Verizon cell phone scam....ALERT!

[Uben]

This month I noticed four charges of $9.95 on an extra cell phone I keep. It is a "pay as you go" phone that requires we buy $15/mo in minutes. When I contacted Verizon about these charges, they said they were from a "third party" called redcircle.com and that I would have to contact them to get the charges refunded. WTF? I typed in redcircle.com and of course I got the webpage cannot be displayed messsage. After a lettle searching, I found this is a scam where these companies call random numbers and leave a text message saying you can dial a number and receive a free ring-tone download. If you do call the number, you are automatically signed up to receive "premium text messages" at a rate of $9.95 each.

The only problem is, I never called the number, but still got 4 charges for $9.95 on the same day! Verizon did the right thing, eventually, and refunded my money, after I got a little heated. Hell, I don't even know how to text message! You can block these "SMS" services, but it's up to you to contact your service provider to have them blocked.

This apparently has been a big scam in the U.K, with several companies being prosecuted, but on the surface appears to be somewhat legal as long as you respond to the call.

Check your cell phone bill! These charges are sometimes not even detailed on the bill! These are "mobile phone SMS text services".



I hope this saves someone money or alerts them to this scam now hitting U.S. customers.


CHECK YOU CELL PHONE BILL THOROUGHLY EVERY MONTH AND QUESTION ANY CHARGES YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, AND DEFINITELY BLOCK THESE PREMIUM SERVICES IF YOU DO NOT SEND AND RECEIVE TEXT MESSAGES!

Fortunately for me, I had every text message I have ever received still on my phone, and every one of them was from Verizon itself! Not a one from the company they said had charged my account. They said I would have to have called the number to have authorized the charges. I said, "Fine, you are my service provider, show the date, time, and duration of the call, and tell me why it doesn't show up on my phone!" At that point, my call was disconnected, and I noticed my account was credited with the $40 I was calling about.

These crooks have already scammed a half-billion dollars in charges from consumers! $500,000,000 ! ! !

[RebelOne]

1. How would you know if you are being charged

if you have a pay as you go phone? I have one from Cingular and I don't receive a bill. I just buy the minutes as I need them.

[Uben]

2. If you notice your minutes disappearing

....unexpectedly, check it out! We have an auto-pay account set-up (automatically charges $15 each month to our credit card) that sends an email with monthly charges. MAny people never know they are charged because, like you, they purchase minutes as they need them. These "SMS" services can accumulate and the next time you buy minutes, they are automatically deducted from that money! If you do not "text message", make sure you call your provider and block all taxt message services. It might save you a terrible and costly headache!

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

3. Thanks for reminding me to look at my vz wireless bill again...

I called them a month ago to have them take this service off of my bill. It suddenly appeared on my elderly parent's bill in November, and I am quite sure that they didn't sign up for this. Anyway, I looked at my bill for this month and the $9.95 was still on there, even though I called the texting company and closed the account. So I called Verizon again today and they are taking all 4 months worth of these charges off of my bill. $40 for me!!

I don't know how this scum can sleep at night.

[tool_of_the_people]

4. Thanks for the heads up!

I'll have to go check my Verizon bill.

[TooBigaTent]

5. Thank you, Uben. It is amazing how diligent we have to be in this modern world.