Onto a Waste Watch report, next time you pay your cell phone bill, you might want to take a closer look at a charge called a universal access or service fee.
It's money you pay every month so that people can have free cell phones. Now, a new report shows that your money might have been wasted.
"I have about six in my purse right now," stated Monique Crawford.
It's been almost a year since Monique Crawford first told us about her purse full of free cell phones
"Each and everyone of these phones work, and I know I have about 30 at home and all of them are on," Crawford continued.
A cellular cache obtained through a federal program called lifeline funded by a charge on your cell phone bill that has handed out free phones to nearly 18 million people already receiving federal assistance.
A program originally intended to ensure everyone has access to 911 service, but even Crawford admitted was being abused.
"How long did it take you to get these phones?" we asked her.
"Five minutes to get this one, and I walked out with it just now," Crawford commented.
And it's abuse that comes with a hefty price tag. Annual spending on lifeline has nearly tripled since 2008 from $800 million to $2.2 billion last year.
"It's clearly not what the law was originally intended to do," Congressman Tim Griffin of Arkansas commented.
But now new details reveal a program even more troubled
"There was no question there was a lot of waste and abuse," Wall Street Journal Deputy Bureau Chief Spencer Ante said.
In a story published last week by the Wall Street Journal, findings of an FCC audit which reveals some stunning numbers.
Roughly two million people who already received free phones could not prove they were eligible.
"When I talked to a lot of the companies in the industry everyone expected about 15 to 20 percent to be weeded out, the fact that it was more than twice that was that was pretty surprising," Ante added.
That's roughly forty percent of the recipients queried by the FCC.
“A lot of people ended up getting signed up for the program who weren't really eligible to be on it," one person addressed.
A tally so significant, the federal agency stepped up efforts to reign in abuse shortly after the report was published. This week they started sending out notices to people who had received more than one phone
"Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the program is duplicate accounts, people had multiple lifelines services from the same company," Ante continued.
Including some who had up to ten phones registered to the same addresses.
It's a move Wall Street Journal reporter Spencer Ante says the FCC hopes will result in big savings.
“They expect that over the next three years that over $2 billion in waste and fraud can be cut," Ante.
Cutbacks supported by congressman Tim Griffin, who introduced legislation last year to eliminate cell phones from the lifeline program altogether.
A bill that has stalled. Back on the streets of Baltimore, residents are skeptical that a crackdown will work.
“Not everybody is going to do the right thing,” Crawford commented.
For some, getting free phones is simply too easy.
"I could go to the same place tomorrow and get another phone,” Crawford commented.
The FCC said they expected to issue more citations to people who abuse the program next week.
It's money you pay every month so that people can have free cell phones. Now, a new report shows that your money might have been wasted.
"I have about six in my purse right now," stated Monique Crawford.
It's been almost a year since Monique Crawford first told us about her purse full of free cell phones
"Each and everyone of these phones work, and I know I have about 30 at home and all of them are on," Crawford continued.
A cellular cache obtained through a federal program called lifeline funded by a charge on your cell phone bill that has handed out free phones to nearly 18 million people already receiving federal assistance.
A program originally intended to ensure everyone has access to 911 service, but even Crawford admitted was being abused.
"How long did it take you to get these phones?" we asked her.
"Five minutes to get this one, and I walked out with it just now," Crawford commented.
And it's abuse that comes with a hefty price tag. Annual spending on lifeline has nearly tripled since 2008 from $800 million to $2.2 billion last year.
"It's clearly not what the law was originally intended to do," Congressman Tim Griffin of Arkansas commented.
But now new details reveal a program even more troubled
"There was no question there was a lot of waste and abuse," Wall Street Journal Deputy Bureau Chief Spencer Ante said.
In a story published last week by the Wall Street Journal, findings of an FCC audit which reveals some stunning numbers.
Roughly two million people who already received free phones could not prove they were eligible.
"When I talked to a lot of the companies in the industry everyone expected about 15 to 20 percent to be weeded out, the fact that it was more than twice that was that was pretty surprising," Ante added.
That's roughly forty percent of the recipients queried by the FCC.
“A lot of people ended up getting signed up for the program who weren't really eligible to be on it," one person addressed.
A tally so significant, the federal agency stepped up efforts to reign in abuse shortly after the report was published. This week they started sending out notices to people who had received more than one phone
"Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the program is duplicate accounts, people had multiple lifelines services from the same company," Ante continued.
Including some who had up to ten phones registered to the same addresses.
It's a move Wall Street Journal reporter Spencer Ante says the FCC hopes will result in big savings.
“They expect that over the next three years that over $2 billion in waste and fraud can be cut," Ante.
Cutbacks supported by congressman Tim Griffin, who introduced legislation last year to eliminate cell phones from the lifeline program altogether.
A bill that has stalled. Back on the streets of Baltimore, residents are skeptical that a crackdown will work.
“Not everybody is going to do the right thing,” Crawford commented.
For some, getting free phones is simply too easy.
"I could go to the same place tomorrow and get another phone,” Crawford commented.
The FCC said they expected to issue more citations to people who abuse the program next week.