AT&T announced a settlement with the Florida Attorney General’s office regarding third-party ringtones that were advertised as free, but were billed to end users. AT&T will reimburse customers who were charged for the ringtones. The ringtones were advertised as free fraudulently by third-party providers. After the ringtones were downloaded, users were charged for the cost of the ringtone by AT&T per its agreements with the third-party providers.

In addition to the reimbursements, AT&T has to pay the state of Florida $2.5 million and another $500,000 toward consumer education on safe Internet use. It says it has since put protective measures in place to prevent customers from being mis-led about billing. The Florida Attorney General is also investigating other wireless companies to eliminate fraudulent third-party billing practices.