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Dianne HamptonAmerican woman whose debt on mysterious autopayments for internet services amounted to $1 million
Date of Birth: .
Country:  USA |
Content:
- $1 Million Internet Autopay Mystery: An Oklahoma Woman's Nightmare
- Panic Ensues as Bank Account Targeted
- Cox's Response and Hampton's Denial
- Investigation and Resolution
$1 Million Internet Autopay Mystery: An Oklahoma Woman's Nightmare
American's Mysterious $1 Million Internet Autopay BillIn a shocking turn of events, an Oklahoma woman found herself facing a $1 million "mysterious autopay" internet bill. Diane Hampton was aghast when she opened her internet provider's app, Cox Connect, and saw an outstanding seven-figure cable bill. "Am I seeing these commas right?" Hampton questioned herself as Cox Connect presented her with a staggering invoice of $1,000,000. But her eyes were not deceiving her.
Panic Ensues as Bank Account Targeted
"You stare at it and it's almost like you're in a trance," Hampton recalled. "But I just kept saying, 'This is not real.'" Hampton's intuition led her to check her bank statements, and that's when the true panic set in.
Someone had attempted to withdraw $1 million from her account, a feature that Hampton claims she had never set up. The records showed that Cox was intended as the recipient. Fortunately, the attempt failed as Hampton never had that amount in her account.
But the attempts to drain her account didn't stop there. A second withdrawal attempt for $100,000 followed. "Then they tried to take $9,999, and that's definitely where the money would have gone. But I didn't have that either."
The withdrawals continued to decrease in size. Two completed autopays left Hampton with approximately $1200 deducted from her account. "When you don't have the money to pay a bill, Cox or whoever it is is supposed to bounce the payment back," Hampton explained. "And they're supposed to be done with it. They don't keep sending you bills for less and less of a payment."
Cox's Response and Hampton's Denial
A representative from Cox stated that they could not speculate on the cause of the excessive payments initiated on the customer's behalf due to consumer privacy.
However, Hampton herself had a few theories. A glitch or a breach of her account could have led to the strange attempts to withdraw the hefty sums.
Cox conducted their own investigation and concluded that there was no malicious hacking, and that the error occurred during payment processing rather than billing.
The internet provider acknowledged that the bill had been inflated, but Hampton maintained that she had not authorized autopay.
Investigation and Resolution
Oklahoma television station KFOR looked into Hampton's credit history. Matt Stratton, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Tinker Federal Credit Union, Oklahoma's largest credit union, informed KFOR that "there were no compromises found, so it's probably an issue between Hampton and Cox."
Hampton later received a "return deposit" check from Cox, who also waived overdraft fees. Her accounts were cleared, and Cox went the extra mile by dismissing her outstanding $80 internet bill.
