Web-cramming
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Cramming is a form of
fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...
in which small charges are added to a
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...
by a third party without the subscriber's consent, approval, authorization or disclosure. These may be disguised as a tax, some other common fee or a bogus service, and may be several dollars or even just a few cents. The crammer's intent is that the subscriber will overlook and ultimately pay these small charges without challenging their legitimacy or inquiring further. According to the U.S.
National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States which therefore means that the United States Attorney General in the federal government is n ...
, cramming was the 4th most common consumer complaint of 2007 in the United States.


Types

There are various forms of cramming.


Phone cramming

Phone cramming is the practice of placing unauthorized charges on a telecommunication subscriber's home or mobile telephone bill. Cramming is most common in the US, where the
breakup of the Bell System The Bell System held a virtual monopoly over telephony infrastructure in the United States since the early 20th century until January 8, 1982. This divestiture of the Bell Operating Companies was initiated in 1974 when the United States Departme ...
left subscribers with different vendors for local and long-distance service.
LEC billing LEC billing is a form of billing for Internet-based or other usually electronic services where the user is charged through their account with the local telephone company (also known as the local exchange carrier or LEC), rather than directly from ...
consolidated charges from multiple vendors on one bill, but opened an opportunity (which does not exist elsewhere) for fraudulent vendors to add their own charges to the consolidated bills. This is not the same as
telephone slamming Telephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-198 ...
, where an existing vendor is replaced with a rival without the client's informed consent. In the UK all the UK mobile operators have a third party direct to bill scheme (chargetomobile 'payforit') controlled by the Payforit Scheme Rules which prevent unauthorised charging. In the USA an effort to prevent instances of cramming, some members of the third party billing industry have implemented screening and monitoring measures to identify and eliminate crammers. Some companies offer
consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
websites to help consumers better understand their phone bill and detect cramming as soon as it occurs. The
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) estimates that cramming has impacted tens of millions of American households.


Web cramming

Web cramming involves billing consumers for a
web page A web page (or webpage) is a World Wide Web, Web document that is accessed in a web browser. A website typically consists of many web pages hyperlink, linked together under a common domain name. The term "web page" is therefore a metaphor of pap ...
they did not even know they had.
This is most often accomplished when criminals develop new web pages for small businesses and
non-profit group A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
s for little or no expense. While advertising their service as free, these criminals actually engage in unauthorized phone charges on their victim's accounts. The most common scam involves "rebate checks." These checks, when cashed, transfer the customer's
Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...
, placing monthly service charges on their
telephone bill An invoice, bill, tab, or bill of costs is a commercial document that includes an itemized list of goods or services furnished by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction, that usually specifies the price and terms of sale, quantities ...
. This is made possible because
telecommunications companies A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...
provide the service of being able to collect bills for companies that perform a service over the telephone.


Preacquired accounts

Another is "preacquired account telemarketing fraud", cramming of unauthorized charges by telemarketers who have bought or obtained consumer account information prior to the telemarketing call, sometimes from the consumer's own bank.


Fighting cramming

Phone companies like
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...
respond by removing cramming charges from a consumer's bill upon request, and will cease business with the company that crams. Verizon, at the customer's request, will put a Cramming Block on the customer's account, that prevents third parties from adding charges. All the UK mobile operators have a third-party direct-to-bill scheme (chargetomobile 'payforit') controlled by the Payforit Scheme Rules which prevent unauthorised charges.


Notable cases

In 2005,
Gambino Family Gambino is an Italian surname. Notable persons with that surname include: Surname * (1899–1987), Argentine conductor * Antonella Gambino (born 1990), Argentine handball player * Domenico Gambino (1890–1968), Italian actor, screenwriter, and ...
Soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
Richard Martino Richard Martino (born 1961) is a member of the New York Gambino crime family who was involved in Internet and phone scams that cost consumers $750 million. Martino introduced the Cosa Nostra into this area of crime. Biography A major earner for th ...
and
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Salvatore LoCascio admitted to running a cramming operation. Following a
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
investigation, in October 2010, Verizon announced that it would refund up to $50 million to its customers to offset cramming charges. In October 2014,
AT&T Mobility AT&T Mobility, LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and Trade name, marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. Formed in April 2000 as Cingular Wireless LLC, It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, AT&T Inc. and provide ...
agreed to pay $105 million in refunds and penalties for cramming for premium-rated short messages; the agreement was the largest such settlement in history; AT&T was "accused of keeping at least 35% of the fees, as well as obscuring the charges on bills and preventing customers from securing full refunds."


See also

*
Mail and wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. feder ...


References

{{Scams and confidence tricks Consumer fraud Internet fraud Personal finance Text messaging