Florida Attorney General and Phone Card Companies Reach a Settlement

I reported back in August of last year that the Florida Attorney General's office was investigating numerous prepaid phone card providers for false and deceptive advertising. Well the issue has finally been settled, with the companies involved (IDT, UTA, Total Call, Dollar Phone, CVT Prepaid, Cristel, and Alternatel) all agreeing to stop the deceptive practices.

As part of the settlement, the phone card companies will be required to deliver the minutes advertised on their cards and fully disclose any fees in the language of which the product is advertised. They also have to make the fee disclosure more prominent on the store point of sale materials and will be subject to close monitoring for the next 3 years. Also as part of the agreement the companies will need to repay the Florida Attorney General's office the more than 1 million dollars it cost them to investigate this issue. Not sure how the payments will be divided up between the companies but it will most likely be an even split.

While their have been many investigations launched recently by government agencies, this is the first one that I know of that has been settled!

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