installers ordering Multiroom and only putting in one card in the customer who signs up and then selling off the second multiroom box to friends etc....unscrupulous but I have heard of it.

Ring sky and clearly ask in what way has the box been used fraudulently? How many cards do sky have the customer down for etc? Sounds likely some1 has a second card under his name...check his monthly bill alot of people aren't even sure what there paying for.

Tony

How could sky possibly know a card is being used abroad unless they physicially see it abroad??

icdg

Oddly enough for a problem that I'd never heard of before, this person over in Legal Discussion has the exact same problem...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056359190

Re: multiroom, now I am with UPC rather than Sky, but on UPC it shows up on your bill if you are being charged for multiroom. Surely its the same with Sky and a person who never ordered multiroom should see themselves being charged for it when the first bill comes?

I would have thought Sky would have had to at least issue a warning if not serve written notice of intention to disconnect, rather than arbitraterly just disconnecting? I know that back in the day Cablelink used to issue multiple notices of intention to disconnect if they decided to disconnect someone for credit control reasons.

kbell

Could be an admin error on Sky's end, a digit out on a card that was resold abroad and they wanted to shut it down.

Unfortunately for the op's friend, and the guy in the legal forum (who could be the same person), this wont be easy to resolve, unless they can get right to the top with the complaint.

darth_maul

this is all to do with card sharing, sky (nds) have infiltrated some cardsharing rings and taken the card numbers being used, the cards are then cancelled and the accounts closed, letter is then issued.

http://www.eurocardsharing.com/f68/ive-a-problem-with-sky-257496

Has the sky card ever been in a non sky box, if not it could be a second card setup on the account is being used in a dreambox

Headspun

Hi,
I too have been suddenly cut off without any prior notice.
Initially it was explained to me on the phone to that my 'box' was being used abroad. I had purchased it new from a reputable seller in the UK after suffering from multiple rebuilds on 2 faulty boxes from Sky Ireland. They would not allow me to speak to a supervisor and told me to make any complaint via their website, which I duly did.
I received the following response today from Sky -

Dear Mr Xxxxxx
I can confirm that your account has been block again and will remain blocked as we investigate the matter. Our systems indicate that your viewing card has been used abroad.
In accordance with the terms and conditions of your Sky Digital Subscription Contract, your viewing card has been made invalid and your viewing service suspended.
I cannot provide you with any further information at this time. However, if you wish you may write to us with a full explanation for this duplicate account to the address below;
Kind regards
Xxxxxxx

Sky Help Centre
Sky Subscribers Limited
4 Mackintosh Road
Kirkton Campus
LivingstonWest LothianEH54 7DD

I have never used my card abroad, nor lent it to anyone. The only thing I have ever done is used Sky Mobile TV on my iPhone when abroad. They will not deal with me by phone, their website or email. Now I have to respond to them via snail mail.
I have all the premium packages and pay them €91/month and have been with them for more than 6 years. This is how they treat their loyal customers?
If only UPC had the sports channels in HD I would happily tell Sky exactly what they could do with their service

faceman

Be careful here, Did Sky actually use the word fraud and implicate your friend? If they're incorrect it can be deemed slander

park500

I have the same issue. On monday evening my service went. I contacted sky and was informed that my account had been cancelled due to unauthorised use abroad. I informed them that my box or card had never been abroad and has also always been connected to my phone line . Was told that only option was to write to "head office". I find it incredible that they would unilaterally and without warning cancel the service.

Headspun

park500 wrote: »

I have the same issue. On monday evening my service went. I contacted sky and was informed that my account had been cancelled due to unauthorised use abroad. I informed them that my box or card had never been abroad and has also always been connected to my phone line . Was told that only option was to write to "head office". I find it incredible that they would unilaterally and without warning cancel the service.

Interesting, I wonder if anyone else was cut off on Monday evening?
Can I ask if you have ever used their Sky Mobile Tv abroad on an iPhone or Android etc?

Tony

I think sky are treading on dangerous ground here cutting people off in this manner.

Headspun

Tony wrote: »

I think sky are treading on dangerous ground here cutting people off in this manner.

Hi Tony,
Any idea how we can fix this quickly and without any further fuss. my blood pressure is not so good at this stage?

Tony

Headspun wrote: »

Hi Tony,
Any idea how we can fix this quickly and without any further fuss. my blood pressure is not so good at this stage?

Sorry to hear but I'm afraid not, I gave up dealing with sky years ago.

