NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two men have been extradited from Australia to face U.S. criminal charges over an alleged scheme to bilk hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users out of more than $50 million for unwanted text messaging services, U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said on Tuesday.
Both Michael Pearse and Yongchao Liu arrived in the United States on Monday, prosecutors said. The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly used a practice they called "auto-subscribing" to charge monthly fees for unsolicited messages about celebrity gossip, horoscopes, jokes, love tips and trivia, without customers' knowledge or permission.
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