4 posts tagged “toothless regulator”

...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

Regulate this!

Been otherwise engaged today, so not been blogging or looking into the scams.  However I've been talking to my niece (and about to talk to my nephews) about these dodgy messages and the emptying out of one's PAYG/pre-pay account.

What I've discovered is that my niece was scammed and lost a bit of money too.  Compared to me, that 'bit' was a huge amount (both her and her mum aren't entirely sure but we're talking at very least £10).  I guess, according to the industry, she deserved it though.  Why?  Well all (or part) of this was after she ordered a ringtone or wallpaper (or such like, it was over a year ago and she can't quite recall everything).  Those scams are now regarded as the classic ones, these actually did make the news - well the Crazy Frog ones did.  Anyway, she would've been around 10 at the time and wouldn't have had any idea of what was about to happen.

Did she send STOP ALL, or anything like that?  Again she can't remember, it was such a long time ago.  What she does know is that once her credit had been emptied (as soon as she topped up it was empty again) she ditched the SIM and phone number.  My niece learnt her lesson by the looks of things as she hasn't been scammed since.  Not that avoiding scams doesn't mean you won't get robbed, it just makes it less likely and you won't get any crap about how "you must've opted in sir".  Actually you will, you'll get that crap from the network, the regulator and the scammer but you can tell them that without a doubt you didn't.  If you're fortunate to be a contract customer you can show 'em your bill to prove it too!  Shame pre-pay customers get screwed (they have no proof!)

This experience shows how companies like mBlox (I'm not implying they were involved in this one as I don't know, maybe they were, maybe they weren't) and their clients can take advantage of those that are vulnerable to these scams.  It shows how premium shortcodes service providers are taking advantage of PAYG users - especially those that are too young to understand the implications of "just" buying a ringtone, wallpaper or whatever.

Well I've got her old number and know that it's T-Mobile, so I'll be seeing if they can work out the provider (are the networks required to keep billing records of PAYG customers in the UK?

With the amount of UK youngsters with mobiles is anything to go by, and if my niece's experience is the norm rather than the exception, there's some serious questions that need to be addressed by the industry and PhonepayPlus.  Can you imagine how much the networks, the aggregators and the "service" providers make out of these?

I was interrupted earlier and left it there, whilst I've been away we've been looking at my nephew's PAYG phone on T-Mobile.  Eeek!  It's full of crappy spam messages and we're trying to figure out where they came from.  Despite my run ins with these people and what I've found out online, I'm still gobsmacked.  Nephew claims that he didn't subscribe to anything and I believe him.  In the unlikely event he is wrong, there''d still be no excuse - certainly judging by the content of some of the messages.

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'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?