Taking out a loan just to pay the phone bill

American handball star Sabahudin Budo Jusic just received his phone bill for March and April, and it hit an eye-watering $13! It wasn't just the massive total that caught him off guard—the call logs were even more baffling.
- "Looking at the billing statement, it looks like I somehow placed ten different calls in a single second," he explained. "And apparently, I was calling numbers in the Cayman Islands, Thailand, Australia, Austria..."

It’s absolutely insane. "I'm not a kid; I know how much data usage costs. Even if I had my data turned on 24/7 for all 30 days, the bill shouldn't have been more than $1667," the 19-year-old noted.

He’s being forced to pay
He filed a formal dispute with AT&T, but they shot him down, insisting the bill is valid and must be paid.

The Jusic family believes their son is a textbook victim of those "dialer" programs used by notorious online hackers. They're frustrated, arguing that AT&T has a responsibility to protect its customers and provide better safeguards against these types of viruses.

They want to isticati that they aren't trying to dodge their responsibilities; they just want to pay for what they actually used. To prove it was a virus, they pointed to his latest May bill, which was only $100 once the internet connection was cut off.

Taking out a loan to cover
The unfortunate athlete actually handed over all the prize money he received from his city for winning a gold medal in Los Angeles to help his family pay this bill, but it doesn't even cover a tenth of the cost.

With no other way to settle this astronomical bill, the Jusic family is left with one option: taking out a loan. The handball player decided to share his nightmare publicly to warn other users about the dangers of these digital viruses.

Tipkovac, I guess what's the point of this thread—and how does this even touch on politics? This belongs in the IT subforum.

Bryan Sanchez86 said:Tipkovac, what’s even the point of this thread and how does this have anything to do with politics? This is supposed to be the IT subforum.

The whole point is that an average person stands absolutely no chance when fighting against a massive telecom giant like AT&T.🙂
Even you could end up getting hit with fifty fake$0.00 phone calls tomorrow, and then what are you going to do about it?🙂
They can totally screw you over; if you’re still using one of those old cordless phones, they could potentially hack into the provider's system and run up charges on your account...

And how on earth are you going to prove it wasn't you making the calls?

Tipkovac, let’s be real—for 99% of those dialer programs, the user is the one holding the smoking gun. Everyone loves to hate on AT&T, but they honestly have zero to do with this. Those calls were placed (to the Cayman Islands and wherever else) almost certainly because he was clicking around on some sketchy porn sites and downloaded a dialer. He’s the one who installed it, not AT&T. The calls came from his computer, so yeah... he basically wrote the check himself.

It’s totally obvious to me that it's just human nature to try and shift the blame onto someone else when you mess up—especially when there's some massive monopoly in the crosshairs. I actually feel bad for the guy, but look, he needs to just pay the bill like everyone else did. Most people don't end up making the front page of the news because they aren't public figures or acting completely oblivious...
Sorry... maybe next time he goes downloading stuff, he might want to watch what he clicks on!

Tipkovac said:What if someone from AT&T called using your number and racked up a massive bill?
How would you even prove it wasn't you calling?...

I don't see how that even relates to what we're talking about here...

I've honestly never heard of anyone at AT&T hijacking a phone line just to run up some huge charges.

Tipkovac said:The bottom line is, an average person just can't take on a giant like AT&T.🙂
Well, maybe you'll get hit with fifty fake calls tomorrow—what then?$0.00 🙂
They could screw you over easily; if you still had one of those old cordless phones, they could basically tap into the provider's system and run up your bill...

And how would you even prove it wasn't you?

Not happening to me. At least regarding the internet. I don't even own a cordless phone—just buy a smartphone, for crying out loud...😁 )
As far as the billing goes, almost all exchanges are digital now, computer-managed, and there are logs kept on the servers. If things ever went to court, a judge could just order the logs to be turned over. Faking those logs is pretty much impossible without getting caught. Besides, companies like AT&T aren't really out to pull stunts like that.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with politics.

Bryan Sanchez86 said:That’s just not how it works for me, especially when it comes to internet access. I don't even use a landline anymore—honestly, just get a smartphone and move on with your life.😁 )
As far as the technical side goes, almost all phone exchanges are fully digital and computer-managed nowadays, which means there are logs stored on the servers. If there were ever a legal dispute, a court order would force them to hand over those logs. Faking those records is basically impossible without getting caught immediately. Besides, major carriers like AT&T aren't going to risk their entire operation messing with stuff like that.

Anyway, none of this actually has anything to do with politics.

