Cellphone ‘crammers’ pile on charges

“Scammers may see cellphones as the new frontier for fraud,” said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board in Illinois.

“Cramming” is the practice of placing unauthorized third-party charges on cell phone bills and it is a problem that’s increasing in Illinois. With cramming, the charges are small — typically between $1.99 and $9.99 — but they add up to an estimated $1.4 million being scammed from Illinois consumers, according to an investigation by CUB and Validas, a wireless industry research firm. Nationally, the total cost to cellphone users may exceed $59 million, the investigation found. The scammers rely on consumers not checking their long and complicated cellphone bills, and not noticing a slight increase in cost. Only about 1 in 20 customers who have been crammed catch the cost, Kolata said. Cellphone users can block third-party use of their phones, but this often comes as an additional charge from the cellphone service provider. That charge may be more than the cost of the cram.