Carol and I got a letter this afternoon from the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE), a subsidiary of Equifax based in Atlanta. As best I can tell (I’ve never heard of it before today) the NCTUE is a way for phone companies and utility companies to exchange data on deadbeat customers, so that when a guy who owes three grand to the phone company moves to another state, the phone company there can examine his application with a more critical eye and possibly deny the account. In that it’s a lot like a conventional credit reporting firm, albeit a vertical-market one.
The letter was very plain, not on any sort of letterhead, and relatively crude by my standards. (I could have set up a mail merge like that using a spreadsheet twenty years ago.) It did not come with a glossy explanatory flyer, as I would expect. The key message in the letter is this: According to Colorado law, a consumer reporting agency (like NCTUE) is required to send a free report to consumers who receive either:
- Eight credit inquiries (no indication of a timeframe) from a telecom or utility firm; or
- A single report that adds negative information to someone’s NCTUE file.
To receive a “free disclosure copy” of our report, it suggests that we either call the number 1-866-349-5185 or fill out the bottom third of the letter sheet and send it to:
Exchange Service Center – NCTUE
PO Box 105161
Atlanta GA 30348
The phone number is a robot that immediately asks for your social security number, and provides no option to speak to a human being. The sheet requires your social security number and date of birth, along with a signature. Needless to say, they’re not getting it. Carol and I have an autopay system for all telecom/utility payments, and we keep the autopay account well-stoked. Our use is fairly predictable, and nothing has changed in a long time. The account has plenty of money in it, and no bills have failed to be paid on time. (We checked.)
Interestingly, the NCTUE Web site is not accessible right now. When I try to go to nctue.com, I get a “Bandwidth Limit Exceeded” message. What this suggests is that NCTUE is engaging in some shady marketing. If they recently dumped several million of these letters in the mail, their web site may well not be able to handle the traffic. I doubt that we got the letter because of some mistake in our own payment management. I’m guessing that gazillions of people got the same letter, and they all arrived today, and everybody is trying to go up there at once and see WTF is going on.
Either that, or they’ve pissed off enough people to earn a DDOS attack…but somehow I doubt it.
It’s unclear what NCTUE is trying to sell, and I’ll keep investigating. I’m guessing Equifax (their parent company) is trying to hawk some kind of credit protection plan, but since I won’t hand them my SS number, it’s hard to tell. In the meantime, I’d be interested in hearing if you’ve received this letter and what, if anything, you’ve done in response.
UPDATE 3/11/2012: One thing I forgot to ask people to mention in their comments: Are you in Colorado? I’m trying to determine if this effort on NCTUE’s part (whatever it turns out to be) depends on some quirk in Colorado law, or if it’s national in scope.
Also, read my next entry, for 3/11/2012!
Just got the same letter today. I’m not giving them my info; I’m up to date on my payments as well. I think they’re up to no good.
Are you in Colorado?
Yes, I am in Colorado. I just got the same letter and I am trying to figure it out as well.
Steve
Same letter exactly and I am in Colorado. I think it is a scam and will not reply. Same as the others; I always pay my bills on time!
I am in Colorado and I just got this letter, which led me to your blog.
I have no landline phone account, no cable and pay my gas utilities to the City…the only loose end is Xcel, w/whom I have a functioning autopay that is fully paid.
Give us your SS# to me is phishing. And you’re right, why would be a Colorado-based anything be based in Georgia? Smells bad to me.
I recieved the same letter today and did the same things you did and got the exact same results. My S.S.N. belongs to me and my employer and the S.S. Administration. If NCTUE are truly part of Equifax as other sites have indicated, then they already have the SSN available to them.
This smells like a scam and I will contact the State Attorney General (Co) on Monday to find out WTF.
I’ve gotten a few of these letters, they misspell my last name, so the Phish is obvious.
I do work with Boulder Community Rights Network, so if you’d like help reaching the State Attorney General, let me know, I know people who may be able to help.
Received one, too. Had same suspicions. THANK YOU for posting this. Will spread the word.
My husband and I both got identical letters. Seemed like a phasing expedition to get our SSN.
Just got the same letter – as I have not been notified by any utility companies that I’m behind and don’t believe that there are any problems I don’t know about I won’t be replying to this letter either via mail or phone. It is a little disconcerting as potentially my credit is involved but my thought is that if there were truly something negative that has been posted I would receive a letter from a valid credit reporting company such as Experian or Equifax. If that happens, and I don’t expect it to, then I will treat the situation as a real problem to be dealt with through a company that you can get a report from online immediately or that you can call and talk to.
I received the same letter yesterday. Send in my signature and SSN? Not a chance. Even if there was a shred of truth to the letter, which there is not, I’ve always paid every bill on time, I wouldn’t blindly send personal ID info out through the mail. This has all the markings of a scare tactic phishing scam.
