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- 02-10-2008, 12:22 PM #1AblangGuest
David Lazarus:
Consumer Confidential
The joke is on cellphone users
Customers complain about charges for unwanted text message services
such as those offered by Jokemobi.
January 23, 2008
Keith Fitzgerald, a concessions manager for Los Angeles International
Airport, was in the middle of a meeting last month when his cellphone
suddenly emitted an unfamiliar ring. He'd received his first-ever text
message.
"Why did Willie Nelson get hit by a car?" it read. "Because he was on
the road again."
Bada-bing.
"I thought it must be a mistake," Fitzgerald, 62, said. "But then I
got another stupid joke the next day, and the day after that."
And then came the punch line: Buried deep within his next Verizon
Wireless bill was a $9.99 charge for something called Kepler Joke
Text, plus a $1.35 fee from Verizon for having received the text
messages.
Fitzgerald was one of many cellphone users who'd fallen victim to a
scam making the rounds: shadowy outfits that obtain people's wireless
numbers and sign up consumers for unwanted text-message services that
come with recurring monthly fees.
The one that hit Fitzgerald, called Jokemobi, has sparked numerous
complaints to wireless companies, which were already dealing with
gripes from customers about similar text-message scams.
"It's an industrywide problem," said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman
for Sprint. "Customers need to get more educated about this issue."
What makes this type of scam so insidious is that you get nailed
twice: first the service's recurring charge and then your wireless
provider's fees for receiving text messages even though you didn't
even want them.
And this is a racket that can go unnoticed for many months unless
you're one of the relatively few consumers who reads all bills
closely. This may be unlikely if you have a wireless plan that you
believe will remain consistent throughout the year.
The problem has become so widespread that CTIA -- The Wireless Assn.,
an industry group, launched a multimillion-dollar program last year to
monitor service providers such as Jokemobi and require them to uphold
industry standards for consumer friendliness.
Jokemobi's website, at www.jokemobi.com, allows you to enter any
cellphone number -- yours, someone else's, whoever's -- to begin the
enrollment process. The site indicates that a PIN will be required to
activate the service, but as Fitzgerald's case showed, the jokes can
start up without authorization.
"I NEVER ASKED TO GET THIS and I didn't reply with the PIN number to
start the service," one person wrote at the Metroblogging Los Angeles
website.
No one at Jokemobi could be reached for comment. The registrant for
the site's dot-com domain, John Kepler, also couldn't be reached.
Regina Costa, telecom research director for the Utility Reform
Network, a San Francisco advocacy group, said it appears that some
data companies are compiling cellphone numbers obtained from a variety
of sources and selling them to marketers.
Scammers obtain possibly hundreds of thousands of numbers and enroll
people in services they didn't request. If just a small percentage of
consumers overlooks subsequent fees for several months or longer,
Costa said, the returns for scammers can be highly lucrative.
"This is the most outrageous scam I've ever heard of," Fitzgerald
said. "I can't believe that cellphone companies accept these charges
without any checking at all."
That's the thing. Most cellphone companies aren't dealing directly
with service providers such as Jokemobi. They deal instead with third
parties -- known in the business as aggregators -- that act as
middlemen for getting charges onto people's bills.
A cellphone company thus usually knows nothing about the service
providers that may appear on its bills.
"We do what we can to prevent this upfront," Ken Muche, a spokesman
for Verizon Wireless, said of Fitzgerald's situation. "But you can't
always predict which companies won't play by the rules."
He and representatives of other wireless companies said they work with
customers who may have been victimized by scammers, typically
refunding any contested fees.
"Over time, we learn how customers are being treated" by specific
service providers, Muche said. "People who don't treat their customers
well -- we end our relationship with them."
So does AT&T. Lauren Garner, a spokeswoman for the company, said AT&T
was severing ties with Jokemobi after receiving complaints from
customers.
"They're under investigation and will be shut down by us," she said.
That's commendable. But there needs to be much greater accountability
in this equation. If nothing else, the bar needs to be higher for
service providers to make their way onto people's cellphone bills.
It should also be routine for telecom companies to notify customers of
any new charges on their bills, much as credit-card companies monitor
customers' accounts for unusual activity. You shouldn't have to root
around on each statement for any new fees.
"The cellphone carriers, by billing these charges without any proof of
legitimacy, seem to be accomplices in the thievery," Fitzgerald said.
"Is there no responsibility of the carriers to protect their customers
from these pickpockets?"
Not yet.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,828995.column
› See More: Jokemobi: The joke is on cellphone users
- 02-10-2008, 08:17 PM #2DevilsPGDGuest
Re: Jokemobi: The joke is on cellphone users
In message
<241c5d3c-5cfd-4f8e-8cb1-349d5abd1fd3@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
Ablang <[email protected]> wrote:
>"We do what we can to prevent this upfront," Ken Muche, a spokesman
>for Verizon Wireless, said of Fitzgerald's situation. "But you can't
>always predict which companies won't play by the rules."
There is a fairly easy solution though, require a company who wants to
send receiver-paid SMS to post a bond sufficient to cover six months of
expected payouts by the cellco (and if the total exceeds that bond, shut
down the service until the bond is increased)
Next, delay payouts for at least three months.
Finally, if the complaint rate rises above the industry standard,
automatically issue double credit to any customer who received one of
said messages, and the telco profits whatever is left of the bond.
Seems simple enough, it's a win-win for all concerned, if the company is
honest they profit (and the cellco does by their margin) and the users
get what they want. If the company is dishonest, the cellco still gets
their profit, and users are compensated automatically.
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