Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Slams Sprint for Partnering with Third Parties to Cram Consumers Mobile Bills with Unauthorized Charges

On December 17, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) filed a lawsuit slamming Sprint Corporation for illegally billing wireless consumers tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges and ignoring consumer complaints about the practice. The Bureau’s complaint alleges that Sprint operated a billing system that allowed third parties to “cram” charges on customers’ mobile-phone accounts and then ignored complaints about the charges. The CFPB seeks refunds for affected consumers and penalties to deter cramming in the future. “Today we are suing Sprint for allowing illegal charges to be crammed onto consumers’ wireless bills,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Consumers ended up paying tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges, even though many of them had no idea that third parties could even place charges on their bills. As the use of mobile payments grows, we will continue to hold wireless carriers accountable for illegal third-party billing.”