June 25, 2013
Las Vegas, NV – Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, along with 39 other state and territorial attorneys general, sent comments on June 24 to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about stopping mobile cramming, the placement of unauthorized third-party charges on mobile phone bills. This national problem continues to worsen.
“Consumers have the right to have extra charges removed,” said Masto. “My office will continue take appropriate action against those who bill unauthorized amounts on consumers’ mobile phone bills.”
Attorneys general continue to receive complaints from consumers that charges, usually ranging from $9.95 to $24.95 per month, appeared out of the blue on their phone bills without their authorization and for goods and services that the consumers neither requested nor used. Most consumers fail to detect that they have been crammed. When they do discover the charges on their bills, sometimes after several months, consumers are rarely able to obtain a full refund.
The National Association of Attorneys General comments address four areas of particular concern:
- Unauthorized charges being placed on consumers’ bills for unwanted and unused services;
- Inadequate disclosure of third-party charges on mobile phone bills;
- Inadequate mechanisms for consumers to effectively block third-party charges and obtain refunds; and
- The lack of state and federal statutory protections governing consumer disputes about fraudulent or unauthorized charges placed on mobile phone bills.
Anyone who believes they may be a victim of mobile cramming is urged to submit a written complaint to the Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Consumer Protection. A form can be found here.
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