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!
My husband received one of these letters at my Mother’s address. He has never lived there and has never used her address for anything. I haven’t lived at her address in almost 20 years. I can’t figure out how they connected his name to her address. Also, he hasn’t had any utilities in his name in several years.
Thanks for posting this, yes I live in Colorado also. I know I have great credit, and I thought it very strange that in this day and age they would blatantly ask for a social security number. Local news media needs to know about this scam.
Sadly, the local news media are acting as frontmen for the scam, as CBS reassured everyone that NCTUA is totally legit and there’s nothing to worry about providing an original signature and complete SSN on a form which also contains one’s name and address. Apparently, CBS has never heard of identity theft. The scam, as far as I can fathom it, lies in exposing people to identity theft through their form. When one’s identity is stolen, the credit reporting agencies make lots of money. More identity theft, more business for NCTUA. Yes, it’s a scam operating under color of law.
Yes in Colorado and rec’vd the same letter and can’t understand why I would be receiving a letter that said I had negative info added – thanks for posting this – I’m shredding the letter!
I live in Arizona and got this letter. I used to live in Colorado, but we moved to AZ in December 2010. I also doubted I had been late on any payments and will not respond.
Yes, I received on yesterday. I am also in Colorado. The letter I got does have letter head (although fairly basic).
I also received this letter last week and was very puzzled by it as well. I am scrupulous about paying bills and on time, so the negative information bit threw me. I have not responded first and foremost because it is asking for my SS# and I refuse to give that out when I do not know who I’m dealing with.
This smells of a scam. I’m going to check out “Trustlink” and the FTC site to see if anything comes up.
Just received same letter as everyone else. It does scream “scam.” Odd that it’s addressed to my nickname and not my legal name. And my credit is unblemished. While this may be a legitimate business, something here smells fishy.
Yes, I received the same letter. Also live in Colorado. No letter head. Sounds very fishy! Will not respond to it because of the request for my SS#.
It looks like Exchange Service Center is dishonest and not above
board, to say the least! My credit is beyond reproach and always
has been and yet these people aaccused me of “number of accounts
connected in last 12 months”. What the hell does that mean?
That is not even coherent English, there is something very, very
fishy going on here. People should be alarmed and very
cautious.
Hello,
I received letter on April 2nd and did call NCTUE, which is supposedly a legitimate company, but I fear, uses underhanded methods for getting folks to pay for a credit report.
I requested information about the specific report and was sent back information on my payment history with Verizon. The dates were off by a few days, but my payment amounts were accurate and I had no past due notices.
I called Verizon re any problems with late payments or reports of such to this company, and they said NO, they had no need to send any report because there was no problem with my payment history.
The person in the financial office stated that companies do have access to public payment records, even if no claims are made against consumers.
So, I ask folks who received this letter to please complain, write or call the Better Business Bureau to report this underhanded policy of the NCTUE. Is this really legal? If so, we need to try and change whatever law this is which allows this flagrant and abusive practice which uses fear to get people to buy a credit report from their company. This is a very disturbing practice.
I am in Colorado, and I received one of these letters (very plain as mentioned.) When I attempted to open the website, I, too got a spurious message regarding the website’s unavailability. A red flag went up when I did a little further research (I Googled it), and I saw this website. No SSN for these clowns! Thanks for the heads-up–I will be reporting this to the BBB!
I also live in Colorado and received one of these letters in the mail. This screams scam and I will be reporting this to the BBB. Thanks for posting this and helping others out!
I received this letter last week and when I phoned the only number available to call in order to get clarification, a recorded message said that in order to even get a phone number where I could call and talk to a representative, I would have to send in copies of EIGHT documents they have no right to ask for including my SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, my Colorado Drivers License, my utility bill, my birth date, address–in short, everything anyone would need in order to steal my identity! I phoned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission and no one had heard of this company. THANK YOU, Jeff, for posting this–I had no idea what was going on.
When I received this letter, I Googled it and got your website. There was a letter from someone else who gave 866 349 5355 as an alternate number for NCTUE (National Consumer Telecom & utilities Exchange, Inc.). That number is now only to initiate or lift a “Freeze” on their information and there is no way to access a human being. In addition, the recorded message warns that there may be a charge for such a freeze, regulated by “your state’s law”. I, too, live in Colorado and have done business with Verizon but, like most of the folks who have written in, have never had a billing problem. NCTUE does present as a slimy and mysterious business entity and doesn’t even observe the safeguards required by the big three credit reporting agencies. They offer no information without requesting copies of documents you should never send to anyone–copies of you Social Security Card, for instance. Thanks for posting this, Jeff.
