Dave Winer’s Internet service was recently shut down by Comcast without warning. Apparently, he’s in the top percentile of bandwidth usage and Dave feels that Comcast has singled him out as a criminal. While I don’t know how he’s using his Internet connectivity, I do agree that the way Comcast handles these matters isn’t very consumer friendly.
However, what interested me is that Dave was directed to the Comcast Customer Security Assurance and Legal Response team. Frankly, Comcast needs to tighten up their own security before making customer insinuations… Last week, we initiated a customer support chat to get our Comcast.net credentials. Despite providing our specific account number, phone number, and partial social security number Comcast reset the former resident’s email password and gave it to us. No social engineering required. Fortunately, this is a mostly unused account and I’m a pretty ethical guy. But the experience surely gives me pause.
eSupport Chat Transcript
Melissa > Hello, I’d like to know my Comcast email address and password to access Comcast.net.
Jerome.25550 > Hello Melissa_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Jerome.25550. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Jerome.25550 > I will be happy to assist you with your concern today.
Jerome.25550 > Let me assist you on that. One moment please while I review your information.
Jerome.25550 > For account identification, may I please have your complete name, address and phone number?
Melissa_ > Melissa X Xxxxx
Melissa_ > ### Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx ###, Xxxxxxxx, XX #####
Melissa_ > ###-###-####
Jerome.25550 > Thank you.
Jerome.25550 > For account identification, may you please provide your account number?
Melissa_ > i’m looking it up now
Jerome.25550 > Thank you.
Melissa_ > ######-#
Jerome.25550 > Thank you.
Jerome.25550 > For identification, may you please verify the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number listed on the account?
Melissa_ > ####
Jerome.25550 > Thank you for that information. Let me check that issue for you in my system. One moment please.
Jerome.25550 > Your username is: lisayoung####
Melissa_ > who is lisa yong?
Melissa_ > that must be a different account
Jerome.25550 > Sorry for that error Melissa.
Jerome.25550 > Let me check that for you. One moment please.
Jerome.25550 > I was able to verify your account details Melissa. You may change that after you are logged it.
Jerome.25550 > I am sorry I do not have access to your email password. However I can create a computer-generated password for you. Would that be okay?
Melissa_ > that is fine
Jerome.25550 > Your new password is: xxxxxxxx
Melissa_ > and what is my username?
Jerome.25550 > Can you please try that for me by logging in to this link? https://login.comcast.net/login?s=portal&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fmailcenter.comcast.net
Jerome.25550 > Your username is: lisayoung####. I will assist you on changing that Melissa.
Melissa_ > ok i’m trying to log in now
Jerome.25550 > Thank you.
Melissa_ > yes, this is someone else’s email address. her email is still there
Jerome.25550 > One moment please while I check that information for you.
Melissa_ > this is not my account. maybe she used to live at this address
Jerome.25550 > For account identification, may I please have your complete name, address and phone number?
Melissa_ > Melissa_(Wed Apr 9 18:37:35 EDT 2008)>Melissa X Xxxxx Melissa_(Wed Apr 9 18:37:46 EDT 2008)>### Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx ###, Xxxxxxxx, XX ###### Melissa_(Wed Apr 9 18:37:51 EDT 2008)>###-###-####
Jerome.25550 > Thank you for that information. Let me check that issue for you in my system. One moment please.
Jerome.25550 > With regard to your concern Melissa, I was able to check your account. Did you try contacting your local office or 1-800-COMCAST before you transfer service?
Melissa_ > Yes, the local office installed the new apartment
Melissa_ > my account number is ######-#
Jerome.25550 > Okay. It seems that your account has encountered an error. What I can do is to make a note on your account for this issue. You may contact your local office or call 1-800-COMCAST.
Melissa_ > ok thank you
Jerome.25550 > Is there anything else I can help you with?
Jerome.25550 > You are always welcome. It is my pleasure to be of service.
Jerome.25550 >Thank you for contacting Comcast!
Jerome.25550 > If you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us through Live Chat or E-Mail (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Comcast also offers excellent FAQ and Help forums located at www.comcast.com to help you reach a resolution independently.
Jerome.25550 > We value your business with Comcast. By answering the online survey right after this chat session, we are able to gather your suggestion and recommendation on how to improve our service. We thank you in advance for accomplishing the survey.
Jerome.25550> Have a Comcastic day!
Jerome.25550 > Analyst has closed chat and left the room