Expedited Discovery Called ‘Appropriate’ in DirecTV’s Suit vs. Imposters

DirecTV seeks expedited discovery and court permission to serve foreign entities with subpoenas via courier in its complaint to thwart a a global imposter fraud scheme (see 2211010049), said its motion Tuesday (docket 6:22-cv-00423) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Tyler. Expedited discovery is “appropriate” in this case, because nonparties such as LinkedIn, eBay, PayPal, Zelle, Authorize.Net, Elavon, Tango and Facebook “are likely in possession of information” pertinent to the imposter scheme, but “are under no obligation to preserve or share such information” with DirecTV, said the motion. DirecTV’s complaint alleged the perpetrators of the scheme connect and do business in Facebook groups, LinkedIn chats and on employment sites such as Upwork. Amid DirecTV’s investigative findings that the fraudsters operate through overseas call centers and foreign co-conspirators, DirecTV needs to serve subpoenas on foreign entities, including entities in Pakistan and call centers, domain registrars, hosting companies and internet service providers located outside the U.S., it said. When pursuing service in countries that are signatories to Hague Convention protocols, including Pakistan, nothing precludes sending judicial documents by postal channels directly to persons abroad, as long as the destination country doesn't object, it said.