Ymail.com, AT&T and third party billing

14 years ago

My AT&T personal phone bill is getting slammed with invalid, fraudulent, third party billing.

AT&T are quite nice about correcting the errors.

AT&T has traced it to an [invalid name]@ymail.com.

They say that even though my account has third party billing blocked several are somehow getting through anyway.

They say that hundreds of senior citizens who don't even have a computer are getting billed for an odyssey streaming radio monthly fee.

We are cooperating with AT&T and the state Public Utilities agencies who investigate these things.

Have you heard of this? Do you have any additional conjectures as to how to stop it?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
One more tidbit (And posting it will send this thread toward the bottom of the page.).

It has been discovered that the 'invalid name' associated with the ymail.com address is published along with my phone number and address in a printed white page phone directory. No clue as to why. The printer of the white pages reports that the invalid name has been associated with this number since I first got the number 2001.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
Third Party Providers cramming telephone users with false billings

this has been going on for a while now and ATT has set up their billing processes so that they do not stop it from happening, they should change their ways as well to try to get it stopped.
There are numerous pages of complaints of this type of thing happening if you just google the problem you see it.
If you have ATT you need to check every single line on your bill very very carefully and look for any charges you do not know about or understand and question them.
Related Discussions
phone for 13 yr old...oh my....
Q
Comments (10)
Arcy, I don't know if they still sell them but we bought ds13 a phone at Sam's. When my oldest got an iPhone (ugh…that's another story), we gave her basic phone to ds, mainly for him to use if he was out somewhere and needed a ride, etc. He didn't really "need" the phone but it was only an extra $10 to my bill (first two phones on our account are regular price, whatever, like $40/each, but then additional lines are only $10). His phone is only for calling/texting, no websurfing/etc. Well, shortly after we gave it to him, he had it in his pocket while we were at a lax tournament. He brought it down to the hotel pool where there was a team party going on and a friend pushed him into the pool. We tried to save the phone, but had no access to rice/etc right away, so it died. I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, but didn't need a new phone, so I used my upgrade to get him a new phone at Sam's Club. The salesgirl was easily able to use my upgrade for his phone, so it cost like $1 for the phone and she linked his phone number to it. Funny thing is… he NEVER uses the phone. He never remembers to bring it with him. If he does remember, it typically is out of battery b/c he forgets to charge it, or it's turned off for school and he doesn't remember to turn it on. As a result, I almost never can reach him on the darned thing. He really wants an iPhone b/c all his friends have them, but he does not need one. He is required by his school to have an iPad so he has all the features of the iPhone as long as he has wifi. So, no iPhone for him b/c he does not need 24 hr access to the internet…he can use his iPad at home, at school and even at Starbucks LOL. Wearybuilder, I'm sure there must be other options for you, like a pay as you go phone or whatever…the kind you buy minutes for. I do know that when I added dd to my account, it did cost about $40/mth for her line, and that was just for unlimited texts and calls. That is with Verizon-first two lines cost the same, then any additional are only $10 on the plan I have. Dh's phone is paid for through his work, so I sucked up the $40 to add her. Now she has an iPhone so she has a data plan also that adds to the price, but when I added the third line for ds, it was only $10 for him. Incidentally, when I went to get the iPhone for dd, I went to the Verizon store. They would only sell me this package deal that came with all these accessories she didn't need. They said they were required to sell them that way! I knew that I could easily get an iPhone from the Apple Storeand told them so, but the Verizon guys said their hands were tied. So they lost a sale. I went to Apple and bought the phone there (she was due an upgrade so I didn't have to pay a fortune for the phone). The downside was that by buying from Apple vs. Verizon, she couldn't keep her phone number and had to get a new one and it wasn't a good number. I kept her old number anyway b/c I knew I'd be using it for ds but his voicemail still has dd's message on it b/c she can't remember the password to change it, LOL.
...See More
Did you have a land line put into your kitchen?
Q
Comments (70)
