In one of the strangest computer hacker stories in recent memory, an Apopka family discovered the accounts for their AT&T phone bill and Netflix had been hacked and the credit card designated for the payments was actually replaced by a stolen credit card.
Kathy Hennig says she only became aware of it when she received an AT&T alert saying she owed
$1,300 because the card she used was stolen and the funds had been returned.
“There’s no other person in my situation where somebody compromised my account changed the credit cards and started paying my bills, there’s no such thing," Hennig said.
Hennig says the only clue she has is that the two hacked accounts are linked to the same email and the accounts were switched at about the same time.
Hennig called AT&T to try to clear it up but it was useless, she was banned from using a credit card to pay her cellphone account ever again.
“It blows my mind," she says. “It makes me look like such a liar because why would someone hack into an account just to get a stranger to pay the bill?"
She discovered that the same card was being used with her Netflix account when she got an alert indicating the card had expired. When she asked what the last four digits of the card, Netflix gave her the exact sequence of the stolen card used for the phone account.
Hennig has a long history with the phone company with a pristine credit history.
News 6 investigator Mike Holfeld contacted AT&T spokeswoman Rosie Montalvo and in less than 24 hours, the company agreed to waive the credit card ban.
In an email to Holfeld, Montalvo writes:
”Mike, restriction has been lifted. There should be no problem for customer to pay with card."
Montalvo says the communications giant has never seen a case like that before but was willing to issue the waiver after News 6 got involved.
“After I called Channel 6, within 24 hours I got a phone call from AT&T saying everything is OK," Hennig said, “Don’t worry about it you don’t have to pay the bill right now.”
Hennig doesn’t have any theories, she’s just thankful the issue has been resolved