Jeff: In the course of following up this very suspect letter, I called the AARP and was directed, instead of the consumer departments they represented as, two what I can only call “enterprise partners” of AARP. One, purporting to be a “Free Credit Report”–something AARP actually warns against in another part of their website–a for-profit business called “Credit 360”. When I called back and asked who to report a credit reporting scam to, they directed me to their “Financial Guidance” department which turned out to be Charles Schwab Investments; when I phoned in again and asked for the same thing, they connected me to something they called, “National Foundation for Credit Counseling” which turned out to be Consumer Credit Counseling’s office in Dallas. No matter which option you chose, all roads led to Dallas. Finally, I got someone at AARP to admit that they had no place to report a credit reporting scam. But they continue to refer folks to these links and departments which I believe is in violation of their 501(c)(3) non-profit charter.
Both my husband and I received separate letters from Exchange Service Center-NCTUE in March 2012. Since we both have pristine credit, the letters seemed odd. I set them aside until today and when I looked closer at the letter (with no letterhead), it looked as though anyone off the street could have generated these letters. When I discovered they wanted our social security numbers, I became very suspicious and googled NCTUE where I found this site. I wasn’t surprised to see that many people received the same letter. We do live in Colorado and have NEVER had issues with phone bills or utility bills being late or delinquent. Thank you, Jeff for posting this info. Wondering if the Attorney General’s Office in Atlanta could do something about these shady characters?
Same letter, same MO, clearly a deception of some sort.
I live in Ohio. Received a letter yesterday. Letter was on Directv letterhead. Most disturbing was the address, as it was addressed to “A Hole”. It was sent in a Directv envelope with postage paid by Directv. Letter says they are unable to find a credit file on us and gives a list 6 different forms of identification we will need to provide to Exchange Service Center which seems to have some connection to NCTUE.
We have been excellent customers of directv for 10 years now. We have excellent credit.
So this letter may be connected to all of the letters all of you have received….. Or it is an internal problem at Directv??? But Directv has always been a good company to work with and provides excellent service. We are confused but must wait until Monday to see if Directv’s fraud dept can shed any light on this
Of course, we did not provide our social security number or other prrsonal information when tried to get thru on the number provided for the exchange center. Phone number provided in the letter is 866-343-2821.
i got the letter yesterday. it was the 2nd time i received it. the first was about a yr ago. back then i called the number to request my free credit report. you give the automated system your ss # and numeric part of your address then it says it can not find a match based on that and i will have to mail in the enclosed tear off portion which wants me to fill in my ss # d.o.b. and sig. i of course never did that. the same thing happened again. having read this i feel foolish for having even entered my ss # over the phone. hope i dont pay for that in time. and i pay for regular credit reports anyway and no negative activity has been reported on them in some time.
FYI: their website is back working again. on the main page there is a link for CO residents. on that page there is a different ph # 877.657.9006. there i got right through to a real person, Alison, who had no accent and English seemed to be her 1st language. i told her i had received the letter and was wanting whatever credit info they felt they had on me. i told her they were crazy if they thought i was going to give them my ss #. she said ‘no problem’ and took my name address and ph #. she then put me on hold (part of me figured she wasnt going to come back) for about 3 minutes then came back saying they did have a report on me and it would be sent out w/in 7 days at no charge. i asked her if she was familiar w the letter i received and she said she was. i asked her if the company was aware how suspicious this letter looks, asking for name, ss #, sig and dob and all. she responded that that is why they offer various ways to get in touch with them. i didnt feel like getting into it any deeper. so i look forward to seeing what they actually end up sending me.
Please let us know (in general terms) what the report actually says once you get it. We don’t need to see numbers here, but I’m curious whether a) there are in fact negative entries on your NCTUE history, and b) whether those entries, if they exist, have any connection to reality.
Also, thanks (to you and everybody!) for taking the time to chime in here!
I have submitted a request to Equifax, through their web site, to verify the claim that they are managed by Equifax.
I live in Colorado and have received notices from them at least 4 times over the last two years.
