Cram raiders: The silly text messages that cost unsuspecting phone users millions

Two men have been charged with helping to run a so-called “cramming” scheme in which they earned tens of millions of dollars by charging unsuspecting mobile phone users for unwanted text messages.

Darcy Wedd and Erdolo Eromo were expected to appear in federal court in New York and Los Angeles.

The charges were brought on Monday by the office of US Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, which previously charged six other men in May in connection with the scheme.

In 2013, the US Federal Trade Commission settled related civil charges with one of the six men, Lin Miao, and several corporate entities, taking more than US$10 million in assets including a Beverly Hills, California, home and luxury cars.

Michael Proctor, a lawyer for Eromo, said: “We are disappointed in this decision by the United States Attorney’s office, we disagree with it, and we will do our talking in court.”

Wedd’s defense lawyer in New York could not immediately be reached for comment.

From 2011 to 2013, the defendants arranged for thousands of mobile numbers to be “auto-subscribed” to text messages containing horoscopes, celebrity gossip or trivia for US$9.99 a month, prosecutors said.