What a fascinating thread! It was like traveling back in time. I had NO idea this many people still use or have landlines! Or that so many places in the U.S. don't get cell reception! So, a few things about me. I have always lived on the west coast. Since the age of 13 I have always lived in a major metropolitan area, yep, I'm a city girl! :-) I'm 55 now. I haven't had a landline since 1998, and have never once wished I did. Oh, I should probably mention that I really dislike talking on the phone, except with a very few relatives and my best friend. And fax and answering machines? OMG NO! LOL!! I have had to fax something twice in the past two decades, both to the east coast. I went down to Staples and faxed. Both times together cost less than $5. I would never consider an answering machine. I'm about to dump my voice mail. We have a saying here, "Friends don't let friends leave voice mail." If you want to tell me something, text it. My kids and friends text, so the only voice mail I get is from businesses, like reminder calls from my doctor. I almost never have my ringer on; I see my texts come up on my iPad or computer, and I check them maybe once a day, unless it's my kids or best friend. Clients for my business contact me via email, and for my business that is the usual protocol. I have unlimited talk and text and it's not that expensive. I pay $20 a month to be able to talk for an hour to people in Zambia. And I have a good data plan because I use it all the time on my phone or iPad when I'm away from my home. The house I just bought is out in the tulies! 20 minutes from downtown Spokane, which is not a major metropolitan area in my book (but don't say that out loud here or you'll be verbally whiplashed! Lol) I lived in that house for the entire month of September as a house guest, so I have ascertained that it has very reliable internet and cell phone coverage. I would not have bought it if it didn't. I don't have a TV or want one. If I want to watch something, I can get it on Amazon, YouTube, or PBS on my computer. We don't have the kinds of natural disasters people in other parts of the country do. If I lived in an area that had hurricanes, tornados, massive snow storms, earthquakes, then I'd definitely consider a land line. But I always keep my cell charged up, and my iPad too. I also have one of those portable battery chargers and will probably get another one. One person mentioned above that her gas range kept the neighbors in hot meals during a power outage. That's one of the reasons I'm getting a wood burning stove. My joints don't like it when I get cold (arthritis)! The house will stay warm and I can heat up food with a wood burning stove. (The other reason is to save money on the power bill.) One of our fellow commenters, Sophie, mentioned a generator. I'm going to look into that, but I think it will be too expensive for my budget. And if I use up all the portable chargers, I can charge my phone and iPad in the car, if I can get to the car. And if the roads are usable, I can go charge stuff up anywhere. Interestingly, third world countries that are greatly expanding phone service are doing so with cell phones. China, for example, will never have to bear the expense of stringing phone lines all over the country. In Zambia, cell reception is excellent, but landlines are unreliable. Cell towers are cheaper than phone lines. My dad was born in 1919. When he was in high school he was on the debate team. One year the topic was: Rural electrification: should the government pay to have electricity brought out to rural areas? My oh my how times have changed! :-)
...See More
Buying a new Smartphone
Q
Comments (49)
mtv, back in the day, it was generally cheaper to buy your phone outright rather than to subsidize the phone. When you subsidized, you paid the $100 or $200 up front, but the rest of the cost of your phone was built into your phone plan/contract. When you get to the end of your contract, the you've paid off the phone. The trouble with how that use to work, is that when you pay off your phone, your plan doesn't go down, so you were still paying more for that phone cost for no benefit. You would religiously need to update at the end of your contract to not throw money away. But, now most contracts are on the phone, and not your plan. So when you pay off your phone cost, your monthly premiums reduce, also why you normally don't have to switch plans when to get a new phone subsidy anymore. Depending on that monthly cost, you're typically going to spend the same paying up front via monthly payments. The difference maker is going to be device sales, and reduce priced phones (like older phones, or refurbished).
...See More
Your work profession: what do/or did you?
Q
Comments (78)
Librarian - the best job ever. I loved helping people and found it interesting and varied. I enjoyed the search aspect best - digging through the collection to find the answer or piece of information that someone needed. My first position was in the Music department at my University. After we married and moved to Philly I worked for the Free Library in one of the research departments. One of my favorite duties was working on what we called 'Unanswered Reference Questions.' We kept a file of queries that we either couldn't solve or lacked the reference material that might provide the answer. After a few years in the main library I moved to a large Regional branch and then became head of my own branch. When I had kids I stopped working but when they were young I volunteered in their school libraries and later worked as a medical librarian for a hospital. Maire
...See More
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
ps
one thing you can and should do immediately is call ATT and tell them to put a 3rd party block on your account. It may not always work but it will stop some of them, till it slips through again, but seems about all you can do for now.
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
I've the third party block and AT&T was first to note as did ravencajun above, that it don't work with these ymail.com cases.

