UCAN

Imagine you are small business and you get a bill from your local phone company for $1000. You are shocked because your monthly bill is usually closer to $100 per month. The company claims that your higher bill is for the international calls that you made from your fax machine. "Hold on", you think. "I didn't make any international calls from my fax machine or from ANY phone. I didn't make any international calls at all!"

You protest but the phone company says that even though you didn't make the calls, someone was able to hack into your phone system and make the calls. "But wait", you exclaim, "I don't have a phone system. I don't have a PBX. I just have two phone lines provided by you".

"Ah, but you didn't take precautions to protect your phones from being hacked," responds the phone company.

"What precautions!", you reply. "I put international call blocking on my phone service".

An impossible scenario? Apparently not accordingly to Telepacific/MPower. It did almost exactly this to a San Diego-based flower shop. Read our complaint about this shocking practice.

The CPUC is considering revising the rules regarding reporting of unauthorized charges for telecommunications services. Learn about the proposed changes as well as UCAN's position and legal filings on the issue.

AT&T's practice of enabling international roaming without customer notification violates the CA Public Utilities Code, which is intended to protect consumers from "cramming" of unauthorized charges. AT&T customers are also being charged for calls that were never placed. UCAN asserts that these customers never sought nor authorized international roaming as a service provided in connection with their cellular phone service.

California Lifeline, formerly known as Universal Lifeline Telephone Service (ULTS), provides discounted basic residential (landline) telephone service to low-income households.