Sky would like to make customers aware of action it is taking against a number of individuals
for the alleged theft and misuse of Sky customer information. The action relates to the activities
of a satellite warranty company, Digital Satellite Warranty Cover, which was forced into
provisional liquidation by the High Court last year, at the request of Financial Services Authority
(FSA).
It is believed that DSWC unlawfully obtained the names, addresses, phone numbers and
installation dates of Sky customers. DSWC then used this information in order to contact customers
and sell extended service plans for Sky satellite television equipment.
While these allegations are very serious, and we are very sorry about what happened, we would
like to reassure customers that there is no risk of financial loss. The value of this information
was that it could be used for marketing purposes. No bank details, account numbers or passwords
were involved in the alleged theft and there is no financial risk to customers.
We have already contacted all those customers who had policies with DSWC to ensure they were not
left out of pocket by the company’s liquidation. If you had a service plan with DSWC at the time
the company went into liquidation, we will support your service requirements as set out in the
letter we sent you.
The only warranty service endorsed by Sky is
Sky Protect, which is run with our approval by an independent company, Domestic
& General. If you're contacted by a company claiming to offer a Sky service plan or insurance
or to be calling on behalf of Sky or Domestic & General, here's what to do:
-
Ask for the name of their company and the plan they offer (if they are not from Domestic &
General and offering Sky Protect, they are not officially approved or endorsed by Sky)
-
Ask them to confirm your Sky account number, your box type and when you first subscribed to Sky
(only Sky Protect will have these details)
You can also find this advice here:
http://www.skyprotect.com/sky-competitors.html
For more than a year, Sky has pursued legal action against DSWC and a number of associated
individuals for misuse of data, passing off and trade mark infringement. As soon as we uncovered
evidence of suspected theft, we alerted the Police and the Information Commissioner's Office
immediately.
There is now a formal criminal investigation under way, led by the City of London Police. A
number of arrests have been made, including an individual who used to work at Sky. Once the police
investigation is concluded, we will have a better understanding of the scale of the suspected
theft.
Please be assured that protecting customer information is a priority for Sky and we take data
security very seriously. Data theft is a crime and we will always seek the strongest penalties
against people who steal or misuse customer information.
If you would like to contact us about this issue, or have any information which you would like
to share with us, please email:
dp.department@bskyb.com or call 08442
411965.
