Fat Finger Dialing

Fat Finger Dialing (Fat Fingers Trap, Knockoff Numbers)
How did my phone bill get so high? Someone took advantage of my fat finger dialing.Slang in the telecommunications industry for the practice of misdialing or misspelling phone numbers. Fat finger dialing scams take advantage of customers whose fingers are too large for the tiny buttons on the telephones. Other victims include the disabled, the dyslexic, the hearing impaired, children, the poor, and people who don’t speak English well. For example, a customer might unintentionally dial 1 (800) COLLETC, 1 (800) CULLECT, or 1 (800) CALLECT, instead of 1 (800) COLLECT. Class action lawsuits have been filed against several companies that intentionally own knockoff numbers that are just digits away from popular 1 (800) phone numbers. One company owns 90 knockoff numbers to siphon off calls intended for competing long distance carriers. Additional deceptive business practices include using gongs or tones to answer the phone call that are similar to the ones used by major phone companies. A recording or an operator quickly mumbles the brief name of the company that sounds similar to a major phone company. The consumer is not warned that the per-minute billing rate and a separate connection rate are three or four times higher than the customer anticipated. The bill sends disputes to a clearinghouse rather than a phone company. After a painfully long wait on hold and a lengthy conversation, a partial credit may be offered, but not an amount satisfactory to the consumer.
“Misdial at Your Peril; Lawsuit Highlights ‘Fat Fingers’ Trap for 800 Numbers”, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, May 17, 2002, http://newsjournalonline.com/2002/
May/17/NOTE7.htm.