I too received this letter back in April. After several hours aggonizing over it came to the realization that if I was in fact past due, that particular utility company would shut me off, or send me past due notices themselves.
Then, I received another one yesterday. So, I investigated further and stumbled acorss this site. It has made me feel better about this whole thing. I called the number for Co. residents and was told (by the lady that didn’t speak english very well) that I had to give my s.s.n. for the info. or the confirmation number on the letter. There was no confirmation number.
I received a suspicious email about a month ago from verizon stating that I owed them over $1200.00 and was past due. But, when I called verizon they said I was current and this was a phishing scam. I’m thinking this triggered the letter.
A few things seem odd to me:
1.) My address wasn’t correct on the letter.
2.) Almost everyone who is targeted seems to have excellent credit, including myself.
3.) Almost everyone in this string pays these bills with autopay.
4.) It seems when people do get the report it happens to be a wireless carrier that the negative report is about.
I pay for a credit watch service and get an email once a month informing me of a change in my scores up or down and to this date all is still good.
Thanks Jeff for this post!!
We got one of these letters and called, the person asked for SS#, my wife gave her the SS# and birth date to received the free crediit report. We are waiting for the credit report. But, my question is, if this is a scam, can they get any information to withdrawl money from are accounts or charge are accounts with our SS#.
I rec’d letter June 6 – took it by my credit union & they thought it was legit. Tried calling the # on letter – only got to the robot phone line. Looked up NCTUE – got # – fellow answering could speak broken english. Insisted on SS # and DOB. (this phone # was different than on letter) Wondered why I wdn’t give to him. Asked him to verify their mailing address. Took him about 3 mintues to look up. He wanted to know why I wdn’t fax it. No fax number on letter. Letter was addressed to husband’s middle name and w/ wrong address. Most of items on-line info. shows NCTUE with R trade mark behind the name. Their letter- head look very cheap. I’m ignoring it. A few months ago we had problem with Dish Net work closing our account. We paid the balance of the unpaid contract within 30 days. Maybe someone working a scam from that end. Very curious. If the web site is a legit ohone line # – why all the runaround?
My husband and I also live in Colorado and received one of those letters. He decided to order out reports. We received our reports today. Mine has only 2 accounts listed. Direct TV abd Dish Network.
The report from Dish Network seemed valid enough based on my records.
The Direct TV report had me scratching my head. It is reporting on an account I closed nearly 6 years ago. However, it has been reporting every month since August 2010 through July 2012 that The account is closed with a zero balance and that there is no payment history available.
I closed that account when I dropped Direct for Dish. I called NCTUE to dispute this report because I was curious about why Direct TV was reporting on an account that has no activity. I spoke to a gentleman named Sword (that’s how he spelled it) and he could not answer the question. He said he would open the dispute and that I should hear something in 30 days and gave me the number of the company sending the report… Direct TV.
I called Direct and after doing the automated dance to hang ups I finally got to someone in customer service.
At first they could not located my old account from the abbreviated account number (which was not even closed to my old account number) and advised me that they did not know about NCTUE and were not doing any reporting to them. One of the persons I was talking to slipped and said my account was sent to a collection agency. When I asked wich one she back pedaled and said it wasn’t sent to collections. She said that in fact I did have a zero balance and that my account was closed in 2007 which I knew was false.
She would not transfer me to their debt collection office not would she tell me which collections agencies they used. I finally had enough of her lies and hung up.
I then called up NCTUE and asked that CSR what company was reporting this information. She told me she believed that Direct TV was sending this information electrinically. I told her that Direct TV denied this and told her that whatever company was doing this in the name of Direct TV must be fraudulent. After hearing her say I shouldn’t worry because there was no activity on the account for the 4th time, I asked for her supervisor
I spoke to her supervisor (after a 20 minute hold) and all he could say was the same BS that the girl gave me. The dispute has been filed and tye have 30 days to answer my complaint. 30 days from now I will call them back. If I do not get any satisfaction from them I am going to report them.
Why am I concerned about this particular report. It is because they can by law continue to report this for 7 years after the last reporting date which if the report ever month could be until I die or they are put out of business.
I bet Experian is really proud to have their name attachec to this company.
I look forward to reading the 257 previous responses to your post. I just got my letter today (exactly as you describe it) and yes, I live in Colorado. No way am I giving them my SSN (or anything else), either.
