This you won’t believe. Then again, maybe you will… technology and scam artists being what they are. I just discovered a secret plot to add $$$$ charges to my cell phone bill. This can happen to you and you won’t even know it’s happening until it’s too late.
Here’s the story.
I got an email from AT&T this morning. My monthly bill was ready to be viewed. Although I often don’t look at my bill online and wait instead for the paper version to arrive, I decided to check it out. Good thing I did. My total due for the month was $23.00 more than last month. Curious. I didn’t remember doing anything differently. I checked the details and I had not gone over my minutes or data transfer limits… I couldn’t see any reason for the extra charges. So I called AT&T.
It seems that at some point in the last month I received a text message from some vendor who sold hints and solutions to online games. I don’t know about you but when I get a text message that looks like an ad and I don’t recognize the name, I delete it immediately. I don’t read it, I just delete it. Well, it seems that this game vendor was selling me some $19.95 product and if I didn’t opt out of the deal I was going to be charged, not only $19.95 but that same amount every month going forward. And because I did not respond but just deleted the message, the vendor charged me the $19.95. What with taxes and fees, my bill was increased the $23.00!!!
Wowsa!!! Thankfully the AT&T rep was able to get the charge cancelled and credited back to my account. What could I have done to prevent this?
The rep told me to never delete a text message without reading it. These vendors are out there in force, sending scams to all the world. And to prevent this from happening again I had to order a special service to block all vendors!!! Which means I cannot buy anything on my phone. No ringtones, no games, no whatsitanywhooo stuff. I don’t care!!! And if I do get a text message with an offer they tell me to do the following: read it and reply with the word “STOP” which is supposed to get them to stop sending text messages to me.
This is all a big pain in the #$@! And all because I said yes to relatives and friends that I would add text messaging to my phone. Hmph! I’ve only received two text messages this month… but a lot of grief as well. I’m thinking of canceling the text service all together.
Let this be a warning to you all. Nasty things are happening. Check your bill for strange charges and call.
sounds like sound advice…I never text…can’t hit the tiny buttons accurately enough…I’m afraid I’ll call russia