Sprint and Verizon Wireless will pay $158 million in penalties and refunds to consumers nationwide, including many in Maryland, under a national settlement over allegations of mobile cramming.
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, in announcing the settlement, reached with attorneys general in all 50 states and Washington, on Tuesday.
It holds the two mobile carriers accountable for cramming — unauthorized charges for third-party services, Frosh said. It complements similar nationwide settlements reached last year with T-Mobile and AT&T, combining to $290 million in consumer refunds.
"Consumers were being charged for services they never signed up for, and in many cases, they never knew about because the fee was so hard to spot on their bills," Frosh said in the announcement.
An estimated 700,000 Sprint and Verizon customers in Maryland have been victims of cramming, often being charged about $9.99 a month for premium text message subscription services for content such as horoscopes, trivia and sports scores. Typically, customers never requested or knew about the services.
The cellular phone carriers will be required to obtain consumers' consent before billing for third-party charges and show such charges in a separate part of phone bills.
Cramming has become more common as more consumers use mobile devices to make purchases.
Sprint and Verizon customers can submit claims or request an account summary detailing text message charges at http://www.SprintRefundPSMS.com and http://www.CFPBSettlementVerizon.com or call settlement administrators at 877-389-8787 for Sprint and 888-726-7063 for Verizon.