U.S. settles lawsuit with T-Mobile U.S. over cramming
The SIM card for a T-Mobile phone is illustrated in this photograph in Encinitas, California October, 27, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Mike Blake
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – T-Mobile US has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. government over unauthorized charges placed on customers’ bills, a practice known as cramming, and to pay at least $90 million in refunds and fines, two U.S. government agencies said on Friday.
The FTC had filed a complaint against T-Mobile in July, saying that the company had put subscriptions for services like horoscopes or celebrity gossip delivered by text message, which often cost $9.99 a month, on consumers’ mobile phone bills often without their knowledge.
T-Mobile USA received 35 to 40 percent of the amount charged, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in July.
The Federal Communications Commission and state attorneys general were also involved in the probe.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Editing by Franklin Paul)