Thanks so much for sharing. Yes, I live in CO. Got the letter yesterday, no I won’t share my SS and to my knowledge there shouldn’t be any inquiries or reports adding anything to my credit history.
[…] think we’re starting to get a sense for the scam here, as mentioned in my entry for yesterday, 3/10/2012. The scam involves ACTUE, but may have have been initiated by one of several collection agencies, […]
I live in CO and got the same letter. I’m willing to visit the website, but I’m not handing over my SSN. All my utility/phone bills are on paid. I’m starting to wonder; since so many people got this letter, it’s smells iffy.
It is. Read today’s entry!
Thank you for posting. I live in Colorado and received the same exact letter yesterday and like you have no reason to believe I would have negative info. sent in about my credit. So, I decided to check on-line first before even calling the number. Thank you very much!
I am in CO and got mine 3/10/2012 and I am unaware of any late payment issues on my utilities (I’m on a well and propane annual buy). That leaves a land line and cell phone.
I researched NCTUE and they seem like an arm of Equifax.
The unavailable website seems very odd.
The sudden rash of letters seems suspicious.
No way to speak to a person, that seems wrong.
Cole
Got the same letter as well. Yes, I live in Colorado. What a bunch of BS
Received the same letter dated March 1, 2012 and also live in Colorado; however I am a member of Lifelock and can view my credit report anytime for any inquiries or negative reports. I called Lifelock 3/12 around noon, discussed NCTUE with them. I do not have any inquires or negative reports from anyone on my credit report, and Equifax is one of the reporting agencies on my report. The Rep suggested not to do ANYTHING about the letter, do not call them, do not write them. At best, it was suggested to discuss NCTUE with Better Business in your state. It was suggested this letter might be from skip tracers in an attempt to find deadbeats with your same name and they are phising to try to get all those peeps with the same names to give them your SSN so they can enter it into their database. If you are not a deadbeat then ignore the letter.
If you have the way of checking your credit report, do so, and verify there are no negative entries. I did, mine is fine.
There’s an intriguing article from Cringely on how NCTUE may by invisible to Lifelock:
http://www.cringely.com/tag/nctue/
It’s hard to tell how true this is, as NCTUE is completely new to me. Might be worth some further research.
I got the same letter yesterday, 03/10/12. And yes, I do live in Colorado. I think I’m going to ask a few neighbors “at risk seniors” to make sure they don’t fall for this “possible” scam.
That’s a very good idea. There are possible tie-ins here to the “zombie debt scam,” which seniors often fall victim to. I’ll try to cover that in an upcoming entry. See:
http://www.scambusters.org/zombiedebt.html
We live in Westminster, CO and also got the letter. We have immaculate credit, and feel a little concerned that this may show up negatively if we apply for a loan, credit card, etc. Anybody have a source for a free reputable credit check to see that everything as a-okay?
A very widespread fraud attempt? The Colo AG is doubtless getting text messages.
Jeff, you mentioned Atlanta. Are the letters postmarked Atlanta? If so, let me know and I’ll get the Atlanta newspaper on their case.
My letter is postmarked
PO BOX 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348
Thank you very much for posting this! I received the letter as well, dated March 2nd and live in Colorado. I truly believe this is a scam. I use to work for a credit union and have seen many scam letters in the time I was there. I will be taking this letter there tomorrow to discuss with them as they have sources that can help figure this out. I would also consider notifying the news channels about this crap!
I just opened up the mail from yesterday and received the same letter. I am also from CO. Found it rediculous as I pay bills as soon as they are received. The address given to send our information to is as follows. Michael, please forward the following information to the Atlanta newspaper if you could.
Exchange Service Center-NCTUE
PO Box 105161
Atlanta, GA 30348
Thanks for posting this. I was wondering as I too got this letter. It went to my old Colorado address and was forwarded to me. I haven’t lived in Colorado for over a year now. Like you said the envelope and letter didn’t contain a whole lot of info. The return address on the envelope was just an address, no business name which is weird. And if you are willing to send me this free report, all I have to do is give you my social and signature, why wouldn’t they just mail the report in the first place? When I called, I couldn’t get a live person. Only a recording and when I dummied in all 0s for SSN it tells me to send in all this stuff like drivers license, social security card etc and to make sure it is enlarged so all numbers are viewable. Yeah right!! I too visited the website and got the same bandwidth exceeded. In my opinion, any reputable company would have enough bandwidth. Most hosting companies provide more than enough for little money.
Just received same letter here – Colorado – Looks and feels like a scam to me but I know there are a lot of people who will read the letter and respond giving over their personal information. I find it odd that my letter also notes eight inquiries and or negative information added – confirms my belief that this is a scam.
