Youcanhelp fightPhoneFraud AConsumerActionPublication 1 YoucanhelpFight PhoneFraud ourphonebillarrives,youglanceatthetotaldueand Ysendyourpaymenttothephonecompanywithoutmuch thought. What’swrongwiththispicture?Didyouknowthatbynot carefullyreviewingyourbillyoumaybeavictimofphone fraudandnotevenrealizeit? Phonefraud—thetheftofacompany’sorindividual’s telecommunicationsservice—isamulti-billion-dollarprob- lembeingaddressedbylocalphonecompaniesandgov- ernmentagencies.Butifindividualsdonotlookoutforand reportfraudulentcharges,thievesandscamartistswill continuetomakemoney. Becauselocalphonecompaniesarerequiredtobillfor othercompaniesthatprovidetelephoneservices,thereisan increasedpossibilitythatfraudulentchargesmayappear onyourphonebill.Consumersplayanimportantrolein 2 fightingphonefraudbecausefrequentlythefirststepin detectingascamorfraudisidentifyingandreporting unauthorizedchargesthatappearonyourphonebill. So,let’sstartover:Yourphonebillarrives,youpouracup oftea,settleintoacomfortableseat,andstudythecharges carefully,questioninganychargethatisunknowntoyou. Takingadequatetimetoreviewyourphonebillcansave youmoneyandhelpstopphonefraud. PhoneFrauds espitenationwideeffortstocombatphone-relatedrip- Doffs,crooksarebusydevisingnewwaystocommit phonefraud.Theyseemtofindnewloopholesasfastas regulatorsandphonecompaniescanclosethem. Youcouldbethevictimofatelephonesalespersonoutto trickyouintoswitchingyourlongdistancecompany.Or yourphonebillcouldbehitwithfakechargesasaresultof acontestentryyoufilledout. Phonecustomersusuallyarenotheldresponsibleforfinan- ciallossesfromfraud.However,allphoneusersendup payingmoreforphoneserviceinthelongrunbecause billionsofdollarsinindustrylossesresultinhigherratesfor everyone. Ifyoufindunauthorizedchargesorotherevidenceof fraud,reportittoyourlocalphonecompany,longdistance carrier,statepublicservice(orpublicutility)commissionor U.S.governmentagencies,suchastheFederalCommuni- cationsCommission(FCC).(Seepage13.) Slamming 3 Josephinechecksherphone statementeverymonthto makesurethatshehasnot beenbilledforanycallsshe didn’tmake.Onemonthshe noticessheisbeingbilledby adifferentcompanyforher longdistancecalls—andthe newratesarethreetimesas high.Josephineisavictimof “slamming”—herlong distancecarrierwas changedwithoutherauthori- zation. Aboutslamming Youhavetherighttochoosethephonecompanyorcom- paniesthatcarryyourcalls.Whenyoudecidetousea certaincompany,youdesignatethatcompanyasyour primaryproviderandyourservicecannotbeswitched withoutyourpermission.Inmoststates,youhavetheright tochoosealocalphonecompanyandalongdistance carrier.Youmightalsohavetherighttochooseadifferent companytocarryyour“localtoll”or“intraLATA”calls— callsyoumaketoplacesthatareoutsideyourlocalcalling areabutdonotqualifyaslongdistancecalls.Ifyouare switchedfromtheserviceproviderorprovidersthatyou havechosenwithoutyourpermission,itiscalledslamming. Whatcanyoudotoavoid slamming? •Reviewyourphonebillcarefully. •Don’tfallforcommontricksusedbydevioussalespeople, includingcontestentriesthatauthorizeaswitchintinyprint, ortelemarketerswhorecordpeoplesaying“yes”toan innocentquestionanduseitasproofthatthecustomer 4 approvedthenewcarrier. •Ifyouhavebeenslammed,orareworriedaboutithap- peninginthefuture,consideraskingyourlocalphone