Dish Network

Reasons to avoid

1. Dish Wireless agreed to pay $17.28 million in May 2026 to resolve Justice Department allegations that it fraudulently enrolled tens of thousands of ineligible customers in FCC broadband subsidy programs meant for low income households. Investigators found company executives knew about the enrollment fraud by September 2021 but continued pursuing federal funds for months afterward, even after being warned by the FCC's inspector general.justice.gov2026-05-06
2. A federal judge allowed a class action lawsuit over Dish's 2023 data breach to proceed in September 2024, ruling that plaintiffs had adequately stated claims for negligence, negligence per se, and breach of implied contract. The ruling rejected Dish's attempt to have the case dismissed and allowed affected customers to pursue damages.bloomberglaw.com2024-09-30
3. The U.S. Department of Labor sued Dish in 2023 for repeatedly refusing to submit Affirmative Action Program documentation required of federal contractors. The agency said Dish had defied compliance requests dating back to 2018.dol.gov2023-08-23
4. A February 2023 ransomware attack attributed to the Russian hacking gang Black Basta exposed the personal data of roughly 300,000 people, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, bank account details, and email addresses. Dish was subsequently sued for failing to implement adequate cybersecurity protections to prevent the breach.bleepingcomputer.com2023-03-01
5. A federal court ordered Dish to pay a record $280 million penalty after the FTC and Department of Justice found it made millions of illegal telemarketing calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. It remains the largest civil penalty ever imposed for a Do Not Call violation.ftc.gov2017-06-05