Notice any strange charges on your phone bill? Maybe you went over your long distance minutes or sent out a few extra text messages, but it could also be phone cramming, or unauthorized charges.Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday encouraged users to closely inspect their phone bills for any bogus charges and announced a proposal that would encourage more phone bill transparency for cell phones and landlines.
"Cramming is not only illegal, it erodes consumer trust in communications services," Genachowski said during an appearance at the Center for American Progress. "That makes it both unfair to consumers and unfair to most communications companies who do the right thing every day."
What type of charges is he talking about? The chairman said the FCC has received reports about charges for everything from yoga classes and cosmetics to diet products and psychic hotline memberships. Charges typically range from $1.99 to $19.99 per month, but some people fail to notice them.
"In fact, according to a survey done for the Federal Trade Commission, only 1 in 20 cramming victims ever notices the charges," Genachowski said. "We estimate that the problem may affect up to 20 million Americans a year. People like a St. Louis, Missouri woman who was charged for 25 months of long-distance service she never authorized or used. When she protested the charges, the company sent her a copy of the form that she had supposedly used to authorize the service. It had a different name, address, email, and birth date than she did." More
