If you're like many of our clients, your immediate inclination is to reply "no." However, a quick review of recent findings at other cable operators' systems may motivate you to take a closer look at your field operations.

Unchecked employees set up shop, divert $1 million
Victim: Operator in major metro in Eastern region
While conducting a theft of service evaluation project, Secure Signals uncovered three technicians that had divided the system into territories (like a mob-type business) to sell illegal drugs and handle illegal cable sales. These individuals were responsible for losses in excess of $1 million per year.

Dish buy back program backfires
Victim: Large MSO's Midwest system
This system was conducting a "dish buy back" program to increase its subscriber base. Secure Signals' conducted an inventory control review which revealed that the warehouse manager was stealing the buy back dishes and Smart cards and selling them to pirate distributors in the area. As a result of the investigation conducted by Secure Signals, the warehouse manager was arrested, and the system recovered $250,000 from a civil settlement involving the employee and a contractor who was also involved.

Employee teams with contractor to steal subscribers
Victim: MSO in major metropolitan area on the East coast
This MSO was suffering from poor penetration levels compared to similar systems. A system review conducted by Secure Signals revealed that a marketing manager was in cohorts with the MSO's analog box recovery contractor. The contractor would "chip out" any returned equipment [altering the box to enable unauthorized access to premium and PPV programs] and resell the boxes within the community. As a result of Secure Signals' investigation and legal counsel, the MSO filed a $10 million bonding claim.

Employee pockets fee, leaves 1500 non-paying subs connected
Victim: Small, rural system in Eastern region
A field inspection conducted by Secure Signals revealed that non-paying subscribers who were supposed to be disconnected were still receiving service. Secure Signals' investigation revealed that the technician responsible for the non-pay disconnects was offering to keep them connected if they paid him. The technician admitted he had taken money from over 1,500 non-paying households over a three month period of time. The cost to the system was in excess of $330,000 annually.

Lessons Learned
In addition to the obvious value of a third-party review of system operations, it's worth noting that every employee in these real-life experiences would not have been hired if the systems had conducted thorough pre-hire background assessments. All of the individuals had criminal histories, extraordinarily poor credit, duplicative identifications, or a combination of all three. Contact Stan McGinnis at Secure Signals to discuss the components of our audits and comprehensive pre-hire background evaluations.

Stan McGinnis, CEO
888.530.9667
stan@securesignals.com

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