Premium rate scam

[HJS16]

The advice to me was to contact the spammer about what had been taken, but I was eventually able to get Vodafone blocking it in the future.  I also do not understand why these blocks are not put on by default on accounts.  The whole thing is a disgrace, why would anyone even want a £4.50 subscription service for games.  The whole system is at fault not just vodafone but all mobile operators.

These spammers must be making a fortune.  I do not know if Vodafone make money or not but it is clear the mobile industry does not want to spend money putting systems in place to protect their customers .  These spamming companies should not be allowed to  operate so freely. 

[flagpole]

It would be interesting to see what percentage of these spammers get cancelled immediately. As in how many people are actually customers of these organisations.

Also I wonder what Vodafone's cut is?

[HJS16]

I would be surprised if it is even as high as 1%  maybe even 1 in a 1000 actually want the service or less, after all why pay £4.50 subscription for games   .  I would say the majority cancel as soon as they find out and depending how quickly could be £4.50 up to £30/£40 they have lost or more.  Most people  probably once cancelled get angry but move on and put the blocks on the account.  Just think how much money they must be scamming from people,   To make things worse these companies are probably all set up overseas. 

Agree there must be some sort of cut for mobile companies . 

[Alex]

@vodspamfraud We have bars which you can add to your account to prevent these subscriptions, but this bar wouldn't cancel an active subscription. 

Ultimately your 'agreement' is with the company and not with ourselves at Vodafone. The charge comes from your bill, but the money doesn't come to us. We can provide information on it, but we can't stop it on our side for you, which is why we advise you to contact them directly. 

If you feel like the company is a scam, you can seek further advice from the Phone-paid Services Authority. 

[flagpole]

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@Alex wrote:

@vodspamfraud We have bars which you can add to your account to prevent these subscriptions, but this bar wouldn't cancel an active subscription. 

Ultimately your 'agreement' is with the company and not with ourselves at Vodafone. The charge comes from your bill, but the money doesn't come to us. We can provide information on it, but we can't stop it on our side for you, which is why we advise you to contact them directly. 

If you feel like the company is a scam, you can seek further advice from the Phone-paid Services Authority. 

---

Are you telling me that Vodafone makes no money from the scam? Because I do not believe you.

[HJS16]

Alex

I  do not think you quite get it, people are ending up with these charges and have no idea how and when they are meant to have subscribed., one case mentioned above the person did not even have internet on the phone.

The systems in place are totally inadequate by vodafone (and other mobile networks) 

1 Why are these bars no automatically in place on new contracts?

 2  Why does the system not make you need to enter a password, pin etc to ensure that you actively have subscribed rather than accidentally

3 you mention vodafone can not cancel active sunscriptions , are you sure about that?

4 Wht would anyone want to subscribe and pay £4.50 for game subscription.  These companies are operating for the sole purpose of scamming people, £4.50 ther, £9.00 there £18.00 somewhere else all adds up

5 The controls to prevent this are poor, the systems in place are poor 

[sc99cs]

My wife has just been hit by this scam and received the same standard letter joannem1189 received. Again no evidence in the browser history to confirm the provider's assertion.

Even if legitimate why did Vodafone not confirm with me, as the bill holder, that I wished the payment to proceed? Also if the provider is legitimate why did they not send a confirmation text to my wife's number to confirm that a third party wasn't signing up someone else's number?

We have asked the provider to provide some concrete proof that my wife has signed up to this service such as IP address, IMEI number, device type used - something to confirm it was her. She was at work at the time and it seems unlikely she would have time to sign-up to a service unless very well hidden in pop-ups etc.  I've even asked what content we have subscribed to and how we access it because I don't think the provider is supplying what it is charging for. There are no text messages or emails from the company explaining how to obtain their content which is suspicious. Either a third party has signed up, the sign-up is well hidden within another service or the provider is harvesting random numbers.

Despite Vodafone's claim that the contract is ultimately between myself and the provider I still feel that they are responsible for facillitating this and as mentioned earlier these should be opt-in services. Both my plans are now out of contract and unless Vodafone take this seriously I will be closing my account after over eighteen years (has it been that long!).

[HJS16]

This issue is bigger than Vodafone, the whole telecommunications industry is guilty of complicity. Someone in authority needs to sort this out. Fraud is endemic here yet is being ignored. 

[Ccooke2403]

HI 

This has happened to me over the last 3 months and Vodafone wont refund my money. I have had no texts or messages and have not subscribed to anything. Sports Plus is coming up on my bill charging £4.50per week for the last 3 months. Vodafone gave me Dynamic Mobile Billing Company Name however there is no response to my emails. Where you able to obtain a refund? 

[Ccooke2403]

Thank you I will try this.

[joannem1189]

Hi sc99cs,

Did the provider ever get back to you with answers?

