Prepaid calling card companies are using “fine print and undisclosed...
Prepaid calling card companies are using “fine print and undisclosed fees” to mislead customers into thinking they'll get more minutes than they actually do, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said in an enforcement advisory Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bm6una). “Many prepaid calling card providers…
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target vulnerable low-income, minority, or immigrant communities, falsely claiming that calling cards costing just a few dollars will give the consumer hundreds, if not thousands, of minutes of calls to family and friends across the globe,” the notice said, citing a study issued Tuesday by Consumer Reports. Chairman Julius Genachowski met with the president of Consumer Reports at the headquarters of Consumers Union last week. (See separate report in this issue.) Over the last nine months, the FCC has proposed $25 million in monetary forfeitures against prepaid calling card companies for deceptive advertising, it said. The commission will “diligently pursue violators,” the advisory said, encouraging businesses to review section 201(b) of the Communications Act to ensure they are in compliance.