Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 37 posts

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#11

Post by abruzzi »

jbscpa wrote: post #9

I got one of those text messages in like early February. I ignored it of course and deleted it. On my most recent phone bill I noticed an increase of about $10.00 Sure enough. By ignoring the text message and deleting it I was signed up of an unwanted $9.99 per month program. I called ATT. The ATT rep told me she would cancel the service immediately. She confirmed that by ignoring the text message I had "agreed" to t…

Never been hit like a cost like this, but I figured why take the chance? I just called AT&T customer service and enabled "purchase blocker" on my line (which is only for family and emergencies anyway.) Thanks for posting that the block is even an option.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#12

Post by sunsu »

jbscpa wrote: post #10
sunsu wrote: post #8

I had no idea that these "services" could automatically add themselves to your wireless bill without an Opt-In. I just checked my family's account and indeed there were 2 different subscriptions on 2 different numbers. Thank you for posting this, as I have no idea how long they've been on there. Now I'm just waiting until 9:00AM CST to call ATT...

Please consider not just cancelling but instead ask for (demand) a refund in full of all charges going back to the very first month. We have got to punish ATT for this gangster type behavior.

I just got off the phone with ATT. I had all the charges (past and current) removed and credited to my account. I also had "Purchase Blocker" added to all 4 lines to prevent this from happening again.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#13

Post by jiggy2011 »

So how did he end up subscribed to this in the first place? I assume he must have signed up in the small print by signing upto some other service.

If this was not the case then I would expect this to be much more prevalent , if you could start charing people so much money by simply sending an SMS then everyone and his dog would be at it.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#14

Post by mbot2 »

sunsu wrote: post #12
jbscpa wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please consider not just cancelling but instead ask for (demand) a refund in full of all charges going back to the very first month. We have got to punish ATT for this gangster type behavior.

I just got off the phone with ATT. I had all the charges (past and current) removed and credited to my account. I also had "Purchase Blocker" added to all 4 lines to prevent this from happening again.

I just did the exact same thing. One of our lines had a $9.95 subscription on it, got it refunded and all four of our lines are also blocked now.

I just sent a brief email to some family and friends noting my experience, pointing them to the NYTimes article, and telling them that on AT&T they probably want to investigate 'Purchase Blocker'.

It's especially annoying to me because I give AT&T over $300/mo. At that level of revenue, you'd think they could have the decency to default to protecting me. And somebody at AT&T will likely be shocked that I have no brand loyalty towards them, at all.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#15

Post by joeyh »

jbscpa wrote: post #9

I got one of those text messages in like early February. I ignored it of course and deleted it. On my most recent phone bill I noticed an increase of about $10.00 Sure enough. By ignoring the text message and deleting it I was signed up of an unwanted $9.99 per month program. I called ATT. The ATT rep told me she would cancel the service immediately. She confirmed that by ignoring the text message I had "agreed" to t…

I've had the same experiences with both Verizon and Sprint. My conclusions about the telcos turning a blind eye are the same. I suspect these spammers leech onto large percentage of new cell phone customers.

I'm very happy to not currently need a cell phone.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#16

Post by untog »

This is one of the reasons I stayed on a PAYG plan for as long as humanly possible. My burning resentment for my monthly plan has not yet subsided.

Amongst the irritation: it costs me to receive text messages. Right now I have an unlimited text plan, but it's a waste of money, since I have Google Voice and text using it. But I also receive spam texts to my main cellphone number- so if I cancelled my text plan I would actually be paying money to receive spam. Mind-bending.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#17

Post by zomgbbq »

If you call AT&T you can block them from automatically subscribing to services without your explicit consent. The most interesting thing about these services is that almost all billing for these services occur through a subsidiary business of Verisign. I was shocked to learn this because I've always thought that Verisign was a trusted company.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#18

Post by felipemnoa »

techsupporter wrote: post #6
locopati wrote: post #4

It is unbelievable that this is not illegal.

Cramming is illegal but there are two reasons why enforcement is lax: First, as the article points out (and attempts, by inference, to get the carriers to convict themselves of), the billing carrier earns a cut, usually in the 20-30% range. Second, the individual amounts are usually quite small so it's not "worth" anyone's time to actually investigate unless that person is the subscriber who got dinged. Simply shutti…

I guess the easy targets are the phone companies themselves for facilitating/enabling the fraud. They should probably be the ones getting sued.

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#19

Post by jacquesm »

zomgbbq wrote: post #17

If you call AT&T you can block them from automatically subscribing to services without your explicit consent. The most interesting thing about these services is that almost all billing for these services occur through a subsidiary business of Verisign. I was shocked to learn this because I've always thought that Verisign was a trusted company.

> I was shocked to learn this because I've always thought that Verisign was a trusted company.

You mean this verisign?

http://slashdot.org/story/03/09/16/0034210/resolving-everyth...

Re: Beware of Cramming on Your Cellphone Bill

#20

Post by sorghum »

jbscpa wrote: post #9

I got one of those text messages in like early February. I ignored it of course and deleted it. On my most recent phone bill I noticed an increase of about $10.00 Sure enough. By ignoring the text message and deleting it I was signed up of an unwanted $9.99 per month program. I called ATT. The ATT rep told me she would cancel the service immediately. She confirmed that by ignoring the text message I had "agreed" to t…

I just got hit with this one too — they called themselves SayNow/mxtelecom.com on the bill, but MobibroIQ in the message itself.

The real culprit appears to be Bullroarer, Inc: http://www.bullroarer.com

mobibro.com lists the email address support@ihelpmobile.com and the phone number 888-890-6150. Googling either of those reveals many other spammy SMS services, one of which is clubmorty.com. Their contact page says they are owned and operated by Bullroarer: http://www.clubmorty.com/vm/pge_contactus.vm

Post reply on HN