Cramming

Re your phone bill editorial, Nov. 27: It stated that crooks are stealing money by means of a person’s phone bill.

Earlier this year, AT&T; started billing my long-distance calls directly without the intervention of Pacific Bell. Now if any third-party charges appear on my phone bill, I know they are bogus. It appears that the solution to cramming is to prohibit Pacific Bell from being a collection agency for third parties (including 900 numbers) and force third parties to directly bill their patrons.

WILLIAM E. BROWN

Culver City