Moral of Story – NEVER give personal information to anyone!
Received the same letter in Colorado. Went to the Equifax website, and “Chatted” with one of their Service folks. They confirmed that this organization is NOT affiliated with Equifax. I called the Colorado Attorney General. They sent me to the Georgia Attorney General, who sent me to the Georgia Governor’s Consumer Protection Board at 404-651-8600. I waited on hold for 15 minutes, and finally got hung up on.
I also received this same letter. I live in Colorado but the suspicious thing to me is the letter is addressed to my business address but in my personal name. I have no history of late payments or closed accounts with the business or personal. The SSN is the big red flag!
I got this letter and I’m irritated. Like most of you, I have a solid bill pay history and a clean credit history. I contacted NCTUE directly from their website’s phone number. They couldn’t confirm this mailing was sent but would be happy to send a report. They said a full SS# would not be needed but the last 4 numbers to look up the report. I decline. The operator did not understand my concern that their mailing reeks of a phishing scam. I called the CO attorney gen office and left a message. Almost a hour later and no call back. I spoke with the Georgia Consumer office as recommended by the previous poster and got a live person. She was unconcerned that their was obvious potential fraud originating from her state since no harm was committed. She noted my complaint but won’t seek any other action unless harm has been committed. WAY TO PROTECT YOUR CITIZENS HEARTLESS GOV’T AGENCY!!!!
If you have the time, please flood her office with calls: Georgia Governor’s Consumer Protection Board at 404-651-8600
Yep, I’m from CO and received the same letter (my husband did, utilities are in his name). Nope, not responding. Thanks for the original post and follow-ups on this.
I live in Colorado and received this letter from NCTUE. I am not replying and will not give my SSN to these people. I have no history of late payments with any utility or cable company.
Sounds like a scam.
Lydia
I also live in Colorado and received this letter yesterday. I will not respond, I do not have any history of late payments. Thanks for posting this!
Got the same letter. Live in Southern Colorado and was shocked to get the letter. My first reaction when I get a strange letter is to go on line to check them out. Thanks for this web site. You may have just saved us.
Jim
Just googled this b/c I never give out my ss# through the mail duh! I have a house listed for sale…would this have anything to do with the letter? Colorado based.
I don’t think having a house for sale would trigger something like this. I still think it’s a zombie debt scam. (Read the next two entries in my blog here.)
We live in Colorado and recived the same letter dated 3/2/2012. We have never missed a payment. May be some one should ask or report it to Channel 9 news. I don’t have time today.
Vickie
I got one too, and NO WAY would I sign the thing and send it in w/my SSN! The sad thing is, many people probably will.
I’ll see if I can get 9News interested in this, might be nice to see these folks get slapped up side the head!
Yup. I live in CO and got the same letter informing me that in the last 12 months they have received AT LEAST one report adding negative info to our “data report”. What’s a data report and who gives these clowns permission to store private info on us? This is a SCAM. Don’t send them anything.
Contact your State AG and DEMAND to know where this bogus outfit got/bought our address information.
I just got one too and I live in Colorado. Thanks for writing this article!
We also live in Colorado and just received the letter in the mail. I would NEVER give someone my SSN or DOB blindly, and in researching this we feel it’s bogus. We’ll be contacting the AG on this. It’s so sad that some people will react out of fear and send this information to these scam artists. I hope they’re identified and prosecuted.
I got the letter too, I’m in Fort Collins, CO. with the same situation. All accounts are in good standing. I Just called LifeLock and they are not aware of that reporting agency or the scam. Thanks for the post.
Dittos on all you said. Bills all on autopay, no problems, etc. I judged the letter based upon its quoting Colorado law, so I would have spent much time getting to the bottom of this. Thank you very much for this post!
I am obviously in CO too, and rec’d my “notice” March 12th.
Got the same letter today in Littleton Colorado, found your blog and comments while trying to figure out what this letter could be all about. Thank you all for your posts and taking the time to add your input, making it clear that this is a mass scam!!
Yes,
I got the same letter Satuday the 10th. I checked with both of the banks I bank at and neather have herd of them. One of my banks ran a check on my credit and it was ok. I got a letter several years ago from one of the major three credit bureaus and at the time it was leget. Found out I was a victim of identity theft. It was a major nightmare and took one and half years to get it cleaned up, so you can just imagine how I flelt when this one arived. Thanks Jeff and please let us know if anyone finds more info.
Don
I got the same letter today. My roommate said that I could have unpaid bills in my name. I called and it is just an automated service…without thinking, I entered my information. Right after I did so I regret it! What am I to do now? I am pretty sure it is a SCAM!
