JACKSON — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says the state is getting $358,269 from Verizon Wireless and Sprint in a settlement of charges that the mobile giants allowed phony charges on their customers’ monthly bills so they could keep a cut of the profit.
The two mobile providers had partnered with third-party vendors that sell premium text messaging services, such as daily horoscopes, trivia and sports scores. But consumers who hadn’t signed up for the services were being billed anyway.
Regulators investigated after receiving numerous complaints that the carriers had refused to refund the charges. The companies said Tuesday they had stopped allowing premium text messaging before the investigation began.
Hoods says Mississippi has received a total of $846,136 from settlements with Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile dating back to last year.
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