Mob phone, Internet scams cost unsuspecting consumers millions, prosecutors say

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ A Gambino crime family captain and nine underlings rang up millions in unauthorized charges from unsuspecting telephone customers, prosecutors charge. <br><br>An indictment unsealed

Wednesday, February 11th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ A Gambino crime family captain and nine underlings rang up millions in unauthorized charges from unsuspecting telephone customers, prosecutors charge.

An indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses the mobsters' company, USP&C, of luring customers into calling ostensibly free 800 telephone numbers and then tacking on service charges _ frequently exceeding $40 _ to monthly bills. The scheme is known as telephone ``cramming.''

The scheme generated as much as $600,000 a day between 1997 and 2001, and about $100 million in profits, according to prosecutors. Proceeds allegedly were laundered through a series of shell companies.

Four of the defendants had already been charged with a $230 million Internet fraud scheme _ believed to be the largest ever prosecuted.

In the Internet scheme, defendants are accused of launching pornographic Web sites offering free tours for anyone who presented credit card information as proof of age, promising: ``Your card will not be billed.''

Consumers around the world were charged recurring monthly rates of $90 until they realized they had been cheated, prosecutors said.