For years, Clark has taken calls from people who have fallen victim to cram charges. These are phony charges applied to phone bills – usually businesses – that go undetected because bills are so hard to understand. Well, it turns out that the Gambino crime family has been behind this scam, according to the New York Times. Only in America could the mob get involved with local phone companies and add phony charges to your bill. The phone industry claims that FCC regulations require them to provide billing services for everyone who wants a phone in their home or business. But the local phone company has taken a big cut of this cramming action. Law enforcement claims that about a quarter of a billion dollars has been stolen. So, how did it work? In some cases, the mob sent out almost exact replicas of phone bills from made-up phone companies. For instance, the legitimate company may be Southwestern Bell. The phony bill, which looked almost identical, came from “Southwestern Bill,” and claimed that the company needed immediate payment or their phone service would be cut off. People got scared and paid. About a half a dozen people have been arrested. But the majority of the money was siphoned through the local phone companies, which allowed the charges to go through. So, you need to read your bill each month and challenge charges that don’t look right to you. If you see “unregulated charges,” it’s a red flag that could indicate you are being charged unnecessarily. Don’t just accept what they send you.