RIP-OFF ALERT: Cell phone companies have been engaging in a practice that's been ripping you off! It's happening most often to those who have an add-a-phone service (where you add a friend or family member to your plan.) The industry is making huge money doing 3rd-party billing for "services" that other companies claim they've provided you -- services such as ring tones, joke-of-the-day texts, etc. The cell phone company gets such a large commission for doing this kind of billing, that they've been purposely deceptive about the practice. The Cyberfraud Task Force of the State of Florida went after AT&T for billing their customers for services that they'd advertised as being free. The settlement was over $10 million, for Floridians alone.

Clark knows that cell phone bills are impossible to understand. Clark's last cell phone bill was 56 pages long! But Clark goes through it page-by-page each month. About once every four months he'll find something that's not legit. (Most recently, he found a $2.95 charge for a ring tone that the provider's website claimed was free - but they lied.)

The cell phone companies have no incentive to clean up their act, since it's such a cash cow for them. And according to Smart Money magazine, they go out of their way to make these charges hard to find on your bill. Therefore, Clark says he needs YOU to be the cop for your own phone bill. Look for deceptive terms such as "Premium Content", or "Direct Bill Charge" (sometimes referred to as "DBC" on your bill.)

RIP-OFF ALERT: The FTC has announced the largest-ever bust of telemarketers as part of its “Operation Tele-PHONEY.”

Here’s the scoop: Scammers were trying to sell people all kinds of things over the phone, from advance fee loans to big savings on Rx to magazine subscriptions to household products for seniors. Though they were many independent telemarketers, the common thread here is that they all sought to get your checking account information. Once they had it, they would bill you and try to empty out your account.

The banking industry continues to have zero security in place for drafts on your account. A legitimate person trying to cash a hardcopy check will be put through the ringer at bank. But if you just have an account number and present a draft, they’ll pay it no questions asked. This is a true Achilles’ heel that can easily be exploited by criminals.

The takeaway is simple: Never give out your check routing number over the phone or on the web. Pay via money order if you’re dealing with a collection agency. Sure, you may pay a nominal fee to do so, but this is the only truly safe way to settle up your debt.

There's something brewing right now that Clark considers akin to a national scandal. The cell phone companies are in cahoots with rip-off artists and they're stealing your money. Here's the background: Do you recall back in the landline days when people were falling victim to "The Cram"? Phone companies would bill them for fake charges attributed to a "marketing" company. These bogus fees would pop up on a page of unregulated charges on a monthly bill. The phone companies would get a cut of the action when they teamed up with these 3rd party aggregators who initiated the charges. Many people would pay year after year without questioning because they were so confused by their bills.

Now this same garbage is popping up with cell phones. The cell carriers are doing courtesy billing for 3rd party crooks that push a variety of messaging services. And of course they're getting a cut of the money once again. People are getting burned in 2 ways, actually, because cell companies are also raising the cost of text messaging. This is a virtually free transaction for them, yet they're raising rates to as high as 20 cents/text message. People are being billed for messaging services they never signed up for. For example, Clark is getting spam text messages ads. The cell carriers love this -- especially if you're not on an unlimited texting plan -- because every spam message is more money for them. If the history of "The Cram" is any indication, the FCC probably won't get involved for several more years. So you must take the responsibility of reviewing your cellular statement page by page every month. Many people just get their bill charged to their credit card every month and never see a statement. Don't be one of them! Get a paper statement and scrutinize it. This is war. They think they can get away with stealing your money, but they can only do so if you allow it.

Through the years, some con artists have gotten rich by selling people swamp land in Florida. They were really selling people a dream, and they found a way to get them to suspend belief and buy the land without seeing it. The new equivalent of swampland in Florida is desert land in Utah. The New York Times reports that charges will be filed against cons who sold parcels in Utah over the phone and Internet to people in the United States, Europe and Australia. The land was supposedly adjacent to a very metropolitan city. But when people would go to Utah to see their new homestead, they'd find that the city didn't even exist! Worse still, the land they'd purchased could not be developed.

