Advertisement
Over the past two months, he has been charged for more than $1,000 in international calls he didn't make, to a place he'd never heard of — Sao Tome.
He called the phone company to dispute the January bill. Several conversations later, about $800 in disputed charges for that month were dropped.
But he's still on the hook for more than $300, including taxes, for February calls to the same number in Sao Tome, which is the capital city of the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, islands in the Gulf of Guinea on the west side of Africa.
Reikowski is apparently the victim of an Internet scam in which closing one of those pop-up ads actually downloads a program that captures the user's phone number and uses it to ring up very expensive calls.
"When I received my first bill I almost had a heart attack,'' said Reikowski, 37, of Holmen.
Angry about the ordeal and unwilling to pay for calls he didn't make, he wanted to publicize his plight, hoping other victims can chip in and hire an attorney to get their money back and put an end to the scam.
Reikowski won't have to go that route, though. About 30 similar complaints have been filed in the past year with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, said Glen Loyd, public information officer.
The federal government is looking into the scam, he said Wednesday. "We have worked up a case and passed it on to the FTC, and their case is still active.''
Reikowski appears to be a victim of a practice called "modem hijacking,'' said Kim Valiquette, regional public relations manager for CenturyTel. The company provides both Internet and telephone service to Reikowski's home.
"Basically, it's a Web scam,'' she said, and not one that Internet service providers can prevent. Providing access to the Internet is like having a ramp onto a freeway, and scammers can't be prevented from driving on, she said.
Internet users need to be very careful so as not to click on the wrong item, Valiquette said. "You might download something you may not normally consent to. While the Internet is wonderful, it can also include places you don't want to go.''
She said waiving long-distance fees for victims of modem hijacking isn't as easy as it sounds.
When someone makes a phone call, it's not just the local provider that incurs costs, Valiquette said. Other companies that own lines along the way charge for their services. "We are billed for those charges and pass them on to customers.''
So when fees are waived, the company is left paying, she said.
Reikowski was billed $7.29 a minute for the calls to Sao Tome. The first charge was incurred
Jan. 18, a Sunday. Reikowski said he's pretty sure he was online that day, but not at the time indicated on his phone bill.
There were three more calls to Sao Tome on Jan. 20, each for 21 minutes, each carrying a charge of $153. He wasn't online at the time the supposed calls were made, said Reikowski.
He said he has limited his Internet use since the problem began and talked to CenturyTel about putting a block on international calls from his line.
But he's still worried that the scammers have rung up more costly calls on his account. The next bill arrives about April 8.
Joe Buttweiler can be reached at (608) 791-8218 or jbuttweiler@lacrossetribune.com.
More information
If you have been the victim of Internet or other fraud, contact the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection at (800) 422-7128.
