By: Anthony Rifilato
When Baldwin resident Eileen Konowal received her September phone bill from Verizon, she was surprised, to say the least, when she noticed a charge for $91.69 for international calls made to countries such as Mali, Africa and France.
"I don't know anybody outside the United States," said Konowal, who lives at 2542 Central Ave. "I only make local calls."
Thinking it was some sort of glitch, she phoned the company, and after what she said was hours of calls and waiting, was told to deduct the charge from her bill and that Verizon would investigate the matter.
But Konowal was overcharged in October as well, this time for $16.17, and again, after numerous calls, was told to deduct the charge from her bill. Then in November, she was hit with a whopping $209.71 worth of international calls that she did not make, and she said Verizon has yet to fix the problem or address the situation.
"I don't want my credit to get screwed up," said Konowal. "Nobody really wants to help solve the problem."
Konowal is not alone. In September, five of her neighbors, who live near the corner of Central Avenue and Clinton Place, began to notice that they too were receiving bills with charges for international calls to countries such as Mali, the United Republic of Arabia, Africa, Egypt and other foreign locales.
"We began asking each other, 'Are you getting these bills?'" said Judy Mastroianni. "I have a 14-year-old daughter, but I know she's not calling Africa."
In October, the neighbors began comparing their Verizon phone bills, and noticed that many of the international calls were being made to the same numbers in the same countries, some at virtually the same times. As a result, they were being charged hundreds of dollars. At first, residents said they were patient. "We were willing to work with Verizon," said Mastroianni.
But for the past three months, residents have been pleading with Verizon to do something, often taking time out of their busy lives, and they said that the company has done little if anything to resolve the issue.
In October, residents said, a Verizon technician came to the neighborhood and told them that the problem was with the outside line. "He said it was not our home phones," said Georgette Symonds, Konowal's sister.
The technician told neighbors that it might be a case of fraud, possibly someone tapping into the phone line from the outside, and said he would alert his supervisor, who would file a report, though residents have yet to receive a response. And when they call Verizon, they say, they get the run-around from operators and receive tepid reactions from supervisors.
At one point, residents said they were even told that if the international charges continue to show up on their bills, Verizon would stop telling them to deduct the charges and start making them pay.
"They always act like it's the first time they're hearing it," said Mastroianni, who was astounded when told she would be responsible for the calls. "I was like, are you serious? Why does Verizon make us feel like we're lying to them?"
A spokesman for Verizon, Dan Diaz Zapata, said that Verizon's fraud unit is currently investigating the matter, and that despite complaints from residents that they have not received a response, Verizon is taking the issue seriously. "Verizon is investigating," said Diaz. "Upon completion of the investigation, customers will be notified."
That comes as little reassurance to residents, however, who said they have looked into switching phone carriers and putting blocks on their phone lines. They said they were told by Verizon employees that the problem would carry over to a new company if they canceled their service, and that if residents were to block their Verizon lines, they would not be able to make long-distance or international calls.
Still, residents said they have been made to feel by Verizon as if they're trying to scam the company by disputing the charges, something resident Juan Mejia said is ridiculous. Take for instance just two of the many calls to Mali that Mejia was billed for in September. Two of the calls to Mali were made at 6:48 p.m., one lasting three minutes and the other four minutes. "How would I be able to call both at the same time?" said Mejia.
And while residents along this stretch of Central Avenue use Verizon, the problem may not be restricted only to Verizon customers.
One resident, Gaylani Jewett, uses Verizon and MCI. In September, she received her MCI bill with a charge of $7.39 for international calls. She overlooked the charge and paid the bill. But in October, Jewett was shocked. She was billed $349 for international calls. In total, she was billed over $800 for international calls within three months. "The following month you get slammed," she said.
Since October, Jewett is the only resident who has since stopped being charged for the calls, mainly because she uses MCI as her main phone carrier. Jewett is able to use a secure PIN number when she dials long distance through MCI, a service that her neighbors said is not offered by Verizon. Neighbors say that if they don't hear from Verizon soon, they may switch to another company in the hope of securing PIN numbers as well.
But Jewett and others are alarmed about who may be tapping in to the phone line, fearing criminal activity right outside their doors. "These are calls not being made from within my house," said Jewett. "Is anybody listening?"
In the meantime, residents took the issue a step further recently when they filed a police report at the First Precinct, out of concern about terrorism or other potential illegal activity, since many of the calls were being made to the Middle East.
They have also contacted the media, including CBS News, and sent letters to the Federal Communications Commission in the hope of putting an end to the international calls and their skyrocketing phone bills.
Last week, the Herald contacted Jim Reed, deputy commissioner of Nassau County Consumer Affairs, and asked what neighbors were up against. "Somebody's probably tapping into the lines," said Reed. "A guy goes up the pole and makes calls."
Reed said whoever is making the calls is either an employee of a phone company or somebody savvy about telephone lines and using residents' numbers. He said fraud like this has happened in the past, though he was unaware of similar incidents occurring in the area. But, he said, Consumer Affairs would address the situation. "That guy could be very easy to trace," said Reed of whoever is misusing the phone lines.
He also said he would contact Verizon in order to "make things happen." "[Residents] will be taken care of," said Reed.
While they wait for a solution, residents say that one good thing has come out of all of this. "If anything, we've gotten to know our neighbors," said Mastroianni.
