Two brothers make hundreds of thousands of dollars

Apr 30, 2015 15:32 GMT  ·  By

Two brothers from Caddo Parish, Louisiana, set up an operation to collect illegal signing bonuses from Comcast when enlisting new customers, by pitching them free services that were paid by actual subscribers.

Michael and Willie Jones, working for a Comcast subcontractor, convinced a Comcast employee to give them information from the company’s database of current subscribers.

New customers received free services

The broadcasting and cable company pays $300 / €270 on average for each new enlisted client. To get the bonuses, the brothers presented former Comcast customers with an offer that was too sweet to pass: free cable, Internet and phone services.

This was not a trick on the new clients, but on older ones who paid their bills, since it was their information listed for payment of the subscription.

The operation was estimated at $3 / €2.68 million and it was discovered when out-of-state customers complained about receiving bills for services in Shreveport, which includes Caddo Parish.

“You might think this is a computer glitch. Most of the time, it's not, computers don't usually put the wrong address in another person's name. Something's going on somewhere. When you first smell a rat, call us,” said Sheriff Steve Prator in a press conference.

The scheme may still be active in other cities

The fraudulent activity set up by the two brothers was carried out with other eight individuals, who would go from door to door to spread the illegal offer.

As far as the number of victims is concerned, it is estimated that more than 1,200 have been affected. The Jones brothers are said to have amassed more than $300,000 / €268,000 each.

Although the operation was discovered in Caddo Parish, it is believed that the same scheme was run in other cities, and the brothers could still be doing it in Maryland.

The 3,600 beneficiaries of the free services will not be charged with defrauding Comcast. The two brothers and their Comcast insider face multiple identity theft counts and charges of criminal conspiracy.