40 posts tagged “icstis”

As always, the guys over at The Scream's forums have done a cracking job of digging the dirt and un-spinning the crappola that comes from those in the premium rate industry and the so-called regulator.

These recent posts really are worth checking out:

• Carry on stealling: the latest PhonepayPlus adjudications
• mblox not cited in latest PP+ adjudications - no really!
• Phonepayplus/Aime: The mass-debaters
• Phonepayplus publish new scammers charter
• Premium Rate Fraud: Regulatory loopholes or Government arseholes
• Suhail Bhat(MEF) alarming response to Paul Whiteing(Phonepayplus)
• George Kidd (formerly) of PhonepayPlus lies and lies on camera

Good work (as usual) fellas! Kudos to mike99 and El Gringo for the above (and Hamlet as well for help in the past).  Keep up the good work.

The Mirror does a pretty good job too, can't really forget them as they're the only mainstream news outlet in the UK that reports on these scams and investigates the dodgy goings on between regulated and regulator.

Poor old Florian Demuth, Customer Services Advisor at PhonepayPlus.  I gave the poor fellow quite a hard time last year regarding the times I was scammed by unsolicited reverse-rate SMS cowboys.  Firstly I recorded every conversation and, to comply with the law, told him as such.  Secondly I ranted and er, ranted, about the whole sordid industry his organisation supposedly 'regulated'.

He did quite well sticking to the script but you could tell he was holding back from saying some things.  There was always a slight hint that, deep down, he loathed the industry and was clearly not in the right job (which, amongst other things includes defending the indefensible).

Anyway, with all this talk about PhonepayPlus at the moment, I came across an interview in the regulator's own newsletter where the chappie (which, I must admit, until now I thought was a lady!) admitted the following:

The vast majority of complaints are related to reverse-charged text messages consumers state to be unsolicited.

That's right folks, the vast majority of complaints are because people have been charged for something they never asked for!  No amount of 'educating the customer' will help in this matter.  In many (I'd wager, most) of these cases the company responsible will have deliberately chosen to steal money from mobile subscriber's accounts in what would, in any other industry, be classed as theft or fraud.

I spent many months, sent many emails, made many calls, posted dozens upon dozens of stories related to the theft from my account and only after all of that, the company responsible, mBlox*, finally gave me a cheque for £10.  I wonder how much they've pocketted through fellow victims not knowing or giving up trying to get the money stolen recovered?

Of course, in the premium rate industry, those that work for the regulator also work for the companies responsible!  It's that cosy, and the rewards are great.

*mBlox helped Spread Media carry out this fraud.  mBlox may claim that it had nothing to do with them, they were just the conduit (or some such thing) but this was far from the first time the two companies worked together and ended up doing the same thing.

PhonepayPlus or, as I like to call them PeePeePlus, are in the news again. The regulator in charge of cleaning up a dirty industry is attempting to clean up it's own act but, quite frankly, is not going nearly far enough.  The funny thing being that no one thinks they're doing a good job - whether they're in the industry or just unwitting helpless victims of it.

So, without much further ado, some recent news stories across the interweb that my Google News found for me...

The Register: PhonepayPlus gets stern on pricey premium raters

If I can steal some quotes from PeePeePlus that The Reg has um, quoted:

some companies have adopted practices which are leading to increased consumer complaints

The consumer cannot be charged until they have confirmed their subscription by replying to that text

There are many innovative, useful and fun services available to consumers via their mobiles

A majority of industry respondents were sceptical of the need for subscription services to seek active consumer confirmation, on the grounds that this could cause consumer confusion and adversely affect sales

Good to see PeePeePlus pussy-footing around what those companies they regulate get up to.  Those 'practices' that these companies have adopted would be, in any properly regulated industry, illegal.  Very few premium rate services are run in a fair and honest way.  And, very few are offering a worthy service.

Common sense and best business practice would've suggested consumers should only get a service that they've opted in for.  Had this been the case last year, Spread Media LTD wouldn't have been able to steal money from me and thousands of others.

