3 posts tagged “mblox does it again”

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Tell me your story. Have you been fleeced by SMS spanners?

Sep 2, 2008
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That's not a typo, I meant SPANNER, 'cause that's what they are... tools! Oh, enough of my never ending wit already...

Regulate this!

I would love to hear from those of you that have had a run in with PhonepayPlus/ICSTIS maybe even OFCOM or OFTEL, ~~PayPal~~ or ~~PalPlus~~. Whatever they like to be called on a Tuesday! Crikey, it's Tuesday already!

Of equal interest to me and presumably the majority of the people reading my Fraudwatch posts (remember don't have nightmares, goodnight and good luck) are the perpertrators and enablers, the likes of mBlox and the Tanla's and Spread Media's of this world. Anyone got any stories about these less than savoury folk (oh I hate biting my tongue!)

The world (okay the UK) needs to hear your story, so please get in touch. I know you're reading as lots of people were checking out my latest Fraudwatch posts, from across the country - and they can't all be Andrew Bud (scroll to comments for a treat) or David Shepard.

BTW for those new to my blog, Andrew Bud's company is in cahoots with the scammers and he is also The Regulator - I'll be back... to steal your money!

The Bud-dy Movie of the Year!

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Sep 1, 2008
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If you don't know the quote from my 'title' above, then I'm probably going to sound a tad on the postal side of things. For those of you that that describes, let me put you at ease and say GO WATCH THAT MOVIE!

So, Ant, we get the title and we want to know what's grinding your gears. Please tell us!

No, this isn't a video of me... it's Peter Griffin.

You want to know what really grinds my gears? And, in no particular order, here's what:

People making excuses for the unexcusable
Getting nowhere when talking to customer services
Being expected to pay a premium to call a company who rips you off and then profits from the call you've just placed to stop them ripping you off further
Having to bite my tongue because I'm venting too much
Wasting hours upon hours over this crap - but I'm so er, peeved that it's not about the money (they could give me 100x the amount back, I wouldn't give a crap* it's the principle and I want to make everyone aware about this issue)
There's a bunch of other things but fudge it, I guys got to eat and before I do I think I need to make another call or two!

*Not entirely true, it would be quite nice but even if you made it 1000s - no wait - 10,000s it wouldn't stop me from bitching as I don't think anyone should get a penny stolen because companies and industry regulators aren't do the right thing/their job.

Fraudwatch: Latest mBlox one to watch out for 84566

Aug 30, 2008
4 comments

I've got screen grabs but can't be arsed to upload 'em right now. But I will paste the transcript of my complaint and the number (it's 84566 just incase you didn't see it in the title).

Details of your complaint

Your name: Ant

The number you are complaining about: 84566

The phone number you accessed the service from (if any): 07XXXXXXXX (they gave me no choice but to enter a number here even though I didn't "access the service" - I put in my real number the Xs are so I don't get harvested here)

Did you give us permission to pass on your details to the service provider? No

Where the promotion was seen or heard: Other It wasn't sent as a 'promotion' it was yet another scam premium-rate SMS sent fraudulently pretending to be a close friend.

What the promotion said and what service was being offered: Again, it wasn't sent as if it were a promotion, it did not say it was offering anything. They purported to be someone I knew, in the hope that I'd spend £1.50 replying to them (they've just stolen £1.50 from my account)

Were you fully informed of the cost to use the service? no

Was there a non-premium rate customer helpline number made available? no

What the complaint is about: Hmm, it should be clear by now. This is yet another scam that mblox is caught up in. You know, mblox - of course you do, you've fined them enough and there's mblox folk involved with phonepayplus.

PhonepayPlus will look at the information you have supplied and assess whether there has been a breach of our Code of Practice - this will trigger a formal investigation.

PhonepayPlus aims to resolve all complaints where we have the evidence to do so. Our investigation process is very detailed and can take up to 12 weeks to complete. We may need to contact you for further information and we will also question the company running the service. A report is then presented to the PhonepayPlus Board who will reach a decision on the case.

If we decide a breach of our Code of Practice has taken place, the company running the service must immediately make necessary changes to the service and/or its promotional material.

In addition, the PhonepayPlus may decide to take the following action:

* stop the companies from running certain types of services
* impose a fine - up to a maximum of £250 000
* order reasonable and valid refunds to be paid to the complaints

Dammit! Just noticed they didn't include the transcript of the SMS itself... here we go...

"Id love to see u babe x when is best for u?, im free all next week, tb"

Transcribed as best I can, mistakes by them and all. Note the lack of an opt-out blurb, anything regarding costs or mention of the company, a support number or Ts&Cs. I guess they figured if they'd provided those legally required things it would spoil the 'sent from someone you know' feel to the scam. And anyway, why worry about the law when it's not going to be enforced or anything like that?