NCTUE itself may not be a scam, though I don’t think it’s a good idea to give an outfit like that your personal information. What I think may be the scam is a collection agency trying to persuade you that there’s an old bill in your name and that you can “get rid of the black mark” by paying them a little money. Don’t do it! (See my next two posts.) However, since you did enter your information, I think we’d all be very interested in hearing what you receive from NCTUE, and what activity triggered the letter. Also, if you do get a letter from some collection agency, please let us know here. Again, don’t send such an agency money!
I am concerned as to what happens next! I will not send them money if they ask for it. I feel that I am going to be a victim of identity theft. How do I got about reporting that if I am? I am going to go and talk to my bank tomorrow and see if they have any information that could help me.
Connor,
Your bank is the best place to go to first if you feel you may be a identity theft victim. That was were I went when it happened to me. The bank help me and knew my situation so that my credit was still good with them if I needed a loan for something. They helped me solve the situation with out having to hire someone. Even though I never had to pay any of the creditors I was still out a few dollars for postage( Certifed mail ) to the differant fraud investigations bureaus. It took along time to clear up but now my credit score is 863.
Don
All, also got this letter. I googled the phone number and they may be associated with AFNI Collections. If you go to afnifraud.blogspot.com, you will get an eyeful. Evidently they are phishing past/present Verizon customers. One Colorado poster noted, you may want to check your Equifax credit report. This company posted a bogus past-due verizon bill against his credit account. Someone else said they had contacted the post office. I may try Channel 7. Bottomline, it looks like they need to be taken down!
I live in Colorado and received this same letter today. All our utility bills are update and are also set up to be paid automatically. We’ve had the same utility companies for years and never past due. I will not give out my ss #. Sounds like some sort of scam.
Hello! Im in Colorado and I got one today too. I thought it was suspicous as well. I still like paying by chk and the few times mail service has made a pmt late I have called the company asap and got it straightened out and they have assured me no credit report action would occur. I did a domain name check and the domain is registered in PA not GA. Wierd that there is only a PO box on both the letter and whoever owns the domain didnt use their “name” just NCTUE. It worried me because I work hard to keep my credit good and clean.
PS..I should have mentioned, I did contact all my utility companies plus my credit watchdog group and nothing was ever reported. IF Equifax does receive a notice from this group, they have a credit dispute claim you can file. Unfortunately I can’t pull up my file with them until tomorrow.
3/12/12 – Colo resident; received same letter today; will not respond.
I live in Colorado and received the NCTUE notice. It’s dated March 2nd. I asked a friend if he received the notice. His is nearly identical, except it is from EQUIFAX(!) and even has the Equifax logo at the bottom. His is dated March 5th, and has a different phone number (1-800-216-1035) and PO Box (105891). The wording is only slightly different. For example, mine states “…credit inquiry means…that a telecom, utility or pay TV company…” and his states “…credit inquiry means…that a bank, finance company or store…”.
I noticed the “postage paid” information on the envelope shows it is from FIS OUTPUT SOLUTIONS. I found their website at: http://www.fisglobal.com/products-documentoutput.
If this is truly from Equifax and their subsidiary, I’m p*ssed that they would ask people to send their SS# through the mail!
I live in rural southeast Colorado, and got the same letter. My son and his wife received one each as well, only theirs had a different PO Box in Atlanta, and had Equifax on the top and bottom of the letter. Otherwise it was exact word-for-word.
I am glad I found these posts before I bothered to go further.
Thanks!
I live in Centennial, and got your same letter too. I’ll be da**ed if I’m going to give up my SS number to some outfit I’ve never heard of before. Same deal – payments are on autopay with my daughter’s phone AND mine. They can go piss up a rope, as far as I’m concerned.
Another Colorado reciever. I work for the government and would suggest that everyone getting the letters report the scam to their local police agencys and get a report/incident number. Then call the Colorado Consumer Protection line and give them the police number. If enough reports are generated then someone will be forced to look into the matter.
I am sick about this I have been up all night checking into this.
I checked with equifax when I got the letter and thought the company was okay gave them my ss#. Now I feel really stupid and am really worried what could happen. I live in Colorado too
I did the same thing! However, I did my over the phone. I did not mail them the paper back. Lets keep in touch and see what happens. I am worried too!
Hello,
I also received the same letter.
The NCTUE is a division of Equifax. The letters were a 3 million mass mailing to residents of Colorado. I found a number to talk to a human. 1-877-657-9006. When Shelly pulled my account it was a sprint account from 6 years ago but it is showing as closed. What the letters are doing is to update their databases with verification of information, and to comply with Colorado state law regarding credit bureau notifications.
LOL! You believed her? 🙂