So far I have just left it, but these people shouldn't be getting away with this so I am seriously thinking about taking it further. 

[HJS16]

It is a disgrace , needs to be better controls, too many people are either being scammed fraudulently or accidentally signing up to unsolicited requests for subscriptions. The telecoms industry needs to address what is theft.

[sc99cs]

No, I still haven't heard from the providers although I have reported them to their trade body.

I have spoken to Vodafone and got told in no uncertain terms that Vodafone do not consider this fraud. So even though my wife has not signed up, and has not agreed to the subscription, and therefore has no contract with the provider it is not Vodafone's issue... Another person I spoke to at Vodafone explained that the problem is that the thieves, for want of a better word,  don't set up a regular payment with Vodafone. They just submit a weekly claim for it so Vodafone cannot tell that it has been set up as a recurring subscription. The only thing you can do is to get Vodafone to bar all payments being made via your mobile. I got the impression that some staff at Vodafone are getting a bit fed up with this.

For the record Vodafone claim that my wife was signed up via an interaction with an ad in the Facebook app. Her Facebook history does not show anything like this as it lists all the adverts you interact with etc so either the Facebook app is leaking user's numbers where it shouldn't or the company involved are acting illegally in some way. However Vodafone should still contact the account owner to confirm that you want  payments to come out. They use two factor authentication to log into the account so why not when money is being demanded from it?

[Mediterraneou]

Service checker - result The PSA has the following information about the number below:- 02037403517 Customer care number 0330 053 5838 Search result provided by Finite Inc Global Limited Service connected on 05 November 2018 Service terminated on This service is still operating Name of service Customer service number for Finite Inc Global Ltd - please note this is not a phone-paid service Type of service Purchase - other Service description It is the customer service number for Finite Inc Global Ltd - please note this is not a phone-paid service. If this number has appeared on your telephone bill please contact your telephone provider and establish the shortcode behind the charge (this will be 5 or 6 digits starting with 6, 7 or 8). Once you have this information please come back to the PSA website and register a report or if you already have this information please log a report using the shortcode. How much does this service cost? It is the customer service number for Finite Inc Global Ltd - please note this is not a phone-paid service. If this number has appeared on your telephone bill please contact your telephone provider and establish the shortcode behind the charge (this will be 5 or 6 digits starting with 6, 7 or 8). Once you have this information please come back to the PSA website and register a report or if you already have this information please log a report using the shortcode. If you would like to find out more about this service or have a question about it, then you should contact the service provider below. Finite Inc Global Limited 27 Old Gloucester Street London WC1N 3AX United Kingdom

[Mediterraneou]

Check their number, 02037403517 on  PSA ( phone paid services authority ) and make complaint

[Mediterraneou]

Check their number, 02037403517 on  PSA ( phone paid services authority ) and make complaint

[HJS16]

No one cares about this fraud

Vodafone - no

Other mobile companies - no

PSA - no

Other regulatory authorities - no 

Corporate bodies and wealthy officials  and the Government do not care yet people like us are the ones who suffer. 

[sicram1972]

I've had £25 adeded to my bill this month from these premium rate scams. I called 191 and was told my account would only be charged my usual £40 and Vodafone would contact the companies on my behalf. The operator also said that they were aware of this issue and had reported said companies to the regulator. I was told it would be sorted and I would get a call back after 7 days. We even arranged a time, 11:00 on January 24th. I recieved no callback and today my bill has been taken from my account for the full £65!!! Is the Vodafone 191 number a scam too?!?!?! Also, I was told that premium barring had been added to my account and 3 days later I received ANOTHER text telling me I had subscribed to a different premium service. I had not, and I never like replying to these random texts as I assume, as I did from the very start, that they are phishing for 'live' numbers. I was concerned that my details had been stolen but was assured that they had not, but then I was also assured of a callback AND for the £25 to be put on hold until the issue was sorted out and neither of those turned out to be true. I have NEVER subscribed to any premium online services so am a little bit lost as to how I've been charged and am also slightly appalled that Vodafone just seem to wash their hands of it all and do not deliver when I was promised assitance.

[TJ]

Hey @sicram1972, it's really disappointing to hear that you're still getting these premium rate messages. If you've not unsubscribed by texting STOP to the number provided in the texts, the Premium Rate Message bar won't stop things you're already signed up to.

So I can take a closer look into this for you, I've sent you a private message with details on how to get in touch.

[HJS16]

TJ i do not think that is totally  correct " If you've not unsubscribed by texting STOP to the number provided in the texts, the Premium Rate Message bar won't stop things you're already signed up to."  It is correct that turning the bar on will not stop them, but these subscriptions can be cancelled by customer services.  I have been told different things by customer service but one got mine cancelled.

Also if you have not signed up to something it is understandable you will not reply stop as for example you could get charged for sending the text