Separate Charter Trademark Suits in 2 States Target Text Scammers

Charter Communications filed separate federal lawsuits in two states Oct. 5, alleging misuse of Charter's trademarks in scams to steal customers' information. Its complaint (docket 2:22-cv-05901) in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, accuses Easy Pay Solutions of Parlin, New Jersey, of sending Charter customers text messages that "falsely hold Easy Pay out as an authorized agent of Spectrum (which is Charter’s brand name), or even as Spectrum itself, and promise a discount on a subscriber’s monthly Spectrum bill if he or she makes a payment through Easy Pay," according to the complaint. "When a subscriber responds, Defendants steal the subscriber’s credit card or banking information and make a payment directly to themselves. Defendants then contact Charter, posing as the Charter subscriber, and use invalid payment information to make a false 'payment' to Charter. That payment is later reversed, leaving the subscriber’s monthly bill unpaid." Easy Pay didn't comment Wednesday. In a second fraud complaint Wednesday (docket 4:22-cv-03433) in U.S. District Court in Houston, Charter alleged that a Texas startup, Knowteq Solutions, and Natoshia Ellzey of Katy, Texas, its “sole member and manager,” are sending text solicitations to Charter subscribers using the Charter and Spectrum “family” of trademarks, “falsely stating Charter subscribers could receive a discount on their Spectrum bills" if paid through Knowteq. “A subscriber responds to the text message link by phone or a responsive text message with the assumption he is communicating with Charter or an authorized vendor for Charter,” it said. Using the subscriber’s fraudulently obtained Charter account details and other information, Knowteq and Ellzey call Spectrum impersonating the subscriber and make a payment on the account using a stolen credit card or invalid checking account, it said. Knowteq and Ellzey then initiate a reimbursement to themselves using funds taken from the subscriber’s own bank account or credit card, it said. The payment made by the defendants to the subscriber’s Spectrum account is ultimately rejected by the bank, and the account “consequently shows a payment reversal,” and remains unpaid, it said. When contacted by phone, Ellzey falsely told a Charter investigator that Knowteq was a Spectrum-authorized vendor and that her company was hired “to facilitate customer payments,” it said. The complaint accuses Knowteq and Ellzey of “smishing,” a form of cyberfraud “in which a criminal, pretending to be a legitimate entity, sends a text message to a victim.” Ellzey didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday.