Premium text messages have long been used by third-party vendors to trick customers into signing up, leading to piling mobile bills. This has finally resulted in action from wireless carriers, with the likes of AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile agreeing to stop charging customers for most premium SMS (PSMS).
The problem with PSMS is that quite often, they end up incurring unauthorized charges on the mobile bills of the users. Last year, such unauthorized charges cost Americans a whopping $2 billion, including third-party services on mobile phones as well as landlines. While there are certain standard PSMS such as those for charitable organizations and political campaigns which work just fine, most third-party entities offering PSMS have been accused of scam.
It is because of these issues that AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have decided that they would no longer charge their customers for PSMS. The announcement comes from Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell who has been working on this case of ‘mobile cramming’ for quite some time now.
Hailing the decision of the wireless carriers to decide in favor of their subscribers, Sorrell stated, “We are pleased that AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have decided to stop the flow of money from the pockets of ordinary people to the bank accounts of scam artists.”
Despite the apparent ban on PSMS, nearly all carriers have confirmed that they will continue to support PSMS related to chariable organizations and political campaigns. Moreover, standard and well-known messaging campaigns such as American Idol will also be supported.
Courtesy: IT World
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