I live in Colorado and got a letter today, Aug. 21. Googled NCTUE and got your site. As with so many others, I have excellent credit, use autopay for everything and don’t intend to do any thing about this.
Received letter dated 8/13/2012. The same non-professional looking letter, same MO. No way to get any info without supplying my SSN which I won’t do. I do live in Colorado. Thank you so much for posting this information!
Yes, received this same letter dated August 13, 2012. Mine had a brief, simple letterhead in the upper right hand corner with “NCTUE” and under it in small letters, “National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange, Inc.”.
The return address is printed in the upper left hand corner. Looks official, but again refers to “as required by Colorado law”…..before it asks for a SSN, and DOB followed with signature line and date line. I, too, am in Colorado. Thanks, Jeff, for your posting. Helped me to realize that this is a scam after I nervously reacted to receiving this. Couldn’t imagine how I could have had a negative comment appear on any credit report. Am shredding this letter.
Jeff,
I do live in Colorado and also got one of these obnoxious letters. My take was identical to yours, and your kind comments were at the top of a Google search on NCTUE.
I certainly wish that someone would intervene and stop these hucksters or whatever they are from scaring and trying to manipulate people.
yeshe
I’m in Colorado and just received the same letter the rest of you have – no reason I should have. It looked like a scam so did a search but found nothing negative with BBB or FTC. I have filed complaints with the Georgia BBB and the FTC. Maybe if everyone did the same we could do something about this company.
I did read on one website that the NCTUE was a doorway for identity theft but don’t know about the accuracy of that statement.
I live in Colorado and received this phishing letter from NCTUE. Called the number listed and was greated by robo answering service, which wanted my SSN before anuthing else. Very suspicious and I am sure fraudulant. I never heard of them before and there parent company is Equifax (everyone on this thread might want to send them some pointed emails). I filed a complaint with both the FTC and BBB (Atlanta, where the have their PO Box). I am furious that they are allowed to practice business in this maner.
I live in Colorado, and just received this letter. Really, do they think I am stupid enough to give them my SSN? I, too, have no reason to have this letter. I can’t think that it could be anything other than a fraud. I will look into filing a complaint as well.
Just received one today and i live in Colorado. This letter is VERY FALSE, because nothing should ask for your SSN by mail unless its a Credit App. Please don’t fall for this.
I also received a letter from NCTUE today and I also live in Colorado. No matter how confident one may be about their credit rating is it is difficult to ignore a letter that implies the filing of a negative credit report. Rather than disclose any personal information (as if I ever would) I contacted all of my utility providers each of whom confirmed timely payments and no negative reports. None of the utility providers had ever heard of NCTUE. It is irritating to have had to spend time contacting each of my utility providers to ensure no inaccurate information had been reported. Thank you for this website and all of your supportive comments.
just receibe ved the same letter in the mail today. so glad I looked online before sending anything in. I called the number on the letter and same recording. I have great credit and never missed a payment in my life, so when I read they have received at least one report that adds nagative credit to my report that there had to be a mistake. Oh yes, I live in Colorado as well.
just received the same letter in the mail today. so glad I looked online before sending anything in. I called the number on the letter and same recording. I have great credit and never missed a payment in my life, so when I read they have received at least one report that adds nagative credit to my report that there had to be a mistake. Oh yes, I live in Colorado as well.
I just received my letter today, and the same as everyone else, initially thought “SCAM”. I have no intention of sending them my SS# or any other identifying information. Like most others, all of our ‘utility’ type accounts are paid by Bill Pay or by direct debit.
Also, I have a security freeze on my credit so I doubt that any new accounts have been opened in my name.
Has anyone figured out what they are really after?
I received the letter on 11/1/12 (dated 10/25/12). I stupidly bought it hook, line, and sinker! I called the number listed (866-349-5185) and typed in my SSN (I feel like SUCH an idiot!!!). THEN I decided to do a search and came upon this site. Ugh…I can only hope that nothing negative comes from me typing in my SSN…Thanks for this post! Will be posting the link on my facebook page to get the word out here!! Oh yeah…I’m in Colorado.
