March 9, 2011 at 4:08 PM ET
Ever noticed charges on your cell phone bill for premium text messaging services you've never signed up for? It's possible that you've been the victim of fraud.
Verizon Wireless is fighting such fraud in court for you right now — and offering refunds to affected customers.
Apparently the wireless carrier has been made aware that many of its customers have been caught off guard by charges for third-party premium text messaging services due to lack of proper disclosures by the third-party service providers.
As a result, Verizon Wireless has begun offering refunds to its customers and "filed a lawsuit Monday in federal district court in Phoenix outlining an ongoing scheme that used Premium SMS campaigns to defraud Verizon Wireless and its customers, and asked the Court for an injunction to put an immediate stop to the activities."
In order to claim their refunds, customers affected by this scheme — or customers who believe that they might be victims — can head to a website set up specifically for this issue and follow the instructions on how to submit a refund claim.
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's a bit obsessed with Twitter, loves to be liked on Facebook, and just remembered that she needs to pay her phone bill.