And of course the industry doesn't want any measure that will lead to scam artists and rogue businesses earning any less.  The big 'legit' aggregators/service providers make way too much money from them to truly want the industry cleaned up.  Just look at how the world's largest mobile transaction network, mBlox, keeps teaming up with folk they know to be scamming the public.  They don't care that innocent parties have had money effectively stolen from them and they don't care that they pocket part of the proceeds of such scams.  Just look at how much time and effort I had to put in before mBlox compensated me with the grand sum of £10!

IntoMobile: UK: New measures issued for Mobile phone services’ marketing and payment

Mobile Entertainment: PhonepayPlus hits back at criticism

..and another nugget from M.E.: Could the new PhonepayPlus rules be flawed?

Oh and that's not a 'is it flawed for consumers?' but a 'is it flawed for the grubby companies in this grubby industry of ours?' by the looks of things.

The author of this article admits that the wife got sent an unsolicited text and they were happy enough to just send 'STOP' back.  It looks like neither the author, nor his wife, actually checked their bills.  Had they done, they'd have realised why people aren't happy with the industry and why there's a need for, at the very least, the measures PeePeePlus have now put in place.  In my mind, from my experierence and that of other victims I've heard about, these measures are too little too late.  This industry needs a full overhaul!

Tougher action has come from another regulator PhonepayPlus, which monitors premium content. After a doubling of complaints related to mobile services in the past year, it has issued new rules. Anyone signing up to a subscription service which charges more than £4.50 ($6.25) in any given week (including joining costs) must first receive, and reply to, a free confirmation message outlining the cost and conditions of the service. And content providers wanting to offer such services must first apply to PhonepayPlus.

Link to full article here: Regulators bid for more influence on both sides of the pond

It's good to see that the news is spreading about how complaints (and, as such, presumably fraud) is on the increase.  Only if we complain more and demand action, will we see this kind of fraud and/or business practice stamped out for good.

...and yesterday, and possibly the day before (heck, I should've just said 'week'!)

Mobile Industry Review PhonepayPlus: The dinner lady of the UK mobile industry

CBBC Tough new rules for phone pests

Mobile Entertainment PhonepayPlus 'Why we had to act against abuses'

and Mobile Entertainment again... New rules for UK mobile providers

And if you want expert analysis, well placed cynicism, some laughs and lots of dirt undug I wholeheartedly recommend The Scream's 'General Telco' forum here

From what I've read and heard about PhoneBrain's latest initiative, this disclaimer would appear to be at odds:

Not intended, eh?

PP+ (PhonepayPlus, the regulator behind PhoneBrain) is, quite clearly, encouraging children to use PRS (premium rate services) with their lesson plans for teachers and the general content of their site.  If telling kids that PRS is good for the economy, not to believe any negative media stories and giving over whole lessons to ringtone creation isn't encouragement, I don't know what is.

Someone or something called Lord Iam Christ, Artist Priest (yes really!) got in trouble with PhonepayPlus (formerly known by it's slave name ICSTIS).

What the fudge is that all about?  Fudged if I know, your guess is as good as mine!  At least you can check out the adjudication here.

You've gotta love the interweb and folk like del hombre 'El Gringo' over at The Scream's forums.  He not only dug deep, but presented the evidence well.

I thoroughly recommend checking it out: Mobile Privacy Service: £1.50 con to use TPS - That's the service run by scammers who themselves send out unsolicited crap (mostly of an 'adult' nature and often without any indication it's a premium message from a company, not a person).

MPS Mobile Privacy Service - Shortcode 80824

2 comments

The guy behind this is known as being a bit shifty*.  He's sent out a bucket load of unsolicited crap and charged folk on the receiving end for the privilege (including moi).  He's been ticked off by the regulator before but keeps coming back, 'cos the regulator doesn't give a damn.

The joker has the cheek to run a site that claims to put a stop to what his other companies do.  Crazy that, isn't it?  Well let's see what PhonepayPlus have to say about it (yeah, I like wasting time!)

*Did I forget to say he sent me a 'goodwill' check that bounced?