Correction: The fines noted in this article have been proposed by the FCC, but have neither been assessed nor paid at this time.
After announcing last year that Lifeline Assistance, the free government cell phone program, is plagued by fraud and waste, the Federal Communications Commission has now followed up by announcing proposing millions of dollars in fines on Lifeline service providers.
The FCC said its audit had uncovered thousands of violations in which the companies received duplicate payments and violations. The result? More than $14 million in fines have been assessed proposed against those companies. The violations include inadequate verification of customer eligibility and over-billing for services rendered.
The FCC issued Notices of Apparent Liability against several free government cell phone providers and announced the following fines:
- TracFone (SafeLink) fined $4.57 million.
- Assist Wireless fined $2.2 million.
- Icon Telecom fined $4.8 million.
- Easy Telephone/Wireless Services fined $1.58 million.
- UTPhone fined $1.23 million.
If you think those fines seem excessive, here’s how WirelessandMobileNews.com say they were determined by the FCC
- A separate forfeiture of $20,000 for each unlawful payment request seeking USF support for ineligible Lifeline subscribers.
- A $5,000 forfeiture per ineligible subscriber.
- An upward adjustment of three times the total duplicate USF support payments requested and/or received.
- The FCC claims that the carriers should have know that based on internal data that customers who received free services were ineligible under Lifeline program guidelines.
Needy Americans can qualify for Lifeline Assistance if someone in the household participates in government assistance programs (Food Stamps, Section 8 Housing or a number of other programs) or if the household’s combined income is below the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Applicants must prove that they receive government assistance or proof of their household income.
This is a huge change in the way the free government cell phone program operates. In the past, service providers were not required to ask for income verification, and as a result, customers could easily receive multiple free cell phones from more multiple providers.
We applaud the FCC’s actions and urge them to boost the fines against those who cheat the system. This valuable program helps millions of Americans every day and shouldn’t be allowed to fail just because a few crooks game the system.
If you know of any violations or even fraud, here’s our page on reporting Lifeline fraud.
Cara Snyder says
How can the credentials of a person signing people up for government phones be verified? A woman came to a food pantry and the typo on her business card as well as a few other items made me question whether she was legit. I gathered an email and some information from her supervisors and a few things don’t seem to add up. Any direction would be welcome, many thanks.
Free Government Cell Phones says
You could ask her what company she works for and then call the company to verify.
Is she asking for money? Is she asking for your social security number? You should give neither.
Cara Snyder says
UPD Marketing is the company name, and it claims Safelink is the phone service they offer. I haven’t been able to get through on the phone. She asked pantry users for medicaid and food assistance identification, none had them with them. When I asked some questions she hurriedly packed and left.
Dale says
We are trained to advantage of opportunities, for example; when food stamps came out, counterfeits were produced. Now the need for Life Line Assistance is here, I could see the companies benefiting more than the individual. For example, I just started my own company, my children returned home with their children, I cannot afford them, so they apply for assistance and qualify for Life Line, but they have the same address as mine, so they can’t get assistance from life line. If they are allowed, then the company is in trouble, so who does it really help? Should we have AARP or the state assistance programs run the the Life Line?
Mark Anderson says
These are not fines, these are proposed fines. Get your facts straight
Free Government Cell Phones says
Thanks Mark. It’s corrected now.