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February 22, 2008 7:07 PM

Ringtones: How Viewers Got Stung

(CBS)
Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative correspondent for CBS News. Her latest Follow the Money segment examined how replying to a text message or even browsing a Web site can unleash a flury of phone-bill charges for unordered and unwanted services. It's called "cramming."

I communicated with many unhappy customers while working on tonight's story on ringtone fraud. Of course only a few people's stories can actually fit into a report on the Evening News.

But I thought it might be interesting for you to read about the experiences of a few other folks. Judging from how many people have said it's happened to them (it even happened to me and my friends and family) we may be just beginning to hear how widespread this type of alleged scam may be.

What are your rights? If you can't get satisfaction from your service provider on what you believe are bogus charges, report it online to the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC told CBS News it's glad we're doing the story and helping let people know that this type of fraud is out there. Read on for some of the stories people told me.

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Tags:
ring tones ,
cell phones ,
sharyl attkisson ,
follow the money
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