Does anyone here know if there is a relationship between ymail.com and yahoo?
mikie_gw
14 years ago
I use yahoo online mail and can access it instantly because of my Yahoo.com cookie at each of the following;
mail.yahoo.com
www.ymail.com
www.rocketmail.com

ymail is yahoo email and rocket mail too but the user accounts maybe different,, your billybob@yahoo.com is a different account from billbob@ymail.com ,,, unless billybob accounts were opened on both by you.

Rocketmail is yahoo mail too.
bbbluz ~ DonnaB
14 years ago
Yahoo on June 19, 2008 announced the tripling of the size of its free online email service with the launching of 2 domains as options for its 266 million users of "@yahoo.com" addresses: the new, simpler e-mail addresses ending in ymail.com and rocketmail.com.

Never leave your phone # behind on anything that you fill out on the internet. If they leave you no other option, back out!

bbbluz
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
bbbluz is correct of course: "Never leave your phone # behind on anything that you fill out on the internet. If they leave you no other option, back out!"

The irony in this case is the bogus name, my number and my address were published in a freely distributed white pages.
bbbluz ~ DonnaB
14 years ago
Hi albert,
Thank-you for the compliment. I have learned from experience. Here are 2 more things to think about; My son decided that he was going to sign up on-line for free groceries. He used my phone #. Well, after clicking whatever looked interesting to him in the ads that led him to the initial regeristering for the free groceries, they had sent payment requests as 3rd party billings to Verizon. I learned fast about 3rd party blocks.
And, several years ago, maybe 15, I had recieved my phone bill. It had a charge on there for the amount of over $800. I called the phone company, and they told me that I was responsible, because someone had used the phone from my house to call some Entertainment Hotline! The call was placed at 04:30!!? No one at this time would have been awake at my house. All the teenagers were elsewhere at the time,also. I had them redirect the bill back to where it came from, to get it off my bill, which they did. I never did recieve the bill from whoever it was returned to. But, a few months later, I found out from the TV Program 20/20 that people were capable of obtaining your home phone through a dial-up system on their computer that would dial your number at random, connect when you answered, and copy the number to be used at a later time for their personal enjoyment. Isn't technology wonderful?
Have a great day! bbbluz
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
bbbluz and I can hopefully deal with our third party billing problems for now.

However, can you imagine how bewildered those senior citizens who don't even have computers and are getting billed for an odyssey streaming radio monthly fee must be?
bbbluz ~ DonnaB
14 years ago
albert, What is really bewildering, is the fact that there are so many surcharges on the phone bill, that if you don't know WHAT to look for, you can pay for months on end before you realize that you have been dubbed. Some companies will only payback to a period of 2 months.It is very important that you read and understand what charges are for what on your phone bill. Don't be afraid to call your provider to find this out. No one likes to talk to a cold voice, and it can sometimes take quite some time to get through to a real person. But, weighing the difference from experience. I'll learn to be patient. bbbluz
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
Crooks changed their ymail address and did it again.

ISP of fraudulent billing is Charter.

Frauds have been reported to all government regulators we know about.

AT&T are quite willing to admit they know all about it.

So - the great mystery now seems to is why AT&T cannot stop others from putting stuff on their billing statements.
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author
14 years ago
The state has cut off all funds to the consumer protection division of the attorneys general offices so now, insofar as I know, no one is legally working on this problem

Ymail.com, AT&T and third party billing

Comments (12)

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

Related Discussions

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

mikie_gw

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Ymail.com, AT&T and third party billing

Comments (12)

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

Related Discussions

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

mikie_gw

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

bbbluz ~ DonnaB

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
Original Author