R.I. to receive $306K from Sprint, Verizon Wireless settlement over ‘mobile cramming’

R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL PETER F. KILMARTIN said that Rhode Island will receive $306,000 from the settlement with Sprint Corp. and Verizon Wireless. / COURTESY R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE
R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL PETER F. KILMARTIN said that Rhode Island will receive $306,000 from the settlement with Sprint Corp. and Verizon Wireless. / COURTESY R.I. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE

PROVIDENCE – Settlements have been reached with Sprint Corp. and Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, regarding charges for third-party services placed on consumers’ mobile telephone bills that were not authorized by consumers, a practice known as “mobile cramming.”
Rhode Island will receive $306,000 from the settlement, which totaled $158 million, according to R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. Attorneys General of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, all reached settlements with the carriers.
Sprint and Verizon will each distribute refunds to harmed consumers through redress programs that will be under the supervision of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the attorney general’s office said.
The state of Rhode Island will receive approximately $175,000 from Verizon and $131,000 from Sprint as a result of this settlement in addition to the payments to Rhode Island consumers who were victims of the practice of mobile cramming.
Sprint and Verizon are the third and fourth mobile telephone providers to enter into a nationwide settlement to resolve allegations regarding cramming. Kilmartin announced similar settlements with AT&T in October and T-Mobile in December. The State of Rhode Island received approximately $417,000 through those settlements.
All four mobile carriers announced they would cease billing customers for commercial PSMS in the fall of 2013.
“Today’s announcement with Sprint and Verizon ends the attorneys general investigation into the practice of mobile cramming by the nation’s largest mobile phone providers. Not only have the companies agreed to end the deceptive practice and take steps to ensure customers are not billed for third party charges they did not expressly agree to, but consumers can apply for refunds if they believe they were victim of this past practice,” Kilmartin said in a statement.

Consumers who have been “crammed” often have charges, typically $9.99 per month, for “premium” text message subscription services (also known as PSMS subscriptions) such as horoscopes, trivia and sports scores that the consumers have never heard of or requested.
Consumers can submit claims under the redress programs by visiting www.SprintRefundPSMS.com and/or www.CFPBSettlementVerizon.com.
The settlements, like the settlements entered into by AT&T and T-Mobile in late 2014, require Sprint and Verizon to stay out of the commercial PSMS business.

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