Like any other small business owner, California lemon law attorney Kurt Delsack is trying to keep his expenses down, so when he noticed and unauthorized charge on his phone bill, he decided to investigate. The charges came from a third-party billing company called Operated Assistant Network (OAN), and according to Kurt’s investigation, he wasn’t the only person being scammed.

The Federal Communications Commission says about 15 to 20 million households are overcharged on their telephone landlines, costing consumers almost $2 billion a year. Also known as, “cramming”, the overcharges come from third party billing companies for features like voice mail and call waiting. Because these charges are buried within the phone bill only about 5% of households even realize that they are victims.

Don’t become a victim. There is something you can do:

• Know your phone bill, so you can recognize unusual charges. Most local phone companies require you to opt out or shut off any third party billing, so make sure you contact your phone company to do so.
• Don’t provide your name, address and phone number for promotions, coupons and sweepstakes without knowing exactly where it’s going. That’s how scammers get your OK to charge you.
• Contact your phone company right away to dispute any charges you didn’t authorize. You should also contact the third party provider and make sure they are permanently removed from your bill.

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After Kurt talked to Verizon, they reimbursed him for one year of the charges. But now he checks his bill more carefully.