By Teresa McUsic

Special to the Star-Telegram

Fort Worth is apparently at the center of a nationwide Internet telephone scam.

The Better Business Bureau in Fort Worth has received more than 100 complaints since Nov. 4 from across the country concerning a local company and a high-tech crime called modem hijacking.

The complaints allege that Premier Premium Communications, which has a Fort Worth post office box, has gained customers through a deceptive pop-up ad and sent bills ranging from $60 to $700 for long-distance Internet calls to the United Kingdom. The customers say they didn’t make the calls. Sometimes, the charges appeared on their local phone bills. Other people were billed directly by PPC. The bills often contain charges for pay-per-view Web site access.

Some of these consumers reported that they don’t own a computer, that their computer was not on when the call was made or that they were not home, proving they didn’t make the calls.

Last week, in a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Verizon said it has handled thousands of complaints related to this type of Internet dialing scam. The amount ranges from under $100 to more than $7,500, with an average of more than $300, according to the filing.

The Texas attorney general has received one complaint about PPC, as has the attorney general in New Hampshire, where PPC also has a post office box.

RipoffReport.com shows 106 complaints across the country about PPC charging for unmade calls to a telephone number in London. One person, a Richard in Plano, said he received a $197 bill for a «live webcam» from PPC and $184 in long-distance telephone charges on an SBC bill.

Lisa Dorian, a Savvy Consumer reader from San Antonio, faxed me her bill for $70 from PPC for a 14-minute long-distance call to the U. K. The company called the bill an «error» after she threatened to complain to authorities.

Dialing scams generally start with a pop-up advertisement on the Internet that, when answered in the affirmative, causes «dialer software» to download onto a home computer, said William Kula, a Verizon spokesman.

Dialer software, often used by adult Web sites to levy and collect fees, can allow a third party to make a call on your computer via the Internet.

«Through a series of pop-up ads, people unknowingly open up the floodgates,» Kula said.

Dialer software is not illegal if proper wording shows consumers what they are getting, Kula said. The ads often promise entertainment for no cost.

«You have to read the fine print,» he warned.

The scams are aimed primarily at dial-up Internet users, not those with a broadband connection such as DSL or cable modem. However, broadband users can be vulnerable if a telephone line is connected to their modem to send faxes, for example.

In the PPC case, some consumers complaining to the Better Business Bureau do not even own a computer or were not home at the time of the call, said John Riggins, president of the Fort Worth bureau.

When called, PPC’s customer service phone line was repeatedly busy. An e-mail sent to the company prompted what appears to be a form letter stating that I also owe PPC for a «live webcam» even though I have never been billed by the company.

PPC wrote in its e-mail: «In extremely rare cases billing errors do occur where a customer would get a bill for a phone number that does not belong to them. These rare cases occur when a phone number was reassigned to another subscriber and the local exchange carrier databases were not updated immediately. In such cases we do credit for the call placed as required by law.»

The FCC and a local phone provider told the bureau that the billing service should ask for payment upfront before the Web site is accessed, Riggins said.

The Fort Worth BBB also tried to contact PPC by telephone and mail but has not received a response.

If you get an invoice from the company or if an unauthorized call to the United Kingdom appears on your phone bill, the Fort Worth bureau suggests you contact your phone and Internet providers to request that a block be placed on your phone and e-mail account.

You may also wish to contact the BBB at (817) 332–7585 or file a complaint at www.fwbbb.org. Complaints can be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or by calling, toll-free, (877) FTC-HELP (382–4357).

Verizon has made billing adjustments for those who can prove their case, Kula said.

Consumers should also be careful to read all of the terms and conditions of any online offering, consider using pop-up blocker software and warn family members of pop-up pitfalls.

Scam sucks Net users into pricey long-distance calls

From Bend.com news sources
Posted: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:47 AM
Reference Code: AR-19441

November 17 — Attorney General Hardy Myers warned Oregon consumers Wednesday to carefully read their monthly telephone bills, looking for unauthorized, international long distance charges, oftentimes in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.

The bills list calls to Guinea Bissau, Vanuatu in the Southwest Pacific, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Chad, or Madagascar and consumers are often stumped as to who made the calls and how the charges ended upon their bills.

„Chances are the consumer or someone in his or her family was misled — via voicemail or pager —into calling a number with an international pay-per-call area code such as 809. These area codes are connected to fees that are calculated per minute, and can often result in exorbitant bills,“ Myers explained.

Most consumers have had some experience with calling 900 numbers connected to fees but other pay-per-call area codes such as 809 that consumers might not recognize include 242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 345, 441, 473, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 868, 869, and 876.

The fraudulent reasons used to trick consumers into immediately dialing the international numbers vary. Scenarios include access to information about an ill loved-one; a family member who has been arrested or died; or details about winning a fabulous prize. All the reasons are bogus but the long distance telephone charges are very real.

Justice investigators found that many consumers using the Internet have been enticed into clicking on Web sites, some associated with adult sites that claim to be „free“ or advertise that „no credit card is needed,“ and are then asked to download a „viewer or dialer“ program. Once the program is downloaded to the user’s computer, it disconnects the Internet connection and reconnects to an international long-distance phone number.

Just recently, in complaints to the Oregon Department of Justice, consumers on the Internet have experienced „pop-ups“ or „bubbles“ on their screens that are impossible to get rid of and victims are unable to stop the dialing to a pay-per-call number or an Internet adult web site.

With interest in the Internet being very high with most Oregon residents, this form of „modem hijacking“ is being reported more frequently.

Customers, in fighting the outrageous charges, are finding little sympathy from local phone companies and long distance carriers, who say they are merely providing a billing service for the foreign company. The foreign company argues that they have done nothing wrong and calls to government agencies in the foreign country often go unanswered.

Consumers can minimize their chances of being charged for unauthorized international calls by never dialing an unfamiliar area code before checking the phone book or the long distance operator. Web surfers must be skeptical and read online disclosures carefully.

Parents and grandparents should talk to any children in their homes using the Internet about being targets of „modem hijackers“ and monitor their Internet use. It also is important to keep track of the Web sites visited by children by checking the Web browser history files and cache.

Oregon consumers may file complaints concerning unauthorized long distance telephone charges by calling the Attorney General’s consumer hotline at (503) 378–4320 (Salem area only), (503) 229–5576 (Portland area only) or toll-free at 1–877–877–9392. Justice is online at www.doj.state.or.us.