AT&T is paid about $1.30 for each minute of all IP Relay calls it hosts, and the US government, which subsidizes the service, has paid the company handsomely for IP Relay calls that the DoJ says AT&T should have known were fraudulent. How handsomely? The DoJ says that such payments to AT&T have added up to “millions of dollars.”
In 2009, the Federal Communications Commission, aware that IP Relay fraud was rampant, began a program in which service providers such as AT&T were required to register users of the service, in an effort to cut down on illegal use of the system by foreign scammers, many of whom were located in – wait for it – Nigeria.
But when AT$T or Verizon cheats their customers or passess on some foolish charge just try to see if the government will help out the little guy.
via AT&T profiting from Nigerian scammers, DoJ charges • The Register.