A Hendersonville man got an unpleasant surprise when he opened a recent phone bill, and now he wants answers.
Nathan Wright’s November bill from AT&T was for $29,206.19. He said he normally pays $371.32 for his home phone, cell phones, iPad, internet and TV.
“I was shocked,” said Nathan Wright. “I thought they made a mistake.”
After calling AT&T, Wright learned his phone may have been hacked. The itemized bill showed thousands of dollars worth of roaming charges on his cell phone from Haiti and Europe.
“They said I had used 8,280 some odd roaming minutes,” laughed Wright. “It said it was all roaming charges overseas. I haven’t been out of the country in 30 years. I don’t have a passport.”
Wright made a trip to his Hendersonville AT&T store to change his phone’s SIM card and password, but after multiple calls to AT&T, he said the situation with the bill still isn’t resolved.
Wright said when he didn’t pay the November bill, he received a follow up letter that said if the amount wasn’t paid immediately, his service would be suspended. His December bill jumped to $29,577.51.
Wright said he has never had problems with his bill before, and just wants the situation resolved before it begins to impact his credit.
“We’re on a fixed income,” said Wright. “The longer this goes on, the harder it is for me to crawl out of it.”
Cathy Lewandowski, Senior Public Relations Manager for AT&T, released a statement regarding the situation: “We have previously been in contact with Mr. Wright and are aware of his billing error, that we believe is due to compromised activity. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.”
