AT&T agreed to pay $105 million to settle claims that it charged customers for premium services they never requested, such as horoscopes, trivia or sports scores.
Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson says more than half a million Washingtonians may have been affected by the practice, called “cramming.” In many cases, customers were charged $9.99 per month without their permission for third-party services like ringtones, wallpapers and text message subscriptions.
AT&T will pay $80 million to the Federal Trade Commission to refund customers nationwide who were charged unauthorized fees.
Current or former AT&T customers may apply for a refund by visiting www.ftc.gov/att.
The wireless carrier is also paying $20 million to the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as $5 million to the FCC as a penalty.
Washington state received $807,314 for its participation in the agreement, according to Ferguson.