This new twist on the old rip-off scheme started when cons learned about a Utah land rush and bought up property that couldn't be developed. Then they subdivided the land and sold five-acre spreads to rip people off. Clark has two simple rules to follow when buying land. First, never buy property without first seeing it. Second, make sure the land has water rights or it's going to be useless to you. This second caveat is especially important if you're buying in one of the mountain states. The New York Times article was cute in a way, according to Clark. They sent a reporter to find one of these "conveniently located" parcels in Utah. The reporter got to the location -- some 150 miles away from Brigham City -- and found an area where the only inhabitants were a snake, a beetle and a lot of large ants! Let the buyer beware!

There are “moisture” strips inside cell phones that show whether your phone has gotten wet or been submerged. Cell phone companies use these like law to void your warranty and deny you repair service. The cell companies claim they are “foolproof,” but in fact, according to the New York Post, they are faulty lots of times. It’s been proven that just by putting a damp cloth next to the phone, you can change the color of the strip! So if you have a problem with your cell phone, and you were told your warranty is void because you got it wet (when you know you really didn’t), here’s what Clark recommends. Find an old cell phone you’re not using anymore, take it back to the store, put a damp cloth near the strip on the battery, and prove to them right there that the strip is not accurate!

One scam that has become more sophisticated recently is the "pump and dump" scenario. In this scam, you will get a phone call, e-mail, letter, or fax offering you a tip about a hot stock. The tip is false! Many companies fall on hard times but fill out a public registration statement so that they can issue the stock to the people. They are worthless -- a "shell" company. Criminals will buy stock in such companies and put out false press releases, phone calls and e-mails about the investment opportunity. People will then buy this stock, and the price will rise. Then, the criminals sell their share for many more times what they paid. However, there was one "pump and dump" scam that was so over the top that the criminals got caught. In Florida, the criminals called and left voicemails around the country, pretending that the call was for someone else about an insider tip. So when you get information touting a hot stock, be on guard! You might just get scammed! Instead, Clark says you always have to do your homework and research a company thoroughly before investing.

Almost 70 million people have signed up for the “Do Not Call” list. It’s been one of the most popular initiatives that the federal government has put into place. But telemarketers have been trying to figure out a way around the list ever since it went into effect. And, the lobbyists representing these telemarketers are apparently pretty powerful. They have been trying to sneak through an amendment to the law and they’ve convinced the FTC and the FCC to hear a petition about it. The petition would allow companies to leave pre-recorded “spam blitzes” on your voicemail or answering machine. The Feds have put up a complaint form for you to fill out, but what they say above it can be quite confusing. That’s ok, because all you need to remember is you don’t want the FTC to permit these phone calls. You don’t have to enter your address or much information at all, so you needn’t worry about being tracked or contacted. But please let your voice be heard. To get to the complaint, click here! Also, if you haven’t registered yet for the Do Not Call list, it’s not too late. Go to donotcall.gov and register every phone number you have.

Do you remember the big fight over the national "Do Not Call" list? Telemarketers went berserk filing lawsuits and griping about all the jobs they would lose when the list went into effect. The telemarketing industry even went took the issue to the Supreme Court, claiming it would cost the country 2 million jobs. So, how many people have actually lost their jobs? USA Today researched this topic and couldn’t find any jobs that have been lost. So, basically there has been no job loss, and more peace and quiet in our homes. The next time the industry squeals about all the jobs it is losing, just close your ears.

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Clark is excited to say that the public has responded with great enthusiasm to the Federal “Do Not Call” list. Since Clark first started talking about the list last year, about 60 percent of the American public has signed up. That was in spite of several court challenges that stalled the process. So, how it’s working so far? Of the people who have signed up, one in four have not received a single telemarketing call. That’s huge. A little more than half say they still get some calls, but it is far less than before. So, junk phone calls are severely reduced. And, only five percent of people say the system has not worked for them. Clark wants to convince the other 40 percent of the public to sign up. That should be enough, don’t you think? So, how do you do it? Go to donotcall.gov and register your phone number. You then receive an e-mail confirmation that you must respond to, and your calls should stop in a few months. IT’S NOT TOO LATE!