‘This is a privacy breach’: Woman says AT&T kept accidentally sending her client’s private information. She can’t believe customer service’s response
A woman is going viral on TikTok after sharing how AT&T refused to stop sending her another customer’s private information.
Elle (@elleherself) typically blogs about her family life and adventures embracing an active lifestyle, but was driven to a point of frustration after receiving someone else’s AT&T emails. What’s worse, Elle doesn’t have an AT&T account herself, which she said made it harder to get in touch with a representative.
The New Zealand-based content creator said this fiasco started “several months” ago, when she got an e-mail about someone else’s account. Initially, Elle said she ignored the e-mail because there was no easy way to report that it wasn’t meant for her.
But then it continued—and Elle said she needed a way out.
“For months, I was sent their bills, their receipts, their reset password requests, and there was nothing I could do about it,” she said.
Elle added, too, that reaching out to AT&T didn’t help, either, as she needed an account number to get through to a representative from the automated line. As of Saturday, her initial clip documenting this fiasco had amassed more than 255,200 views.
What did AT&T do to help?
In several follow-up videos, Elle recorded herself attempting to get in touch with AT&T to rectify the problem. In one video, she called AT&T and documented a conversation between her and an automated messaging system.
On the call, Elle attempted to explain that she didn’t have an AT&T account and needed to speak to a human.
“I need to talk to somebody,” she said, clearly exasperated. “I don’t have an account.”
When that didn’t work, Elle appeared slightly more aggravated.
“I need to talk to a customer service representative because you are committing a privacy breach by sending their information to me,” she said. “I am not an account holder.”
This didn’t work either, though. The automated line repeatedly asked Elle “what the account” number is, to which Elle said (again) said that she didn’t have one.
“We apologize and remain committed to protecting your data,” the automated person told her.
After an hour on the phone, Elle said she was finally able to reach a customer service representative. She documented this call in another video, where Elle explained that she attempted to contact AT&T’s fraud team, but that it doesn’t let her through without an account number.
In the end, it’s suggested that the representative agreed to share the news of the content creator’s predicament with a higher-up. But Elle said she doubted this would solve her problems.
“They’re not going to do anything about it,” she said. “I guarantee you I will still get this person’s private information.”
@elleherself Imagine this: you’re getting someone else’s private emails—bills, receipts, even their account info. What would you do? That’s what I’m dealing with & trust me, it gets crazier. . . — #storytime #privacyBreach #emailfail #staytuned #ATTsaga #strangersemails @AT&T ♬ original sound - Elle Herself
What happens if you receive someone else’s information?
According to several social media reports, Elle is certainly not the first AT&T customer to be affected by such issues. In the r/att subreddit, another user asked what they should do in this situation.
“I’m not an ATT customer, yet I’m getting some customer's payment notification emails. I thought it was a phishing scam, but they appear to be legitimate,” the Redditor wrote. “I believe this needs to be fixed and the security and privacy lapse known.”
When it came to possible solutions, Reddit users were torn. Some said the person should attempt to reset the other customer’s password. Another recommended filing a Notice of Dispute with AT&T.
Part of the reason why these situations are so hard to resolve is because affected users can’t prove that they are the account owner (because they’re not) and the real account owner seemingly hasn’t reached out to AT&T to rectify the issue. Other short-term resolutions offered by Redditors included blocking the AT&T e-emails or trying to get in touch with a customer service representative, as Elle did.
But AT&T doesn’t offer clear guidance on this issue either. Its website offers tools for reporting fraud and identity theft, but doesn’t mention what steps to take if you receive another person’s information.
Viewers say this is a common issue
In the comments of Elle’s initial video documenting this problem, several viewers said this is a common occurrence with a number of companies.
“I get multiple peoples physical phone bills in my mail,” one woman shared. “I sent them back a few times. One stopped coming. The others keep coming. Now I just toss out.”
“I get someone else’s Sonic receipts from the other side of the country,” another said.
“This happened to me with Weight Watchers,” a third viewer wrote. “I was getting their weight and other personal info weekly. I had to try to stop it three different ways!”
Others attempted to offer guidance to Elle and others experiencing this predicament. For example, one viewer questioned why Elle doesn’t just visit a physical AT&T store to report the problem. But to this, Elle said that there weren’t any stores in her country.
“Did you try to reach out to the person?” one user suggested. “If you had their name and personal info, should be able to Google them and get their number/e-mail.”
“Best bet is for you to mark it as junk so you don’t see it,” another added.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Elle via TikTok comment and to AT&T by email.
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