STB

Headspun wrote: »

Hi,
I too have been suddenly cut off without any prior notice.
Initially it was explained to me on the phone to that my 'box' was being used abroad. I had purchased it new from a reputable seller in the UK after suffering from multiple rebuilds on 2 faulty boxes from Sky Ireland. They would not allow me to speak to a supervisor and told me to make any complaint via their website, which I duly did.
I received the following response today from Sky -

Dear Mr Xxxxxx
I can confirm that your account has been block again and will remain blocked as we investigate the matter. Our systems indicate that your viewing card has been used abroad.
In accordance with the terms and conditions of your Sky Digital Subscription Contract, your viewing card has been made invalid and your viewing service suspended.
I cannot provide you with any further information at this time. However, if you wish you may write to us with a full explanation for this duplicate account to the address below;
Kind regards
Xxxxxxx

Sky Help Centre
Sky Subscribers Limited
4 Mackintosh Road
Kirkton Campus
LivingstonWest LothianEH54 7DD

I have never used my card abroad, nor lent it to anyone. The only thing I have ever done is used Sky Mobile TV on my iPhone when abroad. They will not deal with me by phone, their website or email. Now I have to respond to them via snail mail.
I have all the premium packages and pay them €91/month and have been with them for more than 6 years. This is how they treat their loyal customers?
If only UPC had the sports channels in HD I would happily tell Sky exactly what they could do with their service

What you need to know is that you could change to Cyfra+ tommorow whose yearly bills are £250. It would mean installing a bigger dish but just so you know that there are legal alternatives for Sport including 3 o'clock kick offs with english commentary.

And as regards this treatment that you are getting from Sky. Solicitors letter ! Serious allegations to put down in writing especially to a customer. Oh yeah, and then vote with your feet.

Whatever they have implemented to identify card sharing obviously is not filtering out the legitimate customers!

Ho Ho Ho.... well done Sky.

also I note the use of the word "again" ! Has this happened before ?

Headspun

STB wrote: »

What you need to know is that you could change to Cyfra+ tommorow whose yearly bills are £250. It would mean installing a bigger dish but just so you know that there are legal alternatives for Sport including 3 o'clock kick offs with english commentary.

And as regards this treatment that you are getting from Sky. Solicitors letter ! Serious allegations to put down in writing especially to a customer. Oh yeah, and then vote with your feet.

Whatever they have implemented to identify card sharing obviously is not filtering out the legitimate customers!

Ho Ho Ho.... well done Sky.

also I note the use of the word "again" ! Has this happened before ?

Ha! I would happily change to Cyfra+ tomorrow, but a bigger dish would also mean that I would have to change wife and as I'm rather fond of her, this is not an option.
I didn't notice the word "again", how dare they! My account has never been blocked before. Solicitors letter sounds like my next course of action alright. Does anybody know of a particular solicitor who likes to take on Sky?

lgs 4

JUST GONES TO SHOW HOW DESPERATE SKY HAVE BECOME, THERE MONOPLY IS COMING TO A END, ALL I CAN SAY IS GOD HELP US IF THEY GOT COMMERCIAL LICENSE FOR PPV DTT IN IRELAND . FREESAT FOR ALL

STB

Headspun wrote: »

Ha! I would happily change to Cyfra+ tomorrow, but a bigger dish would also mean that I would have to change wife and as I'm rather fond of her, this is not an option.
I didn't notice the word "again", how dare they! My account has never been blocked before. Solicitors letter sounds like my next course of action alright. Does anybody know of a particular solicitor who likes to take on Sky?

Since its unlikely that they will tell you what they have discovered I suggest you ask what information they are keeping about you, given the serious allegations they have made and given the nature of their handling of a customer at this juncture. Also I suggest you cancel your DD if you have one set up with them.

Data Protection Officer
SKY SUBSCRIBERS SERVICES LIMITED
6 CENTAURS BUSINESS CENTRE
GRANT WAY
ISLEWORTH
MIDDLESEX
TW7 5QD

This will all end up with you getting an apology and some incentives to stay with them despite the fact they have treated you like a criminal rather than a loyal paying customer. I suggest you dont mince your words over @ http://helpforum.sky.com

Headspun

STB wrote: »

Since its unlikely that they will tell you what they have discovered I suggest you ask what information they are keeping about you, given the serious allegations they have made and given the nature of their handling of a customer at this juncture. Also I suggest you cancel your DD if you have one set up with them.

Data Protection Officer
SKY SUBSCRIBERS SERVICES LIMITED
6 CENTAURS BUSINESS CENTRE
GRANT WAY
ISLEWORTH
MIDDLESEX
TW7 5QD

This will all end up with you getting an apology and some incentives to stay with them despite the fact they have treated you like a criminal rather than a loyal paying customer. I suggest you dont mince your words over @ http://helpforum.sky.com

Many thanks for the advice, I will follow all of it if the matter has not been resolved by close of business today.
I'm still curious as to whether anyone else has been treated like this?

Headspun

Spitting nails on Friday I decided to give it one last go. I reckoned that my genuine protests were being automatically screened out and that I need to bypass them.
I did a simple Google search of "Sky directors email address" and copied them all of my correspondence. Hey presto I got a suitably apologetic phonecall on Saturday morning from a Sky Excutive on Saturday morning and all was sorted in minutes.
He did aknowledge that there was a number of innocent subscribers had been inadvertently cut off, so if you have not already being reconnected, I suggest you start Googling.

Minstrel27

Headspun wrote: »

He did aknowledge that there was a number of innocent subscribers had been inadvertently cut off, so if you have not already being reconnected, I suggest you start Googling.

It is a shame then that this has not been filtered down to those on the phones. I know it is the same with pretty much all companies where the people dealing with the public are told nothing.