USANews版 - 电话公司被obama phone program的滥用激怒了 |
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l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Phone Company ‘Outraged’ By Fraud, Abuse In ‘Obamaphone’ Program
DENVER (CBS4) – A nationwide cellphone company distributing phones and
cellphone plans in Denver as part of a massive government program says it is
“outraged by the unacceptable actions” uncovered by a CBS4 undercover
investigation.
The response from Total Call Mobile comes nearly three months after an
undercover CBS4 investigation revealed multiple examples of fraud and
cheating in the phone distribution program.
The Lifeline program is aimed at providing free cellphone service to the
poor and needy. It handed out more than 13 million free cellphone plans in
the first six months of 2014. In Colorado, the program handed out more than
117,000 free cellphone plans in the first half of 2014 or about 20,000
cellphones every month.
If you own a cellphone, you pay for the free phones and their wireless plans
via a monthly tax on your cellphone called the Universal Service Tax.
Although the Lifeline wireless program has been around since 2005 and
started under President George W. Bush, it ballooned under President Obama
and the phones are often referred to as Obamaphones.
To qualify for one of the cellphone plans, you have to be low income — on
food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance or some other government program.
But multiple times a CBS4 producer and reporter found phone agents in Denver
circumventing strict government rules to ensure that only the truly needy
get the free phones. Vendors, like Total Call, receive massive government
subsidies to hand out the phones and the accompanying monthly plans.
RELATED: Government’s Free Phone Program Riddled With Abuse, Fraud
In one case a Total Call agent used someone else’s food stamp card to
provide eligibility for a CBS4 producer. On another occasion another Total
Call agent said it would be perfectly fine to use a friend’s food stamp
card to establish eligibility and obtain a free phone.
In a letter to CBS4, Total Call has now responded saying, “Total Call
Mobile is outraged by the unacceptable actions shown in the broadcast. The
broadcast depicted both agents and applicants seeking to improperly
participate in the Lifeline program. They were both engaged in fraudulent
activity … to enroll in the Lifeline program among other improper actions.”
Phone company representatives talk to people seeking phones under the
Lifeline program. (credit: CBS)
Phone company representatives talk to people seeking phones under the
Lifeline program. (credit: CBS)
The company said based on the CBS4 report it would be providing evidence of
wrongdoing to “the appropriate governmental authorities. Regarding the
incorrect or improper statements by agents that were brought to our
attention in your broadcast, all of the agents that were distributing for
Total Call Mobile have been identified and their access to our system has
been permanently blocked.”
The cellphone company said following the revelations in the CBS4 report it
would implement new protocols to eliminate the fraud and abuse uncovered by
CBS4. One of those new steps is a Total Call Mobile Fraud Tip Hotline, 1-800
-589-6316.
The company is asking the public to let it know of any improper activity
with regard to Lifeline applications submitted to Total Call.
CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years
uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4. | m********8
发帖数: 7463 | 2 没见谁怒啊？大多数米国人都狠哈皮。
你们地富反坏右怒也没用哈。舍不得个破手机，就得不到江山社稷。 这个道理本侠说
过一遍又一遍了 |
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