What’s Hidden in Your Cell-Phone Bill?

Companies you’ve never heard of might be slipping charges for services you never ordered onto your cell-phone bill. These added charges might be relatively small—perhaps $10 or less—but they’re likely to recur every month, adding up to substantial amounts over time.

This scam, known as “cramming,” has long been common with landline phone bills. Here’s how it works: An unethical provider of services, such as voice mail, fax or sports or horoscope information, or memberships (to discount buying clubs, campgrounds, etc.) tells a phone company that you signed up for its service even though you didn’t. The phone company adds this service to your phone bill without bothering to confirm anything with you, then takes a cut of the charge for itself.

Cramming is becoming increasingly common with cell phones, with consumers’ annual losses believed to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and climbing fast.

Example: A recent study of Vermont cell-phone users found that a staggering 60% of third-party charges on mobile phone bills had been put there by crammers. Yet cell-phone bills are so difficult to interpret—and so rarely scrutinized—that most victims don’t even realize that they are being scammed.

First line of defense: Look at your bill closely before paying it. Charges often are described in intentionally vague terms such as “enhanced services” or “service fee” to escape notice.

If you find charges that you don’t understand, call your cellular provider and ask for an explanation. If you’re told that one or more of these is a charge from an outside company for an unfamiliar download or service, explain that you didn’t order this and ask that it be canceled and the charge removed. Providers almost always will do this when confronted.

Next, ask if this is a recurring charge that has appeared on your bill in prior months (or go back through your old bills to check). If it is, ask to be credited for these earlier charges, too. There may be a limit to how far back your service provider is willing to refund, so it is important to catch problems early.

If you are told to contact the third party directly, don’t bother—you probably will just get the runaround there. Instead, ask to speak to the cellular service rep’s supervisor.