Carriers Fined $11 Million for Cramming, Slamming
The FCC issued $11 million in fines to three long-distance carriers run by Data Integration Systems for cramming and slamming consumers. Cramming is the practice of adding unauthorized charges onto a consumer phone bill, and slamming is switching a consumer’s…
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preferred phone carrier without permission. The California-based companies -- Central Telecom Long Distance, Consumer Telcom, and U.S. Telecom Long Distance -- also did deceptive marketing and violated truth-in-billing rules, the FCC said in a news release Thursday. The agency said it reviewed about 260 complaints about the companies, with many submitted by consumers who never heard of or signed up for their services. Telemarketers for the companies falsely claimed they were calling on behalf of the consumers’ real carriers about a change in service, then switched the customers long-distance carrier to one of the Data Integration Systems companies, the FCC said. The companies kept charging monthly even when customers found out and returned to their preferred carrier, it said. Data Integration Systems owner Craig Konrad didn’t immediately comment.