Targeting youth

Prepaid cell phones are convenient, but there’s one catch — you have to use the minutes within a certain period or they disappear.

“Virgin Mobile requires users to “top up” their account by adding at least $20 every 90 days to keep them active. Otherwise, you’ll have to reactivate the phone after a 60-day grace period.

“Boost Mobile also requires a minimum of $20 every 90 days or when you draw your account down to zero. Either way, you then have a 60-day grace period to put money into the account or it closes and you’ll have to pay $10 to reactivate.

“TracFone, the nation’s largest prepaid phone company, requires users to recharge unused minutes every 60 days or, for a $94 activation card, every 365 days.

“Minutes from Freeup, a Verizon Wireless prepaid service, expire every 30 days for $15 to $30 and every 120 days for $150.

“AT&T Wireless’ GoPhone extracts an automatic payment from a bank account or debit or credit card every 30 days or when the balance dips below $5.