Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accuses Sprint of illegal billing in lawsuit

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing Sprint for allegedly cramming customers' phone bills with illegal charges. The CFPB said Sprint violated prohibitions on unfair practices contained in the Wall Street reform law and is urging the courts to force the company to refund tens of millions of dollars to customers and impose fines.

The CFPB said the exact amount of customers affected and dollar amount would be uncovered as it proceeds with the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in New York. The lawsuit covers Sprint’s actions from 2004 to 2013, during which time the company outsourced its third-party billing for text message alerts. The CFPB alleged that the outside vendors had "unfettered access" to customers' accounts with inadequate oversight. The system, from which Sprint profited, allowed third parties to easily tack on illegitimate charges to customers' bills, according to the lawsuit. Most of the customers affected were targeted online to give up their cellphone numbers