Office of the Circuit Attorney

"Cramming" is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on your telephone bill.  It is similar to "slamming," which involves unknowingly switching your long distance service to another provider.  A St. Louis resident recently alerted the Fraud Prevention Task Force of unwittingly getting "crammed" via his cell phone.  A couple of months ago, our caller got a text from a 900 number inviting him to sign up for a game.  He deleted the text without taking any other actions and thought nothing of it.  However, his next cellular bill listed a "third-party" charge of $10 for the same game.  He disputed the bill with his carrier which then deleted the charge.  

The Federal Communication and Federal Trade Commissions say cramming occurs on both land lines and cell phones.  The FTC receives between 2,000 and 3,000 cramming complaints a year, 85% involving land lines.  Given that many complaints are not reported, the FTC estimates 15 to 20 million households get cramming charges added to their phone bills every year, with only 5% (1 out of 20) being aware of the charges.  Cramming originates in a number of ways.  The solicitations could come in person at a shopping mall or street festival,  in the mail, through an email or text message, or via a telephone call.  You could be asked to sign up for a contest, sweepstakes, a prize or cash award, or offered some service.  The third-party charges are included in your monthly telephone bill and are usually $2 or $3, but can be more.

How do you know if you've been crammed or slammed?  

The FCC and FTC recommend consumers take the following steps:

• Read the fine print on any transactions you authorize for phone services.  Be cautious that you are approving only the services you want and use.  The FCC says less than 1% of consumers actually use the services of third-party providers.
• Review your monthly phone bills carefully.  Be mindful when your bill changes from month to month.  Look for terms such as "service fees," "other fees," "voice mail," "web hosting," "activation," "miscellaneous charges," etc.

"I've been crammed or slammed!"

"What do I do?"

• Call your cell phone company to dispute the charge.  Follow up with an email or certified letter to prove you complained.
• File a complaint with the FCC (www.fcc.gov), FTC (www.ftc.gov), and the Missouri Attorney General's Office (www.mo.ago.gov).  All three websites have additional information on this and other scams.

 

Circuit Attorney's Office

City of St. Louis