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AT&T To Cough Up $88 Million For 'Cramming' Mobile Customer Bills (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: Some 2.7 million ATT customers will share $88 million in compensation for having had unauthorized third-party charges added to their mobile bills, the Federal Trade Commission announced this morning. The latest shot in the federal government's years-long battle against such abuses, these refunds will represent the most money ever recouped by victims of what is known as "mobile cramming," according to the FTC. From an FTC press release: "Through the FTC's refund program, nearly 2.5 million current ATT customers will receive a credit on their bill within the next 75 days, and more than 300,000 former customers will receive a check. The average refund amount is $31. [...] According to the FTC's complaint, ATT placed unauthorized third-party charges on its customers' phone bills, usually in amounts of $9.99 per month, for ringtones and text message subscriptions containing love tips, horoscopes, and 'fun facts.' The FTC alleged that ATT kept at least 35 percent of the charges it imposed on its customers." The matter with ATT was originally made public in 2014 and also involved two companies that actually applied the unauthorized charges, Tatto and Acquinity.
A refund is nice, but until people go to jail for committing this fraud these big companies are going to just keep doing this to us. Companies don't commit crimes like these, people do.
"Can you hear me NOW?" says FCC to AT&T.
When will we start cracking down and throwing some CEO's in prison for theft for these sorts of practices? Instead they get to walk away with a declaration of no guilt, write off the payback and go on about their business: figuring out the next scam.
It must be pretty cool to be in a position where you can commit fraud against ~2.8million people, sit on the proceeds for several years; and then settle the whole matter for 'compensation' that, at worst, might wipe out your original profits on the fraud.
Not quite as good as impunity; but perhaps an even better mockery of the perception of 'justice', since the whole process gets to play out as a pitiful farce, rather than just being ignored.
Incidentally, why is it that, given the American propensity for a good spree killing, you never hear about unpleasant things happening to the people behind schemes like this? Occasionally somebody shoots up their workplace and kills an immediate supervisor or the like; but nobody ever seems to go any higher up the food chain.
That sort of money is small change to a megacorporation like AT&T who will make that up in no time. In a year they won't even remember this. They probably pay less on their rent. AT&T will still dominate the market through their sheer size and the gains of their illegal conduct will outweigh the fine. The only way to deter illegal conduct by a corporation is to jail those responsible, sack and fine boardmembers who let it happen, and for repeat offense dismantle the corporation.
Make $196m illegally. Pay $88m fine. That's $88m profit. What's the incentive to stop doing these things again?
The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
Regulation...something something...holding companies back...something...innovation...PROFIT!
The government needs to come in with an engineering team and lay down the law as to how things will go from now on. Not going to happen, but all this other stuff won't work, so I might as well throw this out there now. The AI apocalypse can't happen soon enough.
Until the government starts placing a HUGE fine, ban or some other way to REALLY hurt these azzhats, you think they care? They'll just spend that much money paying off senators, congress and who ever else it takes, slap them on the back, laugh all the way to the bank. I dropped at&t about 10 years ago, haven't looked back. On a side note, I switched to straight talk about 4 years ago, but still use the at&t network on my sim card since for me, their coverage is better than the rest.
The link to the Press Release is current (December 2016) but in the press release is a link to the actual settlement which is dated 2014....
Come play Moral Decay!
Makes a great case for avoiding the whole issue and going pre-paid.
The real problem...
* you have a phone number that is either published in a phone book or a private database that bad guys can buy
* any 3rd party hole-in-the-wall outfit can come along and send billing tapes to the telco
* you get billed, and have to dispute the bill to get your money back
What's required is an option allowing the phone customer to pre-emptively disable 3rd party billing. The telcos get a cut of the bill, and have every incentive to continue. It would require action by regulators to enforce a prohibition against 3rd party billing.
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
If we were a little more like the Chinese in dealing with our companies, you'd see less of this. Throwing an executive in general lock up has a certain pour encourager les autres effect that fining a company and letting them debate a sock party for the people responsible does not have. It's like I said after Deepwater Horizon. You really think if we left BP alone but brought the death penalty for felony murder against the executive(s) responsible for 11 oilmen dying and that much environment damage that the oil industry wouldn't stand up, sphincters puckered and be good Boy Scouts on worker safety and the environment?
That's what AT&T's accountants call "a rounding error"... this is no punishment. Jail time for the CEO and board of directors...
We have this:
AT&T To Cough Up $88 Million For 'Cramming' Mobile Customer Bills
And this:
Through the FTC's refund program, nearly 2.5 million current ATT customers will receive a credit on their bill within the next 75 days, and more than 300,000 former customers will receive a check.
So, $88000000/(2500000+300000) = $31.43. Thanks guys, I'll try not to spend it all in one place.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.