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Ifitness Scam

W_London1969
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Should be VODAPHONE responsability to protect customers aginst this kid of SCAMMERS.

8 REPLIES 8

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Appreciate how situation like these can be stressful. 

This is a similar thread with lots of good advice in @W_London1969

 

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Android/Ifitness-Scam/m-p/2567935

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Ifitness is an apparently legitimate app that appears on the Google Play Store.   Details of support for it appear on the other thread, though how legitimate they are, I can't say (and the first thing the web page asks for is your phone number).

Is it possible that you've installed the app and givenit your details?   Or is this a scam that's piggy-backing on something legitimate.

Customer Services should be able to block it and may also be able to refund any charges made so far.   It appears to affect other networks as well.

It might also be worthwhile looking at the permissions on your account in My Vodafone, either oline or in the app.   I have incoming premium SMS blocked (but not outgoing, so that I can do things like pay for parking and use non-chargeable shortcodes).

When my year contract ran out, I assumed the extra charges were a cheeky increase in price for my phone package deal and I thought I will get round to negotiating a better deal (when I had more time) because my monthly bill almost doubled from £18 -£34. I had no idea it was a scam. After finding out……. Evidence from online forums show - Vodafone have been aware of this scam for at least a year. - They have not been able to stop the scam. - In my personal conversation to customer service, the lady on the phone was placing responsibility with me; she said I should have notified them earlier and that I should not have replied to the message 1. I did not reply to the message; I simply opened the message. 2. Other customers (I see from online forums) have notified them earlier and were still being scammed through Vodafone’s billing system, evidencing notifying them does not mean they are able to stop the scam. 3. I notified them last week and my new bill this month is still including the scam charge of £15 from I-fitness. Over the months I have been scammed for about £130…. Sometimes the charge is £12 and sometimes it’s £15. I was NOT advised on how to get a refund from customer service; it seems as if the company are expecting me to take a loss. I can see that some people are saying they might be able to only get 10 weeks of money back from the scam…. This means I still lose around £100….. because of a simple text I receive and that I have no control over. Vodafone told me that it was nothing to do with them; I was given an analogy of how someone is able to download music and Vodafone are the “middle man” to allow the transaction to happen. Because they are the “middle man”, Vodafone say it is between me and I-fitness. I will try to explain why Vodafone are responsible. I will use my own analogy for another type of crime involving 1. Customer 2. A “middle man” and a 3. Faceless scammer. Here goes….. I, and 5,000 people (the customer), separately walk into a phone shop one after the other to buy a phone for an agreed £100. After the 10th sale, the sales person at the till (“the middle man”) notices the credit card machine (the faceless scammer) is automatically charging each customer £200 instead of the £100 that was initially agreed; this sales person is not doing this on purpose, they cannot stop it but they continue to sell the phones otherwise they will not be able to do any business for that period and risk going out of business. On top of this, the sales person (the “middle man”) is unintentionally (but knowingly) profiting from a commission. The “middle man” could say “I just want you to know that you are being charged double the price, I can’t do anything about it, but I want you to know just in case the machine keeps charging you. You would then have the awareness and opportunity to do something about it….. and prevent yourself being charged double each month BUT that would mean the company would take a massive loss and the person at the till would not make his living with a commission. The person knows something unjust and criminal is happening but keeps quite to stay in business and make money…. IT’S STILL A CRIME….. you don’t have to intend to be a criminal to do something illegal or deceitful. Ignorance does not make you immune to a law; once Vodafone found out but did not make customers aware and still benefitted, they at that point were and still are aiding and abetting. Vodafone can’t even plead ignorance because on their own website community forums show this has been communicated directly to their complaints and communications team. I pointed out that I did not accept any terms and conditions with I-fitness and neither did I reply to a text. Without Vodafone they would not be able to take money from me without my consent; Vodafone provided an avenue to my finances. The floor in their security system has enabled I-fitness to continuously scam money from many people. I am not responsible for something outside of my control. And it seems they are tricking SOME people who are victims to this crime into believing they are culprits. It has nothing to do with us. It seems to me (as like with many industries and companies) Vodafone take on way more customers they can actually safely handle, therefore they do not have enough employees safeguarding their customers properly. THIS IS A CRIME, WE ARE THE VICTIMS…. AND THEY ARE USING LOOP HOLES TO AVOID RESPONSIBILITY. If Vodafone take some type of charge, percentage or other benefit (like keeping its’ customers) for this transaction between the customer and I-fitness, then how are they not acting criminally? SOME QUESTIONS • How can I get my money back? • Do Vodafone profit in anyway, even if it is a few pennies? • Exactly how long have Vodafone known of this I-Fitness scam? • Why have they not made me and others aware of it? That’s another crime, holding information about a crime.

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

In the case you've quoted, the beneficiary would be the shop, so it's up to them to refund - they have the money.   A better analogy would be that, in the same shop, someone picks your pocket and makes off with £10.   Who's responsible?

Colleen
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@Mike000 It's disappointing to hear about what's happened.

We'll be happy to look into this for you and see what can be done. 

As we'll need to access your account, I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch.

CLYDE68
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Just noticed ive been scammed by ifitness since 3Aug. Thats £3 a week. Spoke to Vodaphone who say they cant do anything about it. I asked them to block this payment in future and they wont even do that.

So Vodaphone provide my phone and i pay them, im being scammed and asked them to block the payment and they wont.

They tell me to text STOP to the ifitness message......ive never received a message text or email from this ifitness company, and ive definitly never received the meal plans and fitness plans my £3 a week is suposed to be buying...

Surely this is clearly a scam and it must be Vodaphones commitment to stop customers being scammed.

The operator i spoke to at Vodaphone said he had recieved loads of calls complaining about this......come on help your customers Vodaphone. Its cost me £45 so far and its going to cost Vodaphone a customer because other phone companies are sorting this and even refunding the scammed payments.

 

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

As far as I'm aware, networks can't block charges individually and I'm not sure whether they can unsubscribe you either.   If the "service" won't respond, you can take the matter to the regulator.   Sometimes the sign-up route is unclear, but there do seem to be some instances of it being completely random.

I've said elsewehere that the pay by phone system, while still useful, is outdated and needs to be revised for security.

JohnJ
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@CLYDE68 You may wish try a Charge to bill bar (MPAY). 

This bar stops you from donating to charity services or buying any digital content services with your phone.
You can add this bar on via My Vodafone
Please let us know how you get on. 🙂