Home wireless setups🙂
Well, damn. It doesn't matter if the exchanges are digital; someone at the carrier could still run up charges on your account.
But fine, let's drop it. If you're really that bothered by it, feel free to delete the thread.🙂

Tipkovac said:No way to stop it at home🙂
Well, damn. It doesn't really matter if the exchanges are all digital now—you can still call someone from an AT&T line and have it hit your bill.
But hey, let's move on. If you want, feel free to just delete the thread. 🙂

And I'm guessing that's possible, too. Though, I suspect it wouldn't be hard to figure out who was messing around with the wiring in the first place.

I'll leave this thread up for a bit longer, just so anyone interested can catch up. For those looking into dealer issues and stuff like that, maybe check out the IT subforum. You'll get much better answers there from our resident tech gurus over on the news boards. Honestly, the folks in IT actually put in the work—some people have even written full-on essays on how to protect yourself.

👋

Tipkovac said:It’s not just about some shady dialer software.
Think about it—what if someone from AT&T called out using your actual number and racked up a massive bill?
How would you even prove it wasn't you? You couldn't. There's zero way to prove your innocence.

Just switch to cable internet and call it a day. Problem solved.

😁 😁

Look, as much as I hate AT&T, this situation isn't really on them. The only way they could actually stop these dialers would be to just block all international calls entirely, which doesn't make any sense.

AT&T has been pretty vocal about warning people about dialers; they even put full pages of warnings on the bills and offered a free anti-dialer tool on their site. Honestly, they've done everything they can.

If this guy was surfing around and clicking "Yes" every time a pop-up appeared, well, that's just his own mistake at that point.

I feel for him, I really do, but you can't really blame AT&T here. They said they're willing to cover the charges, but hey, the bill is accurate—those calls were actually made.

Jose Miller3 said:Tipkovac, honestly—for 99% of those dialer scams, the user is the one at fault here. AT&T isn't to blame for this at all. Those calls were placed (to the Cayman Islands and wherever else) because someone likely downloaded a dialer while browsing shady adult sites. He’s the one who installed it, not AT&T. It came from his computer, so he's the one responsible for the bill.

It’s pretty obvious to me that people naturally try to shift the blame onto others when they mess up—especially when there's some big old monopoly involved. I feel bad for the guy, really, but he should just pay the bill like everyone else did. And by the way, most people didn't end up in the news because they aren't famous or making a huge scene about it.
Sorry... maybe next time he'll watch what he clicks on while downloading stuff!

😁 😁 😁

Sure, it took AT&T a whole year to roll out an anti-dialer tool, and yeah, they were late to warn people about them. But does AT&T profit from these dialers? Not even close.

"He should pay since everyone else did."

Wow, what a top-tier argument.

frozencobra37 said:Look, even if I can't stand AT&T, this whole thing isn't really about them. The only way they could actually stop those dialers would be to just block all international calls entirely—which, let's be real, makes zero sense.

See how AT&T keeps you so well informed? 😁 😁

You don't even need an anti-dialer—it's enough to just request a specific international exit code, kind of like how companies use a zero for outbound calls.

dustyscout53 said:So, the phone company doesn't make money off dialers? No way.

Of course they make money—but they also make money when I call my aunt in Des Moines 😁. What, are we just supposed to stop using phones because the service provider turns a profit? Or stop using electricity just because Exelon makes a buck...

As for those anti-dialer programs, honestly, they’re total garbage. They don't actually protect you from anything. Just like most junk in life, the only real protection against dialers is keeping your private business to yourself...

Jose Miller3 said:Of course they make money—but hey, they also make money when I call my aunt in Des Moines 😁. What’s that supposed to mean, we just shouldn't use phones because AT&T is profiting from them? Or skip the lights because Exelon makes a buck...

And as for those anti-dialer programs—honestly, they're garbage. They don't protect you from anything. Just like most crap in life, the only real way to dodge dialers is to stay in your own lane...

Yeah, right, like you're protecting anyone.

And that whole "not using the phone" thing... you're being a little slow here.

dustyscout53 said:You're being a little slow here.

Honestly, talking to you makes everyone feel a bit dim...

Jose Miller3 said:Well, everyone seems pretty clueless when they're talking to you...

I guess that's just my curse. 😎

Dealing with annoying car dealers? 😁

Tipkovac said:The bottom line here is that the little guy simply stands no chance against a massive telecom giant.🙂
Oh, really? Well, what happens when you get fifty $0.00 fraudulent calls tomorrow—what’s your move then?🙂
They could absolutely screw you over; if you're still using one of those ancient cordless phones, they could basically hijack the connection at the provider level and run up your bill without you even knowing.

And good luck proving it wasn't you who made the calls.

What on earth does any of this have to do with politics?

It’s basically just highway robbery... I mean, what happens when a tech geek gets handed the keys to moderate political discourse...😁

dustypilot22 said:Are you guys getting headaches from your local dealers? 😁

Personally, my favorite thing is seeing a little asterisk next to a word or a number. 😁 😁