HOUSTON — With the cost of cell phone plans and streaming TV going up, wouldn't you like to lower that bill?
Unfortunately, one offer for a big discount is really a scam.
KHOU 11 consumer reporter John Matarese checked his voice mail over the weekend and heard this:
“Hi, there! I am calling you from AT&T and DirecTV to let you know that your existing account is qualified for 50% off."
Half-price cell phone and TV? Great!
So he called back, and a robo agent asked for his account number and pin. Matarese was smarter than that and knew not to give out that information.
Last year, Jackie Wilkinson got a similar call.
“He asked do you want to save money. Naturally in this day and age who doesn't want to save money,” Wilkinson said. “So I said yes and he said great!"
But he wanted her to send money first.
Charlotte Harrison also got the call -and says it went from friendly to frightening.
"I think it's awful, because it scared me, I said ‘I need to do this so I don't lose my tv!’" Harrison said.
A few years ago these scam calls would concern your DirecTV account and since most people don't have DirecTV dishes, they would just hang up.
But now they use AT&T, and with millions of people on the AT&T network, it's easy to fall for this one, so don't let this happen to you.
The Better Business Bureau says cell, satellite and cable providers will never call you about lowering your bill, and they will never ask for an upfront payment for an upgrade.
These are scammers who will ask you to prepay and steal whatever you send them.
When I tried to question the offer, the robo agent would have nothing to do with me.
"Thanks for your time. Have a nice day."
If you want to lower your bill give your provider a call. Be suspicious if they call you, so you don't waste your money.