Let’s try this. Can some one help me out with search terms that could be used for somebody would wants to learn how to, um, steal movies and whatever kind of havoc?
Verizon has been pretty good about adjusting bills for me, but nothing like $1,500 worth.
I’ve had FiOS for a bit over 3 years now without a major problem, except for the hurricane last fall.
Two porn movie orders within two minutes seems like a dead giveaway that it’s a scam.
Maybe you should read all the FAQs.
You’re moving from ‘asking for help’ to ‘asking for a moderator warning’.
See this FAQ, third item down from the word ‘Specifically’.
Based on his/her above posts, I don’t think cynyc was requesting search terms for the purposes of “stealing movies and whatever kind of havoc”. Instead, I think cynyc was trying to figure out how someone managed to do that to his/her account, since Verizon seems to be rather unhelpful with the issue.
Cynyc, please keep us posted. How’s it going?
I think I’m falling in love with you. 
Jake: Thank you for asking. I bought another day – I’ll have it tomorrow.
I stayed up half the night flaming the Verizon “Community” Board. I felt like that Hispanic ? chick in one of those Aliens movies.
At the moment I’m avoiding calling again. I’m tired of the war. I so much want to be off of the grid.
Anyhoo… A couple of weeks ago tech #39 told me that if the movies weren’t “watched” I’m not obligated to pay. I thought cool. So on the phone 2 days ago when I was on the phone with billing again, after being transferred there from tech #42, I mentioned this to billing who never heard of it (but we know that already) then added that tech would have to make such a note to my file yada yada.
I’m low on Mojo.
I think I’ll check my email now.
cynyc,
Does the newspaper in your area have an Action Line column or local TV station have a consumer advocate on their news program? It seems your predicament would be ideal for such a story.
Good luck!
Yes, Hun–I did that also to no response. As usual.
I was reluctant to answer you because one of the mods suggested I post too much. :smack:
I use the word update loosely.
Next is to have tech confirm that the 400 movies were actually watched. Several techs ago gave me a tip: If they weren’t watched you’re not obligated to pay. Nobody else heard of this of course but after days of printing out every damn bill I will proceed.
AM I not entitled to smell flowers and so on?
OWS!
I believe they meant that you were starting too many threads. No one’s going to complain that you are posting too much trying to solve this problem.
A post is a post.
I’m sure my stats will go down big time over a 10 year spread.
No I haven’t called Fios for round 162 yet. I just paid the extortion money for now.
I’m thinking about Panax ginseng as a mojo source. Dealing with them is exhausting.
I sooooo want off the grid but I’m told it’s next to impossible in an urban area.:smack:
MAC addresses can definitely be cloned. I don’t know if the authentication process for a FiOS box only involves the MAC address, though.
I would strongly guess, though, that your porn-hungry neighbors are doing this, one way or another.
If they ever had access to your home, even once, they could easily run a video feed back to their own apartment from one of your STBs. Then they could use a UHF remote to order movies through the wall of your apartment, and get the video feed on their end.
That’s the most likely scenario, because it doesn’t require much technical know-how or cost.
I would contact your local news stations, newspapers, the Better Business Bureau, and maybe even police. It goes without saying that you should write multiple letters to the Verizon CEO’s office. The bigger the stink you make, the more likely you are to get these charges credited back.
Hm. Access to home… What would they need to accomplish here? This would have to be a physical access thing?
TIA
Just to run a line back to their apartment, is all they’d need to do. They might even be able to use the existing coaxial TV cables in the house, and just put a splitter on the line that’s feeding your STB, to backfeed the signal. They could tap into the coax in their apartment and pull the video feed that way.
It’s also possible they are doing some much higher-level hacking as well.
This is possible, but a lot more difficult than you’re stating.
Verification of the box is done with encryption keys, not MAC addresses. It’s certainly breakable, but not as easy as spoofing a MAC address.
No FIOS STB has a UHF remote - they’re all IR, so you can’t control it through a wall.
The output signal of the STB won’t wind up on the same coax cable that’s bringing signal from the ONT to the STB. If you use coax to the TV, it’s a separate connector on the back of the box. So they can’t just tap into the cable running through the wall between the houses. Presumably the OP would have noticed if there was an extra cable going from the back of the STB to a hole in the wall.
There has to be some way to talk to someone who has some sense at Verizon. Can you talk to the same rep more than once? Maybe you could unplug the receiver and lock up the remote for an entire day and night, then call Verizon to see if any movies were logged during that time. Try talking to them before and after you do this. If they are still logging movies for you tell them they have a problem and you’re not going to pay for their problem.
I still suggest writing letters to the CEO’s office.
You could also start trashing them like this all over the web. 
They actually wouldn’t need to backfeed the signal. FiOS provides SD channels without the need for a STB.
They could order the movies through FiOS’s website, and change the TV channel with the FiOS remote access app.
I knew it could be done. I just had to research it a little.
Call up and ask for the FiOS Elite Team. They are the ones who can fix anything, believe me I used them before. Explain to them what you have been through and if there is another cable provider in the area, threaten to go to them and say they offered you a better price, or a Multi Room DVR free and see how fast they will correct things and give you discounts to keep you as a customer. I did it when they tried to raise the price on me after being locked into a 2 year contact and I dot a discount for a year of $20, the DVR FREE FOR LIFE, another credit and a change in service where mt internet is 35/35.
When my contract was up I told them Cablevision was trying to get me back and quoted a price. They still let me keep the discounts, gave me another $20 discount till 2014 and a $300 gift card for signing on for 2 years so for all (TV, PHONE (2 lines and a virtual line for my fax) and 3 HD Boxes for $193 a month while cablevision was charging me $245 with NO virtual line, no on demand channels for those I subscribed to, so I think I got a good deal.
One thing, is your TV near a window and is it parental control password-ed? People have been know to mess with people from across the street if they can hit the bod with the remote. I know I can with my neighbor across the street in an apartment building so it may be something to keep in mind.
Good luck!
Just so you know, this thread is a year old, and the original poster was banned.