Top 10 dot cons -- one observation

[AndrewR]

I just noticed something while reviewing the recent report about internet scams -- why is it so damn easy for companies to charge your phone bill? It seems to me that the list of allowed "vendors" should be limited to your local provider and your long distance provider with some sort of billing agreement for other services (900 calls, for example).

My wife worked in telecom for awhile, and they some of the most ridiculous billing arrangements that essentially deliberately screw the consumer. For example, there is a billing clearing house out in Denver, I believe, that will charge consumer's bills for another company, and they cannot tell you who it was from or what it was for. I'm not kidding -- she had several customers (employees of the same company, she set up ISDN lines for telecommuting) receive these bills, and there was nothing that could be done.

Seems to me that since these "dot cons" are taking advantage of these billing practices, then something should be done to make the chargers accountable for the mistakes and scams. Next time we move, I will very seriously consider abandoning a local phone line in favor of cellular for my bill's protection. Ridiculous.

 

[Wangel]

Absolutely right. We had a $65 item on our phone bill which we traced to some company which was not helpful at all in tracing down this charge. The telephone company advised us to not pay it, and they will take it off our charge. They said that this doesn't dismiss the charge, but that the company that claims we owe it will have to try and collect on their own. We sent them a polite letter asking them to show proof that we ordered this item. We never heard back from them.

 

[BoberFett]

My brother-in-law got caught by one of the redial scams, where a web page downloads some software (with idiot user help obviously ) which hangs up and redials some phone number in a country in the South Pacific. He ran up about $200 and the phone company cut him off after he refused to pay it.

Seems like the phone company should be criminally liable, aiding and abetting fraud or something.

 

[AndrewR]

<< Seems like the phone company should be criminally liable, aiding and abetting fraud or something. >>



Absolutely. I can see where a phone call is made since that cost is borne directly by the phone company though there should be some policing of who uses their network, but in the case where some random company just bills you for services you never received nor requested, that just irks me.