companynottomakeanychangestoyouraccountwithout yourwrittenororalconsent.Thismeansyourlocal,tollor longdistancecarriercan’tbeswitcheduntilyounotifythe localphonecompany. Cramming Whilereviewinghisphone bill,Davidnoticesone pagewithanunfamiliar designandcompanyname atthetop,showinga $19.95chargefor“voice mail.”Hecallsthecom- panyatthetopofhisbillto questionthecharge,but isn’tabletogetanexpla- nation.Hethencallshis localphonecompanyand learnsheisavictimof “cramming”—beingbilled forunauthorizedcharges. Aboutcramming Whenthirdpartiesaddchargestoyourphonebillfor goodsorservicesyoudidnotauthorizeorreceive,itis calledcramming.Localphonecompaniesarerequiredto billforotherphonecompanies,whosechargeswillappear onseparatepagesofyourlocalphonebill.Sometimes 5 chargeslooklikeordinaryphonenumbersandhaveno explanation.Yourbillcanbecrammedasaresultofac- ceptingacollectcallfromastranger,fillingoutasweep- stakesorraffleticketorrespondingtomisleadingvoice promptsduringacall. Crammingcannegativelyaffectyourcredit—oftenunfairly. Evenifyourlocalphonecompanyremovesthecharges, youmightbehoundedforthemoneybyacollection agencyandyoucouldendupwithablemishedcredit rating.Ifyoubelieveyouarebeingchargedunfairly, documentyourclaimoffraudbysendingletterstoyour localdistrictattorney’soffice,stateattorneygeneralor federalregulatoryagency.Keepcopiesofallletters. Howcanyouavoidbeing crammed? •Reviewyourtelephonebillcarefully.Ifyouhavequestions aboutacharge,calltheserviceproviderwhosenameand companyemblemappearonthatbillpage. •Notifyyourlocaltelephonecompanyaboutchargesyou don’trecognize,andcomplaintoitifyouareunableto resolveadisputedbillwiththecompanythatchargedit. •Avoidfillingoutcontestentriesunlessyoureadallthe fineprint. •Keeparecordofcallsmadeoracceptedonyourhome phone,especiallyforpay-per-use1-900and976numbers andcollectcalls. Tollfraud MeiLinggotamessage askinghertocallanum- berwithan809area code.Whenshereturned thecall,sherealizedthat shedidnotknowthe 6 callingpartyandhungup. Hernextphonebillhasa chargeofmorethan$30 foracalltotheCaribbean. Shehadbeentrickedinto makingacostlyinternationalcall.MeiLingisavictimof oneofthemanytypesof“tollfraud.” Abouttollfraud Tollfraudisthetheftofphonetime,accomplishedby crookswhoconnecttoyourphoneline,trickyouintoplac- ingexpensivepay-per-use(1-900or976)orcostlyinterna- tionalcalls,orfoolyouintopayingforlongdistanceor collectcalls. Thievesmakerandomcallstopagersandleaveaphone numberforaforeigncountryorapay-per-usenumberin ordertogetyoutoplaceanexpensivecallinreturn.The firsttimethecustomerrealizeswhathappenediswhena billarriveswithunknowncharges—oftentotalingthousands ofdollars. Sometimescrookspretendtobephonecompanyemploy- ees,andaskyoutohelpthembyagreeingtoauthorize collectorothercallsbilledtoyourphone. Howcanyouavoidtoll fraud? •Don’tacceptcollectcallsfromunfamiliarpersonsor returncallstounfamiliartelephonenumbers.Bewareof faxes,e-mail,voicemailandpagermessagesthataskyou tocallanunfamiliarnumber.Calling1-900numberswill 7 resultinchargestoyourphonebill. •Although1-800and1-888numbersaretoll-free,callers aresometimesinstructedtodialanothertelephonenumber tocontinuethecallormaybeautomaticallyforwardedto