Overage Alert!! Verizon Jetpack -?Inviting Trojans in to use your computers?

Question

I'm now more than 2 weeks into trying to resolve OUTRAGEOUS overage charges on a VZ MiFi being used by my 87 yr old father who lives 650 mi from me.  VZ sent him a new MiFi(2) over the TG holiday that didn't work, so he has intermittently had to use the MiFi(1) that registers MASSIVE amounts of data.  We are again waiting for another new MiFi(3).  The MiFi(2) was proven to be faulty by a 3rd party. 
Interestingly, I've had by now, 2 'diamond tickets' where I've yet to receive any feedback.... guaranteed within 2-3 days.  RIGHT!  Text messages promised with some resolutions... NEVER received, nor have I ever been able to get to Tech Support for info they supposedly had on his MiFi usage, etc, etc.  I cannot call in to VZ without being routed to Financial and the up to Receivables.  There must be LOTS of entries on my account, but it takes FOREVER for them to be discovered and read and I have a feeling, that some of the info is sequestered.  For those of you who may be having the same issues, just call in to Customer Support with a land line or NON VZ cell or to some publicly offered entry point as though you are a new customer.  But, be assured that any follow up number they give you will route you right back to financial services WHO, BY THE WAY are CLOSED much of the time.  I've started just calling those numbers on my VZ cell, put it on speaker phone so the 'helpful' person can hear just how helpful the rest of the VZ system is.  They are generally speechless at this point.
I have discovered that there is software out there that VZ CAN USE to look at your MiFi and see what IP addresses are using it as an access point.  The best I can understand, there may be LARGE NUMBERS of IPs coming thru his MiFi(1).  A Trojan can create this scenario, apparently even with Norton running and Web Root as well. 
I have other thoughts, questions that I'd like to suggest, but SERIOUSLY, VZ should be doing this, not me!!!  Working thru multiple 'helpers' that are NOT helpful at all and using my 87 yr old Dad as my 'hands on' trouble shooter is a REAL CHALLENGE!!!!  His car has broken down in the process of one of the trips to town for help and now his younger sister is hospitalized with a stroke, his girlfriend is ill in bed.  SERIOUSLY, I hope HE survives this!!!

Answer 1

Yeah! I'll tell you like I told all of the many Verizon reps. First, my JetPack is secure. Of course anything can be hacked. Second, I live in the middle of ten acres. So do my neighbors. They are hundreds of yards away. Third, they have their own internet access. Fourth, I have checked how far this particular JetPack can broadcast. It just barely gets to the thirty-foot that Verizon advertises. Fifth, my neighbor has the Verizon JetPack service and they can't get my signal, and I can't detect their signal. The other neighbors have Hughes and one has a direct feed DSL service from AT&T. Two have Verizon JetPack service. One told me she had usage at 5:00 a.m., 11: a.m., 5 p.m., 11: p.m. for several days. She called Verizon. They investigated and said they would take care of it, that it was a timing problem and it was on Verizon's side. She said it cleared up. But the times of usage were still wrong.
Read the posts. I went 2.34 GBs into overage on the first 24 hours of usage in my billing cycle, Nov. 21. My plan is 14 GB. So I used 16.34 GB in 24 hours. I haven't used that in any month previously.
Other posters have similar stories. One said a family member left Verizon's employment because he got tired of lying.
I was told by the Verizon rep. that if I went to the shared data plan of 14 GB from my 10 GB, that overage rates would change from $10 for 1 GB, to $10 for 2 GB. Turns out that I was outright lied to. The email from Verizon on Thanksgiving Day at about 6:30 a.m. said I had exceeded my usage of 14 GB by 2.34 GBs and each additional GB was $15. Surprise.
I am going to write a letter to Mr. Lowell McAdam, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless because, like you, I don't think he knows Verizon is taking unfair advantage of their customers. (Public knowledge moderator.) I have already filed an FCC complaint, but don't expect anything to come out of that.
One poster having similar problems with her 86-year-old fathers JetPack is concerned about his health during this stressful time. Somebody at Verizon needs to wake up! I am 70, and it's stressful enough for me. I am making a compilation of all these posts and letters and will send them to my son to see what action he would advise me to take. He's a lawyer. Has a few friends that are lawyers also. Wade.