business

Minnesota Attorney Lori Swanson Monday petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to ban unauthorized third party charges on telephone bills, a practice known as cramming.

Cramming is on the rise and government regulators estimate that 15 million to 20 million American households receive crammed charges on their wireline bills each year. One FCC study found that only 20 of 17,384 consumers used the third party service they were billed for.

MIKE HUGHLETT