Clark often hears from people who’ve gotten ripped off on collect call charges. The three big companies – AT&T, MCI and Sprint – destroy people on collect call charges. According to a survey by Consumer Action, a 10-minute collect call will cost you $14.89 with Sprint; MCI will charge $14.80; AT&T will charge $13.89 for the call. In short, just under $1.50 a minute. What about if you used a calling card? An MCI credit card will cost you about $14 for 10 minutes. AT&T will charge just under $12, and Sprint charges just under $10. With a pre-paid calling card, however, it will cost you 29 cents with MCI. So, the first thing to remember is that you should never accept a collect call! Secondly, get a pre-paid phone card for your loved ones. You can buy them at all of the warehouse clubs, and now many of the discount stores are selling them for three or four cents a minute. The third area to protect yourself in is with regular long distance charges. The average price of a long distance call is up 55 percent in the past four years, according to Consumer Action. On Clark’s site, you can find rates that are moving down steadily. You should be paying less than five cents for long distance and you should not be paying anyone a monthly fee. There is no reason to pay giant fees to the “Big Three.” And use your cell phone for long distance.