My friends at Scambook.com just posted the following article and I give them all the credit for this very interesting alert. In case you’re wondering who the heck is Scambook, let me tell you that this site is a fantastic scam alert site and is well know for helping people who may have been scammed or are in the process of being scammed and need Scambooks help. Scambook also handles all consumer complaints and even has attorneys to help you out, so go check them out.
ALL ANDROID SMARTPHONE USERS BEWARE: From http://www.scambook.com/ -
If you recently purchased a smartphone running Android and were wondering whether you should have gone with the I-Phone instead, I’m sure you will be pleased to know that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak appeared to be singing the praises of Android phones in a recent interview with The Daily Beast. You may have thought you got the better deal, while all those I-Phone owners are feeling the sharp pangs of regret. Right? Maybe not.
What about those unexpected third-party charges on your phone bill? Could you possibly be a victim of cramming?
What is Cramming?
Our friends at the Federal Communications Commission describe cramming as the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills in an attempt to trick consumers into paying for services they did not authorize or receive, or that cost more than the consumer was led to believe.
If you are having a hard time figuring out why certain charges ended up on your bill, it’s a good idea to check and see whether any of the charges use vague terms. For example, often times terms like “service fee” and “membership” might leave you puzzled by just what exactly you’re paying for. Also, look to see if there are recurring “monthly fee” charges on your bill. If these charges were unauthorized, you may be a victim of cramming. Even if you see charges on your bill that you did authorize, but you were led to believe the price would be different from that actually billed, you may be the victim of cramming.
We know what you’re thinking: geez Scambook, hold your horses, a few unauthorized charges aren’t a huge deal, my trusty cell phone provider probably just made a mistake. Well, we wish that were always the case, BUT according to a recent report from a U.S. Senate committee, third-party charges on U.S. consumer and business telephone bills, most of them unauthorized by the customer, amount to $2 billion a year! What’s more, telephone carriers receive a fee from the third-parties charging you, and are often times making big bucks at your expense!
Also, these third-party charges are easier to incur than you may think. You can become vulnerable to such charges by simply clicking on an advertisement in an application, causing you to unintentionally become enrolled in a subscription and have charges crammed on your account.
Scambook users are among the many that have been experiencing some surprising charges on their phone bills. Here are some of the things they have been complaining about:
1. Some Scambookers say they were charged by third parties for text messages they did not ask to receive.
2. Other Scambook users are completely unsure of what the third party charge is for, although they say they never subscribed to the company charging them.
3. Another common complaint from our Scambookers is that they thought they were downloading free ringtones, only they were charged a fee for them on their phone bills.
To read the rest of this article, go to http://www.scambook.com/blog/2012/03/attention-all-android-smartphone-users-look-for-this-on-your-next-cell-phone-bill/?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website
Thank you Scambook.com for this alert!
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