The following post appears courtesy of Richard Goldberg, Assistant Director of the Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch.

"Cramming" is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills in an attempt to trick consumers into paying for services they did not authorize or receive, or that cost more than the consumer was led to believe.

Get the full picture in the FCC 'Cramming' infographic (also in .pdf).
Also available: Tips for Consumers, 'Cramming' Backgrounder (.pdf)

How Does Cramming Occur?

In addition to providing local telephone service, local telephone companies often bill their customers for long distance and other services that other companies provide. If a local telephone company, long distance telephone company or another type of service provider either accidentally or intentionally places unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on your bill, you may have been "crammed."

Cramming can also occur if a local or long distance company or another type of service provider does not clearly or accurately describe all of the relevant charges to you when marketing a service. Although you may have authorized the service, you did not understand or were misled about how much it would really cost.

Cramming Charges: What They Look Like

Cramming comes in many forms and is often hard to detect unless you closely review your telephone bill. Charges described as follows can be legitimate if you authorize them but, if unauthorized, could constitute cramming:

• Charges for services that are explained on your telephone bill in general terms such as "service fee," "service charge," "other fees," "voicemail," "mail server," "calling plan," "psychic" and "membership;"
• Charges that are added to your telephone bill every month without a clear explanation of the services provided - such as a "monthly fee" or "minimum monthly usage fee;" and
• Charges for an authorized service, but you were misled about its actual cost.

While cramming charges typically appear on consumers' local telephone bills, they may also be included with bills issued by long distance telephone companies and companies providing other types of services, including wireless telephone, beeper and pager services.

The FCC's Truth-in-Billing Rules

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Truth-in-Billing rules require telephone companies to provide clear, non-misleading, plain language in describing services for which you are being billed. Because one telephone company, usually your local telephone company, may include charges you incurred for another company's service on your bill, the company sending you the bill must identify the service provider associated with each charge. If a bill contains charges in addition to basic local service, it must distinguish between charges for which non-payment will result in disconnection of basic, local service and charges for which non-payment will not result in disconnection. Telephone companies must also display, on each bill, one or more toll-free numbers that you can call to ask about or dispute any charge on the bill.

This information empowers you to protect yourself from cramming and other types of telecommunications fraud. It also helps you make informed choices when you shop around to find the best telephone service to meet your needs.

How to Protect Yourself and Save Money

• Carefully review your telephone bill every month. Treat your telephone service like any other major consumer purchase or service. Review your monthly bills just as closely as you review your monthly credit card and bank statements.
• Ask yourself the following questions as you review your telephone bill:
• 1. Do I recognize the names of all the companies listed on my bill?
  2. What services were provided by the listed companies?
  3. Does my bill include charges for calls I did not place and services I did not authorize?
  4. Are the rates and line items consistent with the rates and line items that the company quoted to me?
• You may be billed for a call you placed or a service you used, but the description listed on your telephone bill for the call or service may be unclear. If you don't know what service was provided for a charge listed on your bill, ask the company that billed the charge to explain the service provided before paying the charge.
• Make sure you know what service was provided, even for small charges. Crammers often try to go undetected by submitting $2.00 or $3.00 charges to thousands of consumers.
• Keep a record of the telephone services you have authorized and used - including calls placed to 900 numbers and other types of telephone information services. These records can be helpful when billing descriptions are unclear.
• Carefully read all forms and promotional materials - including the fine print - before signing up for telephone or other services to be billed on your phone bill.
• Companies compete for your telephone business. Use your buying power wisely and shop around. If you think that a company's charges are too high or that its services do not meet your needs, contact other companies and try to get a better deal.

 If you see unfamiliar or suspicious charges on your telephone bill, you should:

1.  Contact your local telephone company, tell the telephone company of the cramming, and instruct the company to remove the false charge and give a credit for false charges on any previous bills, and
2. Submit a complaint summarizing the false charges to the Federal Trade Commission. 
3. Many telephone companies will, upon request, exclude third-party billing from a customer's telephone bill.  Doing so may prevent crammed charges from appearing on telephone bills in the future. 

Visit FCC.gov for more information about cramming and how to protect yourself. 

Source:  Dept. of Justice and the FTC.