ILD Teleservices Inc.

I received the monthly bill from our phone service provider, Qwest (which is a different company than the long distance provider) and discovered long distance charges (at .15 cents a minute) from a company I did not recognize, ILD Teleservices Inc. I called to inquire about the long distance services because I've been using Sprint at .5 cents per minute for long distance and for our 800 number for our in-home business. I was told that my husband authorized the switch to ILD . . . he assured me he did not authorize anything (I handle all phone set-ups, changes, etc. and he would never have authorized a change). I told ILD to discontinue their long distance service and I would be reactivating my account with Sprint. I called Sprint and it's not that easy to switch back. I had to fill out a form from an email and fax it to Sprint and it could take days to get the account reactivated. I'm told until this can happen I could be billed by random long distance providers since I don't have a long distance provider at this time. The charges could run $2.00 to $8.00 per minute! So I called my phone service provider, for the 4th time today, and had to pay $5.00 to insure that my long distance will be through Sprint but they couldn't make that happen right away - it would be 4 days. Who knows what charges will accrue by then, and all of this the fault of ILD Teleservices whom we never authorized to use in the first place! I did some research and the person responsible for the ILD Teleservices scam is David Stein. He’s been sued no less than 3 times by the Federal Trade Commission. There are numerous complaints posted at: www.consumeraffairs.com

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HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM TELESERVICES FRAUD

THIRD-PARTY BILLING and CUSTOMER-INITIATED BILL BLOCK

http://www.thefocus.org/interest_groups/Bill_Block_FOCUS_Comm_FINALREV_12.04.07.doc

AT&T provides billing and collection service to third-party telecommunication providers and other entities, such as billing aggregators and other types of service providers. The service allows these third-party providers to place charges on end users’ telephone bills when properly authorized by the end users. AT&T believes this service provides a convenient and efficient payment option, both for its third-party billing and collection customers and for its end users. In some cases, regulations may require AT&T to provide third-party billing.

Recent regulatory changes may reduce AT&T's regulatory obligation to provide third party billing. AT&T will continue to review its third-party billing service in response to regulatory changes, customer feedback and the needs of the market.

Examples of charges typically included in third-party billing:

• Directory Assistance

• Voice Mail

• Yellow Pages

• Calling Cards

• Internet Services

• Other enhanced or telecommunications-related services

Customer-Initiated Bill Block

End users who do not wish to allow third-party charges on their telephone bills are advised to notify their AT&T Account Manager or contact our service centers to request bill block.

Bill Block information needed from end user customers includes:

• End User Company Name

• Main Telephone Billing Number

• Contact Name and Phone Number

• Third Party Service Provider Name

Bill block capabilities vary by region, as follows:

• AT&T Midwest Region (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)

o Mechanized process, based on service representative’s issuance of a no charge service order at the request of our end user customer.

o Customer can specify bill block for up to five (5) different third-party providers. Requests to block more than five third-party providers’ bills will result in total block of all third-party charges, including the following AT&T Affiliates: AT&T Messaging Voicemail and Unified Messaging services, AT&T Internet Services DSL/Dial and WEB Hosting, AT&T Advanced Solutions ATM/Frame Relay, AT&T Video Services DISH and AT&T YellowPages.com.

o Bill Block does not include intraLATA or interLATA toll.

• AT&T Southeast Region (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN)

o Mechanized process, based on service representative’s issuance of a no charge service order at the request of our end user customer.

o Bill block prevents all third party charges, excluding AT&T Affiliates.

o Bill block does not include intraLATA or interLATA toll.

• AT&T East Region (CT)

AT&T West Region (CA, NV)

AT&T Southwest Region (AR, KS, MO, OK, TX)

o Manual process invoked based on customer request.

o AT&T notifies third-party billing customer (aggregator or service provider) to cease

submission of charges for the requesting end user’s account.

o AT&T monitors and imposes fines if third-party billing customer continues to submit

charges for the requesting end user’s account after bill block request was issued.

Your Service Can?t Be Terminated

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cramming.html

Consumers writing to ConsumerAffairs.com have expressed the concern that their local telephone service would be cut off if they refused to pay an unauthorized third-party charge. It can?t be.

"The Federal Communications Commissions, through the Truth-In-Billing Act, requires telephone companies to clearly show on their bills which charges are 'miscellaneous,' and to cooperate with consumers who dispute them," said Kurt DeSoto, a communications attorney with Wiley, Rein & Fielding, a powerhouse Washington, D.C., firm that includes at least one former FCC commissioner among its partners.

Failure to pay a disputed "miscellaneous" change on a phone bill cannot, under the Truth In Billing Act, be grounds for termination of service, as long as all other legitimate charges are paid. The first step a consumer should take is to call the local telephone business office and speak to a customer service representative.