AT&T Is Paying $7.75 Million in Refunds and Fines Over Sham Calls (fortune.com)

AT&T will pay $7.75 million after a federal investigation found it allowed unauthorized third-party charges on its customers' telephone bills, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Monday, reports Reuters (via Fortune). From the report: The company allowed "scammers to charge customers approximately $9 per month for a sham directory assistance service," the FCC said Monday. The fraud was uncovered by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration while investigating two Ohio companies for drug-related crimes and money laundering, the FCC said. The settlement includes $6.8 million in refunds and a $950,000 federal fine, the FCC said. AT&T signed a consent decree with the FCC and agreed to cease billing for nearly all third-party products and services on landline bills and adopt procedures to obtain express consent from customers prior to allowing third-party charges. The company also agreed to revise its billing practices to ensure third-party charges are conspicuously identified on bills.

Comments

What the hell

[rsilvergun]

I've got karma to burn, so I'll point out that this is the inevitable result of our misguide attacks on gov't and "Bureaucracy" (which work since we all hate the DMV). America never seems to cut down on the pork and waste going to the top but we do a fine job cutting back on enforcement. Then we all sit around /. and complain that AT&T made 20x profit on a piddly fine and that they'll do it again.

Whenever somebody tells you "Gov't's not the solution, it's the problem" check their credentials. They probably hail from a right wing think tank funded by a billionaire.

It's not the operator's fault

[rsilvergun]

they're working with what they have. It's easy as hell to blame the little guy, but shit runs down hill. Having worked in a few "real" call centers (the nasty sort) I can tell you that if you don't make your sales quota you get fired. Not for missing your quota (heaven forbid), but for any one of the dozens of minor infractions that exist. Doesn't help that the pay is so low it's either cheat on your sales or skip eating this week.