AT&T to block all third party charges at consumer's request

AT&T has agreed to allow Connecticut consumers to block all third party charges

on their phone bills.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal requested earlier this month that AT&T give state consumers the option to block all third party fees on their phone bills to prevent unauthorized charges. The request for the block was made because his office is receiving growing numbers of complaints about fees put on phone bills without consumers' consent. His office is investigating the practice, which is called "cramming." This block is a powerful fraud fighter, scuttling scammer access to consumer bills. "If questionable fees appear on your bill, insist the phone company remove the charge and contact my office. I will fight to assure that consumers pay only for services that they want and request," explained Blumenthal."Third party charges are typically for various services such as for pay web sites or travel services. The service providers hire so-called "aggregators" who contract with AT&T to put their clients' charges on AT&T bills. Scammers use a variety of methods to get their charges on phone bills, including deceptive web ads to trick consumers into signing up.

Consumers with unauthorized charges on their phone bills should call the Attorney General's Office at (860) 808-5420. Consumers can request a full block by late September.