Evil 3rd party Subscriptions!

[ntx1kbb]

Why isnt it illegal for these 3rd party companys to get your phone number and start slapping $9.99 charges on your bill? I think I finally got it blocked on my 3 lines so this will stop happening but how many people dont catch these charges? These companys must be making millions off unathorized charges on cell phones bills. I hope ATT is trying to get laws passed for this because it has to be expensive for them to constantly get customer service calls to remove these charges. I just wanted to climb up on my soap box! Hope noone is paying for these ridiculous charges! Good Luck

[jamileh]

Thanks for the feedback. These things can be extremely frustrating and is one of the reasons why I made a sticky post in this board about that topic. 

I'm glad you were able to take care of it on your accounts!

[mizzouxc]

I concur. I was offered a $4.99 service to not be billed 9.99 a month for something I didn't sign up for ... TWICE!! Finally found a rep to add "parental controls" to my account. Hope this works. I still get the annoying texts that I'm billed for. I hope I don't go over my monthly allocation because of these creeps.

[kdfederer ACE - Wizard · Accepted solution]

You can put a purchase block on your phone that would stop those type "subscriptions". It doesn't cost anything, just call customer service and they will put the block on your phone.

[GEFIII]

Is there a way to identify which applications are doing this before getting hit with subscription fees?

[jamileh]

The challenge is that these subscriptions come from text messages, not applications you install on your phone. 

We are actively working to combat spammers but applying the purchase blocker as kdfederer suggested is the first defense and a great (FREE!) step you can take to prevent unwanted subscription charges. 

Here's a link with more information: http://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-Billing/3rd-Party-Subscriptions-amp-Purchase-Blocker/td-p/3095123

[GEFIII]

Thanks!  Any info would be great.  I had this happen to me yesterday.  My concern is that a large HMO I work for recently purchased a bunch of iPhones and iPads.  I'm sure that what happened to me is likely to happen to someone else in our company, but they probably won't notice it since they never see the bills.  Anything I can do to proactively block these applications or to educate our user base would save a lot of headaches down the road.

[jamileh]

Happy to help and welcome to our community.

[user2212]

My AT&T phone bill shows a monthly charge of $9.99 for Words/Definitions ale, provider: Mobile Plus, Inc.

Why is their not a Federal investigation into Mobile Plus, Inc.?

I have never sent or received a text from them or accepted any subscriptions.

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

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user2212 wrote:

My AT&T phone bill shows a monthly charge of $9.99 for Words/Definitions ale, provider: Mobile Plus, Inc.

Why is their not a Federal investigation into Mobile Plus, Inc.?

I have never sent or received a text from them or accepted any subscriptions.

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Not really sure but call ATT and get that amount creditd back and get the service blocked from your account.

[the_real_seebs]

I just found one of these on my spouse's phone. My spouse is autistic and simply ignored the spam texts because we all know you're not supposed to respond to spam. So now we've been told that $1.29 out of $9.99 is being refunded. If AT&T doesn't give a 100% refund for a service we did not request or authorize or grant consent to, that will be the end of my relationship with AT&T. You don't get to disclaim responsibility for your actions; you are the ones who decided to let third parties charge us money without our consent, and you should eat those costs. (You should probably also NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SCAMMERS. You may not know this, but they will not stop scamming just because you speak sternly to them.)

[jamileh]

I'm very sorry that your spouse's phone received these text messages. 

Were you able to apply the purchase blocker to his/her phone to avoid these issues in the future?

It is extremely helpful for you (and your spouse) to report those text messages as spam. That is how AT&T is able to take action against spammers. Here is a link with more information about reporting text messages: http://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-Billing/3rd-Party-Subscriptions-amp-Purchase-Blocker/td-p/3095123

Will you please please send me a private message with your name, account number, phone number and the best time to contact you? Let's see what we can do about your refund. 




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[kelly/graham]

I am truly frustrated by these 3rd party charges and question their legality. My son's phone was being charged for services we could not even locate on his phone...or figure out how he "subscribed". The provider website listed on my bill for these charges was not a website in which I could contact or cancel the charges. How could a company as large as AT&T link their brand and name to such a shady company? AND why should I have to pay AT&T to protect/block such charges. AT&T must have better contact information as I am sure the $9.99 per month is being sent to someone? (right customer support person?) Tell me why you are associated with such companies and explain why you have to charge the customer to block them?? I am not convinced AT&T is doing this without making some of that $9.99...

