Careless Dialing

Be very careful when placing a collect or other operator-assisted calls, or you or the party you are calling may end up paying a higher rate. The unexpected charges may come as a result of a new scheme involving "fat-finger dialing."

How it happens:

You place a call from a public phone or payphone, intending to use a service like 1-800-CALL-ATT or 1-800-COLLECT. But you misspell or hit an incorrect button when dialing. You accidentally dial something like 1-800-CALLAT.

You get connected to the party you wished to call, but the phone company that connects you is not the one you intended to use. Instead, it is a company that secures 800 numbers related to well-known ones. For example, a company secures the number "800-CALLAT".

The company banks on the possibility that you might accidentally misspell or misdial your intended number. Often, the company won't identify itself to you or the person receiving the collect call before connecting the call. The charges for the misdialed call are 2 to 3 times higher than it would have been.

Dial carefully so that you can avoid this problem. Listen to the handset while dialing the number to make sure you hit each number only once. If you are not sure you dialed correctly, hang up and start again.

Click here to get more information about careless dialing.

You may file a complaint with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through their e-mail fccinfo@fcc.gov, website www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html, or by phone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322).