Regarding, "Watch Out For Bogus Charges On Your Phone Bill," it turns out there's a more proactive way to fight back against companies passing unauthorized charges on and having your phone company bill you for them. You might be able to get your account "frozen," according to Verizon's Fraud and Scam alert page:

"Most local companies allow you to place a "freeze" on your long distance choice and overall phone bill, requiring specific authorization from you before a new charge is added or the long distance provider is changed."

If cellphone companies don't offer this, as we suspect they don't, they should.

Fraud and Scam Alerts [Verizon]