[kdfederer ACE - Wizard]

You don't have to pay AT&T to block these charges. Call AT&T and have the charges removed and put a purchase block on the phone line. There is no charge for putting on the block and any purchases (or subscriptions) have to be approved to be put on your bill.

[jamileh]

I am sorry that you're seeing these charges on your bill. 

It sounds like your son subscribed to these services either through text message or online. If his phone does not have the Purchase Blocker on it, he is able to make those purchases. I understand though, that he may not have understoood what he was doing. These services are the ones you see advertised on television (backgrounds, ringtones, horoscopes) that you may purchase by texting a message to the code they provide on the advertisement. 

These subscription charges are not coming from AT&T, they are coming from whatever 3rd party service was subscribed to. As kdfederer noted, Purchase Blocker is a free and very easy way to ensure no purchases like this are made going forward. 

Here is some additional information about purchase blocker and about managing mobile purchases: http://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-Billing/3rd-Party-Subscriptions-amp-Purchase-Blocker/td-p/3095123

[Fireside111]

I just spent 45 minutes getting $200 of these fraudulent charges off of my bill. The customer service rep, though helpful, denied that she had ever heard of such a scam. This is pretty much the last straw with AT&T, Verizon here I come.

[kdfederer ACE - Wizard]

Do you think the same thing doesn't happen to Verizon customers?

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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Fireside111 wrote:
I just spent 45 minutes getting $200 of these fraudulent charges off of my bill. The customer service rep, though helpful, denied that she had ever heard of such a scam. This is pretty much the last straw with AT&T, Verizon here I come.

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wonlt change anything, it is universal to all carriers - if you want to lower the chances of this occurring, call and put a free purchase block on the phone lines. BTW while being frustrating and time envasive, unfortunately it is not a scam - someplace some where in the link there was a buried agreement to be charged, if you downloaded a "free" ringtone, wallpaper, background, taken a quiz on facebook or twitter, reponsed to a unsolicited text message you gave permission for the reoccurring charge - also, there are a few that if you do not respond to the agreement you authorized by default.

Spare yourself the expense of changing carriers if this is the reason, it will happen there also, verizon, sprint, t-mobile, cricket, you name the carrier, it is a problem there also. Save yourself money and just call in and request a purchase block

[jamileh]

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Fireside111 wrote:
I just spent 45 minutes getting $200 of these fraudulent charges off of my bill. The customer service rep, though helpful, denied that she had ever heard of such a scam. This is pretty much the last straw with AT&T, Verizon here I come.

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I am very sorry that you were charged by this third party service. Wingrider's suggestion of the purchase blocker is a great one and helps prevent accidental subscriptions that result in charges. As he noted, these companies often bury the cost associated with the service and it's not noticed. 

Please let me know if you need assistance with the purchase blocker. 

[wilcre ACE - Expert]

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     If the line is not a smart phone it can be done online without calling in. Source

Block your child from making Mobile Purchases
     AT&T offers Parental Controls at no additional cost. Currently smartphone users must contact AT&T Customer Service at 1-800-331-0500 or dial 611 from your mobile device, to add Parental controls.

Add Parental Controls for non-smartphone users

     To enable Parental controls on non-smartphone devices, you will need to access AT&T Mobile Web from the device.
Learn how to access AT&T Mobile Web

     Find out how to set up and use your phone on the Device How-To Center. Click Select your device and choose a device brand and model, then look under Device instructions > Apps, tones & web > Web to view instructions for accessing AT&T Mobile Web from your device.

Enable Purchase Block on your child's phone

• Log in to Mobile Web.
• Go to My Account on the Mobile Web menu.
• Select Parental Controls.
• Select Purchase Blocker.
• About AT&T Smart Controls
  
       AT&T Smart Controls is an online destination where AT&T customers can manage content/location, control spending, increase safety, and limit time for their Wireless, Internet, TV, and U-verse services. To find out more about popular tools such as AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless, AT&T Internet Parental Controls, and AT&T U-verse TV Parental Controls, refer to: AT&T Smart Controls.