FraudNews
07-07-2013, 12:43 PM
Kathleen Kane, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, has joined several other prominent U.S. prosecutors to fight for people who are being ripped off by companies deviously pitching services for both landlines and cellphones.
The 40 attorney generals – including Kane - have asked the Federal Trade Commission to clamp down on a practice known as mobile cramming, which is where illegal charges are put onto phone bills.
Kane’s office said the charges appear unexpectedly on bills for services and goods that were either not requested or used. She said many people don’t even notice the charge and will pay for several months before the discovery.
The companies, oftentimes a small software outfit that work under vague names, will pitch people premium services for their landlines and cellphones. It’s usually deceptive and most folks don’t know that a fee will automatically be placed on the phone bill – charges range from $9.95 a month to $24.95 a month.
According to the complaint the attorney generals submitted to the agency, the offerings tend to include:
Text message programs
Information for weather and news reports
Cellphone ringtones
Horoscopes
Celebrity gossip
Inspirational messages
The FTC has a twofold mission: to protect consumers and to create competition among businesses in the U.S. The agency can put into place interstate regulations and has execution authority, which makes it the best agency possible for state law enforcement officials to shut down unethical practices that cross state lines.
The complaint suggests that nearly $2 billion every year is wasted by U.S. consumers due to the mobile cramming practice.
The 40 attorney generals – including Kane - have asked the Federal Trade Commission to clamp down on a practice known as mobile cramming, which is where illegal charges are put onto phone bills.
Kane’s office said the charges appear unexpectedly on bills for services and goods that were either not requested or used. She said many people don’t even notice the charge and will pay for several months before the discovery.
The companies, oftentimes a small software outfit that work under vague names, will pitch people premium services for their landlines and cellphones. It’s usually deceptive and most folks don’t know that a fee will automatically be placed on the phone bill – charges range from $9.95 a month to $24.95 a month.
According to the complaint the attorney generals submitted to the agency, the offerings tend to include:
Text message programs
Information for weather and news reports
Cellphone ringtones
Horoscopes
Celebrity gossip
Inspirational messages
The FTC has a twofold mission: to protect consumers and to create competition among businesses in the U.S. The agency can put into place interstate regulations and has execution authority, which makes it the best agency possible for state law enforcement officials to shut down unethical practices that cross state lines.
The complaint suggests that nearly $2 billion every year is wasted by U.S. consumers due to the mobile cramming practice.