anotherline.Ineithercase,thecallwillcarryacharge. Paycloseattentiontorecordedvoices,astheymaybe askingyoutoacceptchargesforthecallorotherservices. •Findoutwheretheareacodeisbeforeyoudialcalls thatindicatethatlongdistancechargeswillapply.Callsto theCaribbeancanbeveryexpensivebutdonotrequire thetelltale0-1-1prefixforaninternationalcall.Unscrupu- lousadvertisersusepagerore-mailmessagestotrickyou intomakingcallsthatturnouttobeveryexpensive. •Ifyouseestrangersinoraroundyourtelephonejunc- tionboxoroutsidewiring,donotapproachthembecause theymaybedangerous.Reportthesituationtoyourlocal lawenforcementagency. Calling cardfraud Paulotravelsalotonbusi- nessandoftenuseshislong distancecallingcardat airportsandotherpublic places.Hislatestphonebill 8 liststhousandsofdollarsin chargesforcallshedidn’t make.Pauloisavictimof callingcardfraud—some- onestolehiscallingcardnumberandpersonalidentifica- tionnumber(PIN)bywatchinghimplaceacall. Howcanyouavoidfraud involvingyourcallingcard? •Askyourcallingcardcompanytoissueacardthatdoes nothaveyourPINonit.MemorizethePINanddonotwrite itonthecard. •Don’trevealyourcallingcardnumberandPINtoany- onewhomightuseittomakecallswithoutyourpermission. •Whenyouplacecallingcardcallsinpublic,cupyour handoverthekeypadofthephonewhileenteringyour numberorspeaksoftlywhengivingittoanoperator.Be awareofanyonewhomightbetryingtoseeoroverhear yournumberandPIN. •Nevergiveyourcallingcardnumbertoastrangerwho callsyou. •Considerusinga“prepaid”or“debit”cardtomakecalls whentraveling. •Askyourcarrierfora“one-number”or“call-home” card,whichprovidesyourlovedonesandfriendswitha numberthatcanonlybeusedtocallyourhome. Identity Theft Julia,wholivesinSanFran- cisco,gotacallfromaphone companyrequestingthatshe payanoverduephonebill. 9 Thebillwasforaphone numberinLosAngeles.Since sheknewnothingaboutthe phonenumber,Juliaasked herphonecompanytoinvestigate.Itturnedoutthatsome- oneposingasJuliahadgottenaphoneinhername. Aboutidentitytheft Crooksstealpersonalinformationanduseittosetup accountsinthevictims’names.Whilethevictimsusuallyare notliableincasesofidentitytheft,itcanbealongand difficultprocessforvictimstoprovethatthedebtsdonot belongtothem. Howcanyouavoidbecoming avictimofidentitytheft? •Limittheamountofpersonalinformationyoucarryin yourwallet,incaseyouloseitoritgetsstolen. •Checkyourcreditreportsannuallybycontactingoneor allofthethreelargestcreditreportingbureaus(Equifax, ExperianandTransUnion)incasedebtsthatarenotyours arebeingreported. •Beforeyoudisposeofpapersthatcontainsensitiveper- sonalinformation,suchasbankaccountnumbers,your SocialSecuritynumberoryourdateofbirth,tearthemup. Outside linescams Leeisareceptionistata busyoffice.Acaller identifieshimselfasa phonecompanyem- ployeeandasksLeeto 10 dialaseriesofdigitsto testtheswitchboard.A fewweekslater,Lee’s employerfindsthousands ofdollarsinfraudulentcallsonthecompany’sbill.Lee realizesshefellforascamandgaveacrookaccesstoher employer’soutsidephoneline. Aboutoutsidelinescams Callersmayidentifythemselvesastelephonecompany employees,suchasserviceorsecuritytechnicians,andsay theyareconductingservicetests.Theyaskyoutodiala seriesofnumbers,andthenaskyoutohangup.Thisgives callersaccesstoanoutsidelineandtheyareabletomake