Hard to Catch

Unethical companies are betting that consumers won’t read their phone bills. So, every month, carefully review your bill, just like you would your credit card statement. Cramming charges are easier to catch if your bill is the same every month, but if it changes from month to month, make it a habit to check all the charges and make sure you understand what all the charges are for.

Even so, sometimes the charge is low enough to miss—as little as $2 or $3, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Or it could be as high as $80. The FTC says there’s no one type of cramming charge. Some charges appear just once; others are “subscription” charges that show up every month.

Look for generic-sounding services and fees on your bill: words like “service fees,” “service charge,” “other fees,” “enhanced services,” “mail server,” “calling plan,” “monthly fee,” “minimum usage fee,” “activation,” or “member fee.” Do you see charges for Internet services from a company you don’t know? Area codes you’ve never heard of, like 011 or 500?

The FCC recommends that you ask yourself the following questions as you review the bill:

• Do I recognize the names of all the companies listed on my bill?
• What services were provided by the companies listed?
• Does my bill include charges for calls I did not place and services I did not authorize?
• Are the rates and line items consistent with the rates and line items that the company quoted to me? This assumes you remember authorizing the service in question. With any luck, you kept a record of those services and correspondences and kept the promotional materials.

Check out each section of your bill, but the FTC says that crammers tend to target some “hot spots,” such as sections labeled “Miscellaneous” and the long-distance, 900-number, and “third-party” charge sections on your bill. Third-party charges are from anyone other than your phone company. Some phone companies send their customers shorter bills with little detail, but may offer more detailed bills online or upon request.

For help with understanding your phone bills, see the FCC’s Web site. It offers samples of a landline bill and a wireless bill, with various charges explained.