FCC Demands AT&T Refund $7 Million in Unauthorized Charges by Scammers

[TroyBoy30]

#SprintFTW

 

[kemal]

ATT certainly authorized the charges against their customers accounts. This is an attaboy fine against the biggest corporate bunch of Richards since Duke Energy.

 

[gorbag42]

But when a wrongdoer has the means to pay for the investigation into their own malfeasance they should underwrite it.

I understand this concern on behalf of the taxpayers.
People want value for money. That's why we always
insist on the principal of Information Retrieval
charges. It's absolutely right and fair that those
found guilty should pay for their periods of detention
and the Information Retrieval procedures used in their
interrogations.

Read more: http://stason.org/TULARC/movies/bra...eval-charging-Brazil-Movie.html#ixzz4GqGyZkwD

 

[sbailey4]

ATT really is a POS company. Wish they would go out of business along with Verizon. #SprintFTW

Yeah that would be great. Then 99% of us mobile users wouldnt have cell coverage anymore and they could charge whatever they wanted for their non-existant service since no competition.

basically what it is, is that ~950k was taken out of the budget(paid by the taxpayers) to investigate this.
they are now putting it back into the budget.
think of a saving account, you take out 500$ to pay for something, you get 500$ back, you put the money back. to put it simply.

Or sending it to Iran.

 

[Saucesome2000]

ATT really is a POS company. Wish they would go out of business along with Verizon. #SprintFTW

9:46AM CST and I've already read the dumbest thing I'll read on the internet today. Yea, Verizon should go out of business so millions won't have coverage in their area. You can have Sprint, that's your choice. I love Verizon, that's my choice.

 

[quietstormSD]

Chump change

 

[pika2000]

And AT&T will simply add some bogus fees to their customers' bills to recoup the cost and add future constant revenue.

 

[YegorH]

Well, on point 2... they have until the last day of 2019 to have *at least* 300 mbps service. Time Warner had already committed to this in NY and Cali by 2018. And put your wallet away, it's at the same price tiers they have today...

Charter acquired Time Warner Cable. TWC has 300 Mbps just 5 miles away, but not where Charter's area is.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Charter acquired Time Warner Cable. TWC has 300 Mbps just 5 miles away, but not where Charter's area is.

I know this. Which is why I included TWC's plans within Charter's commitment to get California to get the deal approved. All I didn't know was who your provider was.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

sO ATT I want 7 million by tonight oh wait they aren't actually giving each customer a whole 7 million dollars.

 

[CartoonCat]

The FCC's enforcement bureau announced today it has reached a settlement with AT&T that will see the carrier pay $7.75 million for allowing scammers to charge thousands of customers approximately $9 per month for a sham directory assistance service.

AT&T has agreed to issue full refunds to all current and former customers who received unauthorized third-party charges from January 2012 onwards. The refunds are expected to total $6.8 million, while AT&T will also pay a $950,000 fine to the U.S. Treasury.

The scam was uncovered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration while investigating two Cleveland-area companies Discount Directory, Inc. (DDI) and Enhanced Telecommunications Services (ETS) for drug-related crimes and money laundering. During the investigation, DEA officials discovered financial documents related to the scam that primarily targeted small businesses.AT&T is required to cease billing for nearly all third-party products and services on its wireless bills, and can only reinstate charges of that kind with express informed consent from customers. The carrier also must revise its billing practices to ensure that third-party charges are clearly identified on bills, and offer a free service for customers to block third-party charges.

In 2014, AT&T similarly agreed to pay $105 million in fines and refunds for unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services. T-Mobile also reached a $90 million settlement with the FTC, which accused the carrier of "cramming" unauthorized SMS subscriptions like horoscopes on bills. The FCC has taken more than 30 enforcement actions against carriers for related cases since 2011.

Article Link: FCC Demands AT&T Refund $7 Million in Unauthorized Charges by Scammers

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The FCC's enforcement bureau announced today it has reached a settlement with AT&T that will see the carrier pay $7.75 million for allowing scammers to charge thousands of customers approximately $9 per month for a sham directory assistance service.

AT&T has agreed to issue full refunds to all current and former customers who received unauthorized third-party charges from January 2012 onwards. The refunds are expected to total $6.8 million, while AT&T will also pay a $950,000 fine to the U.S. Treasury.

The scam was uncovered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration while investigating two Cleveland-area companies Discount Directory, Inc. (DDI) and Enhanced Telecommunications Services (ETS) for drug-related crimes and money laundering. During the investigation, DEA officials discovered financial documents related to the scam that primarily targeted small businesses.AT&T is required to cease billing for nearly all third-party products and services on its wireless bills, and can only reinstate charges of that kind with express informed consent from customers. The carrier also must revise its billing practices to ensure that third-party charges are clearly identified on bills, and offer a free service for customers to block third-party charges.

In 2014, AT&T similarly agreed to pay $105 million in fines and refunds for unauthorized third-party subscriptions and premium text messaging services. T-Mobile also reached a $90 million settlement with the FTC, which accused the carrier of "cramming" unauthorized SMS subscriptions like horoscopes on bills. The FCC has taken more than 30 enforcement actions against carriers for related cases since 2011.

Article Link: FCC Demands AT&T Refund $7 Million in Unauthorized Charges by Scammers

Never trust any phone bill, they are constantly adding a dollar here or a dollar there. If you have 100 million customers one dollar extra is 100 million dollars. If you catch them in a "mistake" they will gladly remove it from your bill, but you have to monitor it closely every month, and most people don't notice, and just pay whatever the amount is as long as it is only a dollar or two more.

 

[Jamers99]

ATT really is a POS company. Wish they would go out of business along with Verizon. #SprintFTW

Really? So 200,000 employees should be put out of work according to you? So everyone please help compile a list of every company that has ever done anything wrong and let's join Derekuda in wishing they'd go out of business because we all are of such high moral character and beyond reproach ourselves. With all the questionable actions posted on this site about Apple I'm surprised you haven't called for the end to Apple as well. Maybe you have?

 

[Z400Racer37]

It's not free to investigate and prosecute wrongdoing. Seems only fitting that the entity committing the infraction pay for that, and not the taxpayers in general.

It's a million bucks almost. How much could it possibly cost to verify whether or not this actually happened? A million dollars here.

 

[rdlink]

It's a million bucks almost. How much could it possibly cost to verify whether or not this actually happened? A million dollars here.

Drop in the bucket when it comes to an investigation of this sort. Trust me. I know of what I speak.

 

[Z400Racer37]

If it costs the government almost a million bucks to prosecute a case which was placed in their lap, then those people deserve to be fired, and replaced, and that department deserves to lost money until that happens. Literally look at the bills and verify that the errant charges existed, and to what extent. The files can literally be searched with a search function on a computer once they're obtained.