In this lawsuit, filed as a class action, the plaintiffs allege that cellular telephone customers are being scammed by fraudulent and deceptive advertising practices by ringtone provider Jamster! (a wholly owned subsidiary of VeriSign). According to the complaint, Jamster! lures children into costly ringtone subscriptions through advertisements run heavily on MTV, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, and online. The ads promise a free or single ringtone to mobile phone users who send a text message to Jamster! What the ads fail to make clear is that consumers who respond are automatically subscribed to a service to receive additional ringtones each week for which they are charged $1.99 up to $5.99.

The Complaint further alleges that cellular phone providers, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless and Cingular, profited from their relationship with Jamster by receiving a portion of the Jamster! subscription revenue, in return for allowing Jamster! to direct-bill their customers. They also charged their customers per-text charges for the unwanted messages from Jamster!

The lawsuit, filed initially by the San Diego father of a 10-year-old girl who fell for the scam, has been amended to include four additional plaintiffs, each of whom had minor children who were unknowingly subscribed just by responding to a Jamster! ad. The lawsuit alleges fraud, false advertising, unfair business practices, and violations of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act against Jamster!, VeriSign, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular Wireless. The lawsuit seeks reimbursement of all monies paid by unsuspecting customers worldwide for the unwanted subscriptions and unsolicited text messages, as well as injunctive relief to stop the misleading advertising campaign. The lawsuit is pending in San Diego in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California and has been assigned to Judge Jeffrey T. Miller.