Beware of scammers pretending to work for Spectrum

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Scammers are seizing on Spectrum's ongoing battle with New York State to take full advantage of customer confusion.

Last Friday, Governor Cuomo announced the internet, cable, and phone service provider was getting booted out of New York for failing to provide customers with the services it promised.

The Public Service Commission said that Spectrum which operates under Charter Communications is not meeting its commitment to expand the broadband network to underserved areas. Some lawmakers are demanding customers' get rebates. for the rates, they've been paying for the last two years.

Now we're hearing it customers are receiving calls from individuals posing as Spectrum employees asking them to verify their billing information.

Heres what you should do if you get a call from someone who says they're from Spectrum/Charter Communications or your cable provider

1. If you receive a call, the first rule is hanging up.

Don't be fooled: numbers can be masked to read out any display.

2. Never give out banking or credit card information.

The Spectrum customer who flagged us on the scam calls says he was asked to verify the bank and routing information number his family uses to pay their cable bill.

3 If you have a question, call the number on your bill.

Charter Communications has vowed to stay in New York. It is the largest cable company in the state providing service to 2 million customers.

The commission has given them six months to stop operating service for customers is not expected to be interrupted.

Charter was told it has 60 days to file a plan to ensure an orderly transition to another provider.

Spectrum released the following statement:

These sorts of scams aren't limited to Spectrum, and it is good practice to be wary of any phone call or solicitation from someone who pressures you to provide financial or personally identifiable information such as your credit card number or social security number. If a customer feels an offer or conversation overall doesn't sound right, they may ask the representative on the phone to validate they are a Spectrum employee by looking up their account number - Spectrum representatives will always have access to the account number. Or, the customer may contact us at 1-855-243-8892 to validate information or offers applicable to their account. We always remain mindful of customer concerns and do provide customer-focused tips on the Spectrum website.

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