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The FTC filed a complaint seeking permanent injunction...

The FTC filed a complaint seeking permanent injunction against Lin Miao and Andrew Bachman, and companies they own, for allegedly placing charges on wireless subscriber bills in violation of federal law. “Defendants have been engaging in a widespread scheme to…

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place unauthorized third-party charges on consumers’ mobile phone bills, a harmful and illegal practice known as ‘cramming,'” the FTC said (http://1.usa.gov/1bLidqK). “Defendants have been operating a scam in which they have been billing consumers for text message-based subscription services even though the consumers did not authorize any purchase of the services.” Mobile subscribers targeted by the companies have been charged for celebrity gossip alerts, “fun facts,” horoscopes and “similar kinds of information,” the FTC said. Many subscribers paid their bills without noticing the charges, the agency said.