PORTLAND, Maine — As many as 96,000 Maine AT&T cellphone customers could share about $225,000 after a national settlement over unauthorized third-party charges to those customers, a practice dubbed “mobile cramming.”
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills announced the state’s take from the $105 million national lawsuit early Friday. Most of that amount, $80 million, will go to customers for restitution through a fund administered by the Federal Trade Commission. Her office estimated as many as 96,000 AT&T customers could have seen such charges between 2009 and January 2014.
Regulators alleged that AT&T Mobility applied unauthorized charges to customers for services such as “premium” text messaging, which provided horoscopes, sports scores and other information customers said they had requested. The charges were typically an additional $9.99 on the customers’ monthly bill, federal regulators alleged.
“Anyone with a mobile phone these days could have unwittingly signed up for one of these services,” Mills said in a prepared statement. “We believe that the practice was deceptive and unfair to consumers. It is a reminder that people should read their monthly bills carefully and question any charges that they are unsure of. This practice could amount to millions of dollars in illegitimate fees being racked up on the backs of unsuspecting Maine consumers.”
Mills’ office said AT&T customers who believe they were billed for mobile phone services they did not request can find more information about submitting a claim to the AT&T Mobility cramming refund program at ftc.gov/att or by phone through the claims administrator at 877-819-9692.
Going forward, the settlement requires AT&T to obtain express consent for third-party charges, refund customers for any such unauthorized charges, reflect those charges in a separate area on a customer’s bill and to inform customers when they sign up for such services.
The Washington Post reported Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said during a news conference Thursday that “there are a lot of companies” involved in mobile cramming, and settlements with other wireless providers could be on the way.
In addition to the restitution fund, the company was ordered to pay $20 million to the states involved in the case and $5 million to the Federal Communications Commission.