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Widespread Fraud By Calling Cards Exposed In First-Ever Report On U.S. Calling Habits To Trinidad And Tobago

San Francisco – September 7 – People in the U.S. who use international calling cards to stay in touch with family and friends in Trinidad and Tobago said they almost never get all of the calling minutes purchased, and that calling card fraud has cheated some of them by as much as $1,000.

The first-ever report on calling habits to Trinidad and Tobago from the U.S. revealed that 75.3% believe they received fewer minutes than promised by calling cards.  The average loss due to fraudulent cards was $90, the study found, but many respondents said the total sum lost was far greater.

Conducted during August 2010 by Rebtel, the first-ever research uncovered fascinating facts and findings on U.S. calling habits to Trinidad and Tobago.

Nearly two-thirds – 61.2% – of Rebtel calls to Trinidad and Tobago that originate in the U.S. go to family members; 36.5% go to friends; only 2.4% go to business associates. Calling rates are hands-down the most important aspect of international calling among survey respondents, with call quality second.

Among survey participants, 73.2% said Rebtel rates are better than alternatives for calling Trinidad and Tobago.  Almost 71% said Rebtel offers superior call quality.

For calling Trinidad and Tobago, 96.5% of survey respondents said they would recommend Rebtel to friends.

Release of the study coincides with dramatic rate reductions by Rebtel on calls to Trinidad and Tobago: a 72% cut on calls to landlines and up to 22% on calls to mobile phones.

Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Rebtel was established to give people around the world an alternative to rip-off phone cards’ rates for making international calls.

By: Alex Drewniak, September 9th, 2010 Tags: "calling cards", cheap calls, international calling, internet telephony, rebtel, Trinidad and Tobago, VoIP

Liberians And Ivoirians In U.S. Cheated By Calling Cards, Rebtel Study Reveals

San Francisco – September 10 – Liberians and Ivoirians in the U.S. who use international calling cards to stay in touch with family at home, said they almost never get all of the calling minutes purchased, and that calling card fraud has cheated some of them by as much as $2,000.

The first-ever report on calling habits to Liberia and the Ivory Coast from the U.S. found that 90.9% of Liberians, and 82.2% of Ivoirians believe they receive fewer minutes than promised by calling card providers.  The average loss due to fraudulent cards was $125, the study found, but many respondents said the total sum lost was far greater.

Conducted last month by Rebtel, the first-ever research uncovered fascinating findings on U.S. calling habits to Liberia and the Ivory Coast.

Nearly 80% of Rebtel calls to the Ivory Coast from the U.S. go to family members. Calling rates are most important to Ivoirians when it comes to international calls.  But call quality is No.1 for Liberians.

Of the Ivoirians participating in the survey, 62% said Rebtel rates are better than alternatives for calling home.  Approximately 89% of the Liberians who took the survey said Rebtel offers superior call quality.

Release of the study coincides with dramatic rate reductions by Rebtel on calls to the Ivory Coast and Liberia: a 20% cut on calls to landlines and up to 40% on calls to mobile phones.

Founded in 2006, Rebtel was established to give people around the world an alternative to rip-off rates for making international calls.

By: Alex Drewniak, September 9th, 2010 Tags: "calling cards", cheap calls, international calling, ivory coast, liberia, rebtel, VoIP

Nepalese In U.S. Cheated By Calling Cards

San Francisco – May 13, 2010 - Nepalese in the U.S. who use international calling cards to stay in touch with family at home said they often get only half the of the calling minutes purchased, and that calling card fraud has cheated some of them by as much as $1,000.

The first-ever report on U.S. calling habits to Nepal from the U.S. revealed that 68.6% of Nepalese in the U.S. believe they received fewer minutes than promised by calling card providers. The average loss due to fraudulent cards was $41, the study found, but many respondents said the total sum lost was far greater.

Conducted in the first four months of 2010 by Rebtel, the first-ever research uncovered fascinating facts and findings on U.S. calling habits to Nepal, birthplace of Buddha and home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest.

• Saturdays and Sundays are the days that most Nepalese abroad call home.
• The largest numbers of Rebtel calls from the U.S. to Nepal originate in Texas, Minnesota and California.
• The vast majority of calls go to mobile phones vs. landlines.
• Average duration of calls to Nepal from the U.S. is a brief 5.38 minutes.

Nearly all Rebtel calls to Nepal that originate in the U.S. – 91.6% – go to family members, 7.6% are to friends, and only a scant .8% go to business associates, according to the survey respondents. Call quality and ease of use are more important than lower rates when choosing international phone service, survey respondents said.

Top U.S. Cities Calling Nepal – January through April 2010:

1. Wichita, Kansas

2. New York City

3. Huntsville, Alabama

4. Minneapolis, Minnesota

5. Dallas, Texas

6. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

7. Peoria, Illinois

8. Omaha, Nebraska

9. Saint Cloud, Minnesota

10. Boston, Massachusetts

Of the Nepalese participating in the survey, 82% said Rebtel call quality was noticeably better than other phone services for calling family in Nepal, and 80.8% said Rebtel was easier to use.

“The most reliable and clear connections plus ease of use are what bring customers to Rebtel, but the reason people use our services day in and day out is our consistently competitive rates for staying connected with their loved ones back home,” said Andreas Bernström, Rebtel CEO. “That’s what Rebtel is really all about – and why 94.2 percent of our Nepalese customers recommend Rebtel to their friends.”

