BELL SAYS PROGRAM IS HELPING REDUCE LONG-DISTANCE FRAUD

It is more difficult for long-distance telephone providers to "slam" or "cram" their customers.

Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. says telephone slamming complaints in Missouri have dropped over the past year and could drop more following introduction of a Southwestern Bell program to fight slamming.

Slamming is the deceptive and illegal practice of a long-distance provider switching a customer without the customer's permission. Cramming adds additional services to a customer's bill without the customer's permission.

Under the new program, Southwestern Bell automatically notifies customers when long-distance provider changes are submitted. The company sends an automated message to residential customers whose service provider is changed. Customers then have the option of dialing a toll-free number to speak with a customer-service representative if they have questions about the change.

The service has been activated throughout Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma following a successful pilot project in Texas.

Southwestern Bell does billing for a number of long-distance providers in a five-state area and must be notified by long-distance providers of any changes.

In a number of cases where provider switches have been made, the customers sometimes pay a phone bill or two before noticing the change. The new service makes the consumer immediately aware of a provider change.

"The new, automatic notification system empowers customers to protect their choice of providers," said Corynne Davis of the company. "We believe that customers have the right to choose their providers and to have their choices respected."

The notification system runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. four days a week. Notification attempts begin the day after change orders are received.

Southwestern Bell also conducts a "Hang Up on Slamming" education campaign to alert customers of the slamming practice. The company urges telephone customers to inspect their bills closely and watch for any changes or additional charges.

Phone slammers often disguise authorization forms as contest entry forms that may show up at local fairs and other events. By signing up for what they think is a free prize, people may actually be signing a consent form for a change in long-distance carriers, telephone officials said.

Slamming complaints have been continually decreasing in Missouri since September 1997. It is the first significant drop Southwestern Bell has recorded since the slamming problem emerged three years ago.

In Illinois, telephone customers have extra protection from companies switching their long-distance carriers or billing them for unwanted services, thanks to anti-slamming and anti-cramming legislation signed recently by Gov. Jim Edgar. The new law requires customers to be notified within 10 days if a new service is added or a company switched. It also forbids the use of sweepstakes in conjunction with soliciting changes to a customer's telephone service.

The law gives the Illinois Commerce Commission more power to investigate complaints and order fines or refunds. Violators are subject to fines up to $1,000 to be paid into the Public Utility Fund. The ICC also has the ability to revoke a carrier's authorization to do business in Illinois.