The latest scam in our largely unregulated computerized world is ‘cramming,’ a criminal practice that imposes small charges on your phone bill for false services or products. The root cause is the lack of adequate security at phone companies, which allow thieves to corrupt the billing system and arrange for fraudulent charges.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the perpetrators keep crammed charges small, to increase the likelihood that you will pay your bill without noticing the false charges.
Consumer and business telephone bills, on landline and wireless bills are affected by the criminal activity. Crammed charges may appear on any page of a telephone bill, so you should carefully review your bill on a monthly basis. If you find a crammed charge, contact the phone company.
The FCC has been looking into regulations covering cramming since last July, bu t has thus far done nothing.
