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Ifitness Scam

craig-74
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Hello.  I am a Samsung user and have been scammed by Ifitness.  I never signed up to them, they have been taking £3 a week from my bill since 03/04/2017.  On 18th April I asked Vodafone to cancel this as I had no APP or agreement with Ifitness, to which they said they had done, but havent!!!  I have asked for my money back and they are refusing to refund.  I have text back STOP every month too but still being charged.  Vodafone have referred me to an O2 Forum for advice (???)  and a link which confirms its a scam linked to google play pedometer.   Does anyone know how I go about complaining and getting my money back.  I am livid with the performance of Vodafone.  I have been a Customer for over 10 years !!

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

http://www.pmconnect.co.uk/contact-us.htm      Contact these and you can check if your number is registered and cancel it

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108 REPLIES 108

I spoke to the PS Authority who know about Ifitness.

 

They told me to email support at pmconnect and ask them how they got hold of my mobile number.

 

Tell them that they must provide this information in 3-5 working days.

 

I have then been told to get back in touch with the PD Authority on 0300 303 0020 and register a complaint.

 

I will be trying PM connect directly as some on this thread have had luck in getting at least £30 back. We will see.

Rang 03333217014 - you have to make sure you speak to someone. They will tell you how they got your number.

They got mine because I apparently interacted with one of their online adverts?

I supposedly got 24hrs free then a text saying I would be charged from now on.

The guy at PM Connect is going to send me a cheque for £30 - apparently this is some limit that ifitness have put on!!

I complained about this being a scam - the guy seemed unperturbed - so when I pushed him he also registered a complaint from me.

SHOCKING

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

After you've taken into account speculative downloads of broadly legitimate apps, interaction with pop-ups and inadvertent sign-ups, there are a few cases of charges coming through for no clear reason.   Some of these would appear to be scams - charge points adding random numbers in much the same way that those PPI texts get sent out.   Others may be people signing others up maliciously, or simply mistyping their own number on a genuine sign-up.

Payment by premium rate SMS is, in theory, a good system, but it's massively abused and there's a definite question mark over whether it's really necessary now.   In the days before smartphones and good data connections, it was a reliable and convenient way of paying for things like parking.  It still is, of course, if you don't have a smartphone or only a very basic signal (2G won't hack it for most data work these days).

A responsible service will cancel on request and should also refund at least some charges.  Scams, of course, won't, but can be closed down by the relevant authority.  They also rely on the fact that most people don't check their bills any more than they check their bank statements.   In some cases, the network may be able to block them on your phone.

Whatever the reason, it's important to understand that the network is only the middleman in this and is passing on a charge that's been raised on a legitimate system.   There are, however, bars you can put in place yourself and it's worth investigating them.

http://www.pmconnect.co.uk/contact-us.htm      Contact these and you can check if your number is registered and cancel it

This link is not workng

I have the same problem

Tash
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@aelgawad We'll be happy to help and take a look into your account.

So we can do this, I've sent a private message to you with details on how to contact our team.

Once we've received your details, we'll then be in touch.

This has been happening to me for some time. Longer than 10 weeks definitely - yes I know I should check my bills more often but there you go. I have never signed up for iFitness. I started getting the standard texts and ignored them initially but eventuall texted back STOP. I THINK this is probably when they started charging me. I chatted with Vodaphone some time last year (Ocotober?) and asked that they block these texts - I had thought at the time that it was the texts themselves that were costing me. They said they had done so but I still kept receiving them. And I still kept getting charged.

 

Eventually in December I found the iFitness website (I'd never clapped eyes on it before) and "cancelled" my subscription. It may have worked - the last charge I can see on my bill is for November. However I got the same text last Friday so I'm not convinced I won't be charged again. And anyway I calculate they've taken £72 from me for a service I have never signed up for. Vodaphone haven't helped stop this.

 

I'm going to complain to the regulator. I can't see any point going to iFitness as I am not prepared to have just 10 weeks' refunded. I wrote to iFitness at bounce.mobi (the email address alone doesn't fill me with confidence anyone will reply) and advised them I want my money back. From what I've read in this thread it isn't worth me complaining to Vodaphone either. I note though that the regulator will want details of the company making the charge - does anyone have this info? Or will I need to go to Vodaphone for this?

 

TIA

Tash
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@martyn142 As this is a third party that's generating the charges, you'd need to contact them directly to ensure you're no longer subscribed to them. 

As you've mentioned in your post you wouldn't like to speak with the company regarding this, you can report them through the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA).

If you'd like us to take a look into your account, I've sent you a private message with details to contact our team.

Natasha

I've talked at length to Vodafone. To cut a long story short, although they've put a block on any new services repeating this same sort of scam, they can't /won't do anything to stop this one. Meanwhile Ifitness don't respond to the email address Vodafone gave me.

I'll be going to the regulator on this but I just don't believe that my phone company is unable to intervene to stop a fraud being carried out on my account. 

I too will be leaving Vodafone for both mobile and broadband as soon as my contracts allow me to without penalty. 

 

I contacted the company (see earlier in thread) and the charging has stopped.

 

I had been charged £48 and they said they would only refund £30 (no explanation why). 

 

To date no cheque has arrived.

 

Vodafone no use whatsoever and are hiding behind - "this is a third party" crap.

 

Vodafone is a big player and should show leadership but instead my experience is they allow things to happen because they make money out of it!

 

We need a strong regulator who has some teeth and can make things happen.