The Illinois legislature has sent a measure to the Governor targeting companies that fraudulently add charges to phone bills. It's a scam called "cramming."
Phone bills are something many people routinely pay without thinking much about. But, Jim Chilsen with the Citizens Utility Board says it's time those bills get a closer look: "It's one of these scams that takes advantage of how busy people are, you know people get those bills, they often pay the bottom line." Chilsen says cramming happens when outside vendors attach fees for services never provided. They are often vaguely labeled, for things like voicemail or email services. He says they could be a $9.99 fee, they could be $3.99, $2.99, even $.99 cents, but they're fraudulent charges. Chilsen says if you think of millions of people being scammed by these small charges, that really adds up.
The measure approved by the General Assembly would not allow outside companies to attach such charges to phone bills. Customers would still be able to bundle Internet and cable with their phone service, though. The legislation is HB5211.
