FTC Announces Cramming Settlement with T-Mobile - East Idaho News
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FTC Announces Cramming Settlement with T-Mobile

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Thinkstock 121914 TMobile?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1419042072215Terroa/iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday a settlement with T-Mobile for charges that it engaged in “cramming,” or the practice of placing unwanted third-party charges on its customers’ bills.

T-Mobile will pay at least $90 million in the settlement, plus $18 million in fines and penalties to the attorneys general of all 40 states and the District of Columbia and $4.5 million to the Federal Communications Commission. “Mobile cramming is an issue that has affected millions of American consumers,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said Friday, “and I’m pleased that this settlement will put money back in the hands of affected T-Mobile customers.”

“Consumers should be able to trust that their mobile phone bills reflect the charges they authorized and nothing more,” Ramirez added.

The FTC filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile accusing the company of placing millions of dollars of unwanted third-party charges — such a horoscopes, love tips and celebrity gossip — on customers’ bills. The company, the FTC said, received 35 to 40 percent of every charge placed.

In recent months, the FTC has brought multiple cramming cases in recent months, including a settlement with AT&T and a recently filed case against Sprint.





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