That's right, illegal. But yet they do it even after they got sued by the state of Florida. it's not right to do this to the consumers, but yet they still get away with it. Even ex cons can go online and do it to their own family. It's sad.

i went overseas in spring of 2009 with my attwireless service on my blackberry, upon arrival at the end of April i made a couple of calls to USA, and then turned off my phone, because my friends, who live there, gave me their local phone, which had nothing to do with att. I paid my bill for April, and then i got bill for May for more then $150.00 while my phone was turned off. I tried to discuss this bill with att, but they said they never make mistakes, can anyone advise me on this matter (nobody could use my phone at this time also). i would like to understand how technically it can happened. thanks.

I closed an account 2 years ago with T mobile because they charged me for calls I did not make - excessively. The first month it was about $80 over my bill, the second $200, the third $300+ and the month I closed the account over $600 in addition to my regular bill. I disputed the calls, the bill looked as if I was dialing calls all over the country every minute or two consistently. I worked in an office with over 8 land lines, where I was constantly running meetings, speaking, or training groups of people. it is impossible that those calls were from my phone. Today, after looking into my credit rapport I see that T Mobile is taking me to collections for $881, what they claim I owe them. Any suggestions on how to resolve this? Thanks!

Last year I traveled to India for a volunteering project and bought an international cell phone and sim card from Mobal communications to use while I was there. When I arrived, the phone and sim card did not work. When I went to the local cell phone store they tried to get it to work but could not. I had to purchase a cheap temporary phone to use instead. But when I left the store I did not realize that they had not returned the sim card to the phone I had brought with me. Over a month later when I returned home to the states, I began to receive charges to my debit card. When I realized what must have happened I immediately called Mobal and canceled everything but someone had already run up over $700 on this account. I can prove the calls were not made by me by the simple fact that I was not in India when they were made (my passport visa proves this) and the call logs state they were made in India to numbers in India. They refuse to work with me on this matter or reduce this amount at all. They have now sent it to a collections agency and when I called and left a message said it was no longer their problem. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? I really feel it is unfair for me to have to pay for these calls that I clearly did not make. Is there any way to reduce this amount or report this matter to someone?

getting charged for things i did not sign up for and they say they will not take charge off i do not know where to go to get help

Is it legal for T-Mobile to add under, "other charges, Comminications Related, Regulatory Programs Fee*
* Fee we collect and retain to help cover our costs related to funding and complying with government mandates, programs and obligations." a charge per phone on my bill? This does not seem to apply under taxes on my phone. It may be related to taxes T-Mobile pays. I thought I signed a contract for a specific price, not to be increased based on T-Mobiles costs?

Hi, I'm looking for a resource to assist in fighting a bill I do not feel I own. Approximately 5 years ago I signed my step son up for phone service with requirements that he was not allowed to make any changes or additions to the service. A few months later he and a friend go into a different cell phone store and the friend is allowed to purchase a phone and activate an account without my even knowing about it. I found out when the bills showed up unpaid and there were two phone numbers on there. My son didn't say anything about it because the friend had been paying his bills but stopped at some pont.
I immediately called and tried to stop this action but was told that I could have up to 6 active accounts under my name without my approval. I don't have all of the original paperwork against this because of moving, etc. so I have to go off of memory for some of this.
The debt grew and I wrote each one requesting proof that I owned the account and have the last letter dated 11/23/2005.
The latest debt collector on this matter has replied to my request but only snt copies of the phone logs; no proof that I own the account.
I called them today and they said they have my social security number and that's all they need.
I don't feel I owe this bill and want to continue to dispute it but am not sure how to proceed.

Unauthorized Charges on Your Local Phone - Utility Bill?
How to Find Them, Eliminate Them & Get Your Money Back!
If your business still gets its phone service through the old "AT&T and Verizon, etc" local phone company (as opposed to one of the newer competitive phone providers) then you need to double check your phone bill each and every month for charges you did not authorize. You may not know it but the local phone company allows other companies to bill you through your local phone bill. And while the local phone company allows other businesses to bill you through your local phone bill, the local phone company does not verify that the charges being billed to you by the other company are valid. When these unauthorized charges fraudulently appear on your phone bill it's called "cramming". Unfortunately you as the business owner or manager are the only one that can spot the unauthorized charges and if you don't comb over your bill every month to spot these unauthorized charges - you'll pay for them.
Why does the local phone company allow other companies to pass charges onto your phone bill? "Third-party billing" is supposedly a great convenience in that you only have to pay one bill instead of separate bills for obvious authorized phone related charges like yellow-page advertising in the "real yellow pages", 411 information calls and long-distance calls from your chosen long distance carrier. Over the years though, some less-than-scrupulous companies have realized that most businesses rarely scrutinize their local-phone bills. To take advantage of this, these companies have come up with elaborate schemes to place
unauthorized charges on your phone bill that you'll end up paying for without even thinking. Unauthorized
charges you can end up paying for include charges for unwanted (and unused) email accounts, web sites,
directory information calls, directory advertising in obscure publications, voice mail accounts and other
services.
In theory, before these charges can be placed on your phone bill, the company that is originating the third-party billed charges is supposed to have a verification of the order like a voice recording. In reality though,
all the company needs to do to initiate the charge is submit your name and phone number to the billing
entity. The verifications are only required to be produced if a complaint is filed.
To prevent these charges from appearing on you business phone bill it's helpful to understand the four
parties that make unauthorized third party phone charges a costly reality. Party number one is any
employee who can answer your business phones. The unauthorized charge is rarely random and it usually
happens after one of your company employees gets a telemarketing call. Employees should be instructed to
document and report any overly aggressive telemarketing calls they receive. Party number two is the
telemarketing company that originates the unauthorized charges by trying to get your employee to accept
some service for which you'll be billed through your local phone bill. Party number three is the third-party
billing company that has billing agreements with your local phone company. The name of the third-party
billing is the one that is prominently displayed on your phone bill. After the third-party billing company's
name is the name of the company that is originating the unwanted charges. Party number four is your "former Ma Bell" local phone company that collects the unwanted charges (keeps a share for "Ma") and then passes the rest to the third-party billing company (who keeps a big share) and then passes the balance on to the company that initiated the unwanted charge.
Following are some of the top third-party billing names and unauthorized charge originators you'll find on
your phone bill. If you see these names on your phone bill you'll want to call the toll free number listed next to the charge to confirm it's a charge that's been properly authorized to be placed on your bill. Following are actual examples that we've recently found while auditing business phone bills.
We recommend customers should review any utility bills issued by deregulated utility companies. (In most instances today, consumers are paying higher charges to the deregulated gas and electric supply companies).
All Utility - Energy, gas, electric and water bills should be reviewed for proper reading and tariff.
If you suspect that you have been overcharged ask for detailed explanation and or file a complaint with your State Utility Commission.