CRAMMING & CONSUMERS: HOW THE FCC IS FIGHTING
UNAUTHORIZED “MYSTERY FEES” ON PHONE BILLS 
JUNE 20, 2011 
Building on his Consumer Empowerment Agenda, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski delivered 
remarks at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. to spotlight the Agency’s 
continued efforts to fight “cramming” and other mystery fees on consumer bills.  Cramming, 
which is illegal, is one of the most common types of landline phone bill complaints the FCC 
receives.  In the coming weeks, the FCC will consider new rules to empower consumers against 
cramming through increased transparency and disclosure.  In Chairman Genachowski’s words, 
“Americans shouldn’t be nickel and dimed by companies on their phone bills.”
WHAT ARE MYSTERY FEES? WHAT IS CRAMMING?  
Ø Cramming is the illegal placement of an unauthorized fee onto a consumer’s 
monthly phone bill.  The charges are for services like long-distance services, 
voicemail, or even diet plans or yoga classes that the consumer neither requested 
nor used.  
Ø Cramming charges typically range from $1.99 to $19.99 per month.  In complaints 
cited by the FCC Enforcement Bureau, total cramming charges for several 
consumers were in the hundreds of dollars.
Ø Because these mystery fees are inconspicuously added to the bill, charges often go 
undetected for many months or even years, if they are detected at all.
Ø Crammers rely on confusing phone bills containing vague and misleading 
descriptions of these charges in an attempt to trick consumers into paying.  
WHO IS IMPACTED BY CRAMMING?  
Ø Anyone.  Complaints received by the FCC greatly underestimate the problem 
because most consumers don’t even know they’re being charged.  A recent expert 
survey showed that only five percent (5%) of consumers who were impacted by a 
particular cramming company were aware of the monthly charges.   
Ø Based on the same survey and state data, the FCC believes an estimated 15 to 20 
million American households a year potentially have these mystery fees on their 
monthly landline phone bills.  
Ø The FCC has received complaints about cramming from all over the country. Some 
examples from recent investigations by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau include:
o A woman in St. Louis who complained to the FCC when she discovered she had 
had cramming charges on her bills for 25 months in a row.
o A doctor in Texas who contested hundreds of dollars in cramming charges, and 
finally got a refund of $435.54 only after going to the state’s Public Utility.
o A man who was told he had authorized extra long-distance charges – but found 
that the online “authorization” form had another person’s name, a non-working 
email address, and a nonresidential address in West Virginia.
o A North Carolina woman who was told she had authorized the same service 
online – even though she doesn’t own a computer.
(more)
WHAT IS THE FCC DOING TO EMPOWER CONSUMERS AND STOP CRAMMING AND OTHER 
MYSTERY FEES? 
Ø Just last week, the FCC proposed fines totaling $11.7 million dollars against four 
long-distance companies that have placed crammed charges on hundreds of 
thousands of consumer bills. The Commission considers cramming an ongoing issue 
and its Enforcement Bureau will continue to investigate complaints and take action 
where appropriate. 
Ø The Commission now has a proceeding on ways to strengthen our Truth-in-Billing 
rules, including rules that would help prevent cramming by improving disclosure of 
charges on telephone bills.
Ø Last fall, the Chairman built on the concept of Truth-in-Billing to lay out a Consumer 
Empowerment Agenda for the FCC. This agenda includes improving consumer 
information and transparency for broadband and other services; taking on mystery 
fees, like the data fees that led to a multimillion dollar settlement with Verizon 
Wireless; helping consumers prevent bill shock on their wireless bills; ensuring 
better disclosure of early termination fees; and helping ensure online privacy and 
security.
Ø The FCC Call Center handles consumer complaints about problems with phone 
service and bills, including cramming, and helps consumers get redress when 
appropriate.  Consumers can complain to the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints or 1-888-
CALL-FCC.
Ø The FCC provides education and outreach on a wide range of consumer issues with 
our FCC.gov website, over 100 print factsheets,  Enforcement Advisories, FCC 
workshops, and participation in conferences.  For more information, please visit 
www.fcc.gov.
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