Im such an idiot! I know better and I dont know what i was thinking. I did the hook line and sinker too…I was just laid off and I have been late on some bills so I think in my freaked out state I thought it was legit. I contacted equifax and purchased the ID protection for the year just to be safe. I just sat and cried after I realized what I had done. Again….I KNOW BETTER and just wasnt thinking…ARRRG
I received this letter, but I think it’s very unlikely that I’d have missed a payment to a utility, since all of my payments are made automatically, and I don’t recollect any recent problems with those payments (expired credit card, etc.). A local Colorado TV station did a story on this, and the comments below the story including people who received the letter stating there was negative information, but there was no negative information on the report.
I got this letter in the mail and I freaked out..I am very uptight with my bills and have great credit..I called and I’m worried if someone may use my ssn..I didn’t go on the site but I used it in the phone which is operated my a machine..so should I report this or what should I do..I use to live in Colorado but not no more so I have no idea how they got a hold of my current address
Yes I too received this on today Feb 6th 2013 and it screams of scam asking for all personal information Birth Date and SSN and yout signature!! Thanks for posting I’m not sending anything. I will show it to a lawyer friend and see what he thinks.. Be safe and be smart all phishing is getting way too common..
I just got a letter sent to me at the extended-stay hotel that I am currently staying at in CO, informing me that a negative report has been filed. I ignored the letter, as well as the automated recording at the only contact number they provide, demanding my ssn; instead I researched online and called 877-657-9006 to ask what it’s about, since I haven’t applied for any services recently and receive no personally contracted services at this hotel address. I declined to give my ssn and assured them that no one associated with this address would have that information anyway. The courteous rep searched by the name and address on the letter (their computer system does not require an ssn), but can find no file on me! I asked how they have my name and the address of the hotel, and pointed out that they clearly have SOME kind of information on file SOMEWHERE about me, but all he could do was agree and apologize. Very strange.
To All of you who received this NCTU letter. I have a “Perfect Credit” and today I got one, dated January 31, 2013. I was not about to give my S.S. number and date of birth to anyone over the mail, even if it is the FBI. Furthermore, if this agency is connected a Credit Report Group and by having my address and social security number, then they should have had my date of birth. I have had also experiences dealing with the BBB. When a case becomes difficult to handle, they find excuses not to do anything! As far AARP, I have been a member for quite some time, and every time I have asked a business if I would get a discount for being a member, they tell me NO. Also, AARP continues asking me to renew my membership when I have still 2 years paid in advance. The latest on AARP…they continue giving me notices requesting contributions as final notices. I am a Highly Decorated Vietnam Veteran and I have not benefited from being an AARP member. I just cancelled my membership!! So my fellow Americans…who should we trust?
Trust God; trust yourself; and, if you’re lucky enough to come from a loving family, perhaps you can trust your parents. I know it’s a short list, but that’s what I’ve found to be true.
I got this same letter today. The minute it asked for SSN and DOB I knew it was a scam. No way they are getting that info out of me 🙂
I live in Colorado and just got this same letter on Feb 7, 2013. It looked suspicious to me so I searched for any information on NCTUE and found this site.
This is unfortunate that Equifax would allow this to happen to consumers and cause concern and confusion.
I hope no one takes this seriously. If you’re concerned about your credit, get a report direct from a credit reporting agency.
My parents received the same letter to both their names. Fortunately I have worked for an attorney and know about scam letters. Thanks for posting this and we live in Colorado.
Hi All,
I received the letter today, Feb. 8, 2013 and I live in Colorado. My credit is perfect so was uncertain why I received this notice. I willl not provide the company with my SS, no way, no how.
Thanks for other postings.. allows me to sleep bettter at night.
I got the letter today, also use autopay for everything. According to the BBB, they are legit but there is no way I’m giving out my SS#.
http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/credit-reporting-agencies/national-consumer-telecom-and-utilities-exchange-in-atlanta-ga-27424469
I received a letter today… I live in Colorado, and don’t have any utilities in my name… figured it was bogus, as I am guessing some fradulent company is trying to get social security numbers
Live in Colorado, received this letter today………….just like everyone else did…..went to check the website. Yeah, ok…..I’m going to send my DOB and SSN to some unknown entity I’ve never heard of. Or call some toll free number and do the same….doubt it. I pay ALL of my bills on time with electronic confirmations….ALWAYS!! Letter did come in handy to help start a fire in the fireplace….LMAO!! Get real…