TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline)-Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is encouraging customers of AT&T Mobility to apply for refunds being issued as a part of a recent settlement.

The settlement, announced in February, requires the Atlanta-based cellular carrier to make full restitution to Florida consumers who were unknowingly billed for "free" cell phone content.

The agreement with AT&T Mobility, formerly known as Cingular Wireless, allows customers to seek refunds even if they are no longer AT&T or Cingular customers.

The agreement was reached after thousands of Florida AT&T Mobility consumers complained to the attorney general's office that they had received charges on their cell phone bills for certain third party services that they did not authorize.

The third-party charges were for things-including ring tones, wallpaper and horoscopes, among other content-that were advertised to be free.

AT&T Mobility is the wholly owned wireless subsidiary of AT&T Inc., and is the largest cellular service provider in the United States.

The settlement, reached by the Attorney General's CyberFraud Task Force with AT&T Mobility, established a new model for the Internet advertising and billing of cellular phone content, the attorney general's office said.

Additionally, AT&T Mobility paid $2.5 million to the attorney general's office to help fund future efforts of the task force.

From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo by e-mail at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.