PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota will receive about $302,000 from Sprint and Verizon to settle allegations that the companies allowed phony charges on their customers’ monthly bills.
Federal regulators announced Tuesday that Verizon Wireless will pay $90 million and Sprint $68 million to settle lawsuits from 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The settlement resolves allegations that Sprint and Verizon placed unauthorized charges for third-party services on consumers’ mobile telephone bills. That’s a practice known as “mobile cramming.”
The two mobile providers had partnered with third-party vendors that sell premium text messaging services, such as daily horoscopes, trivia and sports scores.
But federal regulators say consumers who hadn’t signed up for the services were being billed anyway, typically about $9.99 a month.
Last year, T-Mobile and AT&T Mobility also entered cramming settlements.
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Online:
www.CFPBSettlementVerizon.com
www.SprintRefundPSMS.com
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