Telephone companies may be improperly tacking unauthorized and hard to detect fees and charges onto customers' phone bills.

This is a broad and ongoing investigation and a potential class action against telephone companies operating in the United States.

The basis for this class action investigation are continued reports from consumers that unexplained and hard to understand charges and fees appear on their telephone bills. Sometimes, consumers report that the explanation for a given fee or charge are explained in very general terms such as "service fee," "service charge," "other fees," "mail server," "calling plan," or "membership." Sometimes charges and fees are added to your phone bill every month without a clear explanation of the services provided - such as a "monthly fee" or "minimum monthly usage fee,"

Some consumers believe that thee telephone companies doing this rely on confusing phone bills to mislead customers into paying for these services. Since many phone companies bill customers on behalf of other companies for services such as voice mail, long distance or internet access, extra charges for services customers never agreed to buy in the first place can easily be missed.

If you have believe you may have been charged an unauthorized or improperly explained fee on your telephone bill, it may also be important to contact an attorney who can help you protect your potential legal claim.