Release of the study coincides with dramatic rate reductions by Rebtel on calls to Nepal: a 24% cut on calls to landlines and 30% on calls to mobile phones.Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Rebtel was established to give people around the world an alternative to mobile operators’ rip-off rates for making international calls. Today, thousands of Nepalese in the U.S. use Rebtel every day to call family at home.Rebtel has been ranked No.1 in international calling by Technology Appraisals and has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and The International Herald Tribune for its unique calling service

By: Alex Drewniak, May 13th, 2010 Tags: "calling cards", nepal, phone cards, rebtel

Overseas Filipinos Cheated by Calling Cards Switch to Internet Calling

STOCKHOLM – March 18, 2010 – The average overseas Filipino has been cheated out of hundreds of dollars by calling cards that don’t deliver the minutes promised, according to new research by Rebtel, the Internet phone company used by more than 4 million people every day for their international calls.

Overseas Filipinos said they were cheated out of $500 on average by fraudulent calling cards, and many said they had been ripped off for up to $3,500 or more, according to Rebtel’s survey of more than 1,000 customers who regularly use Rebtel to call the Philippines.

As of December 2008 there were more than 7.5 million Filipinos working abroad, the most recent figures available from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Wikipedia puts the numbers between 8.7 million to 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11 percent of the total population of the Philippines.

Sick and tired of calling card fraud, overseas Filipinos said they switched to Internet-based calling services like Rebtel, that starting today lets them call home for just 0.109 USD/min to landlines, 0.129 USD/min to mobiles.

Of the Rebtel customers who previously used calling cards to stay in touch with calling family and friends at home, 61 percent said calling cards were not trustworthy and 72 percent said they regularly received fewer minutes than promised.

In contrast, 76 percent of survey respondents said Rebtel consistently offered lower rates than calling cards or other international calling services. And, because there are no special PIN numbers to remember or long international phone numbers to enter when using Rebtel, 83 percent of respondents said Rebtel was easier to use. Finally, 71 percent said call quality is better or much better with Rebtel than any of the cards or services the survey participants had used previously.

“No one makes calling the Philippines from 50 countries around the world easier, cheaper, or with better sound quality than Rebtel,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Stockholm-based Rebtel. “Call your family and friends at home and use any phone you like – mobile or landline. These are the world’s lowest calling rates to the Philippines, bar none.”

By: admin, March 18th, 2010 Tags: "calling cards", andreas bernstrom, Filipinos, internet telephony, philippines, POEAX, rebtel, VoIP

U.S. House of Representatives Pass Calling Card Legislation That Affects Panamanian Americans Calling Abroad

San Francisco – December 1, 2008 – On October 6th the U.S House of Representatives moved to force companies that sell or distribute prepaid calling cards to describe any fees associated with the cards on packaging and in advertising. The legislation declared that the calling card industry is “plagued by fraudulent and deceptive business practices,” and this new legislation is an attempt to combat that. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority. Since Panamanian Americans make up a sizeable percentage of international callers, this legislation will have a profound effect on them.

The legislation came after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an investigation into the industry. The investigation concluded that card companies only deliver an average of 60% of the minutes promised due to charges that are hidden from the consumer. National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg stated in testimony to the FTC, “[The calling card industry] is a ‘Wild West’ of sellers and merchants who too often prey upon the most vulnerable consumers by promising minutes they don’t deliver and loading up on hidden or undisclosed charges and fees.”

The bill, H.R.3042, was sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “This is just a good consumer protection bill,” Engel said, prior to the vote. “And it has to be federal because if you have a hodgepodge of states all with different laws, it really doesn’t work. You really need something uniform.” The bill has not yet been passed to the Senate.

While the new bill requires calling card companies to disclose their rates in fine print to consumers, it doesn’t place any limits on how bad the rates and terms of a deal can be. A typical example of a calling card cited by the FTC, Africa Sky card’s terms include, “Use of a toll free number from a pay phone will incur a $.99 per call fee. Call time for multiple calls is calculated by rounding the last minute up to the closest multiple of 3 and then adding 1 minute except that if your call lasts less than 1 minute you will be charged only for a minute.”

It is estimated that fraudulent calling cards may be costing Panamanian Americans up to $30,000 every day. More often, the Panamanian American community is turning to other providers of inexpensive calling services including Rebtel which charges solely on a per minute basis with no other fees or connection charges. “It was precisely because of the rip off schemes we’ve noticed with calling cards that drove us to build a new service that people could trust,” says Rebtel CEO Hjalmar Winbladh.

Greenberg, however, doesn’t believe the bill goes far enough. She states, “While [the bill] requires that the disclosure text on the calling card itself, packaging, or other promotional material (including online) be in same language used to advertise the card, we would recommend expanding [the bill] to require that prepaid phone card providers provide toll-free customer service lines staffed by customer service representatives able to converse in the languages that the cards are advertised in.”

These gaps, says Greenberg, along with lax requirements for businesses to enter the calling card industry, will continue to make it difficult for consumers who use calling cards to ensure they’re getting a fair deal. “The most vulnerable consumers—military families, immigrants, low-income families —rely on these cards and spend their hard-earned money only to see the value of the cards disappear quickly after first use,” says Greenberg.

Winbladh sees the legislation as a major step forward in the demise of calling card fraud, “The Panamanian American community wants quality and honesty at affordable rates; this is the main reason why we have seen major growth from the community over the past year.”

By: Alex Drewniak, December 1st, 2008 Tags: "calling cards", rebtel, VoIP