Text Message From +447500260515
Comments
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i got this today
Sender +447767073747
FREE MESSAGE: Our records indicate you may be entitled to 3750 pounds for the Accident you had. To claim for free reply with YES to this message. To opt out text STOP
i am on Vodafone...
Still doing the rounds, this time on a different number......0 -
It looks like we are getting some action, part of the e-mail I received today. Well done the ICO;
I write further to our email of 22 December 2009 regarding your complaint about an unsolicited direct marketing text message from 07500 260515.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is working closely with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on this matter. The OFT has a duty to monitor the fitness of businesses who hold consumer credit licences and the MoJ is responsible for the regulation of claims management services. We have been asked by the OFT and the MoJ to provide details of complaints we have received about these text messages.
:j0 -
It looks like we are getting some action, part of the e-mail I received today. Well done the ICO;
[...] We have been asked by the OFT and the MoJ to provide details of complaints we have received about these text messages.
:j
It would be interesting to see whether the complaints I made in September are included as recorded by either Vodafone or the ICO, or indeed Ofcom, as all three adamantly refused to do anything at the time.
Thus I suspect the information they have so far will understate the problem, however I doubt they would choose to ignore these implicit mandates from now on.0 -
It would be interesting to see whether the complaints I made in September are included as recorded by either Vodafone or the ICO, or indeed Ofcom, as all three adamantly refused to do anything at the time.
Thus I suspect the information they have so far will understate the problem, however I doubt they would choose to ignore these implicit mandates from now on.
@Redux,
If you received an acknowledgement from the ICO which included a case reference number then your complaint would be included. Have you received any further e-mails from them since you lodged your complaint?0 -
I didn't make a formal complaint with ICO, as I was explicitly accused on the phone of being a time-waster, and told they weren't interested, so I said I would not send anything in but like with Vodafone I insisted they at least note the number date and time and my contact details. That's why I'm sceptical they'll have full past records on the problem.
I have submitted 2 formal complaints to ICO. On the first they said they couldn't do anything about unsolicited marketing calls to an ex-directory phone number that I asserted was illegally obtained together with actual subscriber name via another company (which I named), unless the recipient was TPS registered. The second report has been pending for 2 months or more, and the miscreant is still trading with nakedly deceitful privacy statements: it won't pass on mobile numbers, yet is elsewhere advertising lists for sale. By the way, this latter service was spammed on and deleted from here.0 -
I have been getting these for a while now, I complained to the ICO by filling out a word document with a description and emailing it to them. I've received a response from them:Thank you for your correspondence regarding an unsolicited marketing SMS text messages that you have received.
The Information Commissioner advises on and enforces the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (the Regulations). These regulations cover the way organisations market subscribers by electronic means (for example using telephone, fax, text and email). Marketing can include the promotion of goods, services, aims or ideals.
Regulation 22 says that organisations should not send unsolicited direct marketing by electronic mail (including text message) to individual subscribers without their prior consent.
In this case, it appears the organisation in question has contravened the Regulations.
It is the Commissioner’s policy to only take formal action where it seems to him to be the only way of ensuring compliance with the Regulations and in the great majority of cases he manages to achieve a satisfactory result without using his formal powers.
However, our office has received a number of complaints about these text messages and as such the matter has been passed to our Enforcement Department for their consideration. Details of the Commissioner’s strategy for regulatory action, which includes the Regulations, can be found under the Data Protection links on our website.
Details of any action taken against organisations under the Regulations are also displayed in the ‘Enforcement’ section of our website.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
Hopefully now they might stop this! :A
(posted elsewhere for clarity)
Bob0 -
I received a text message today (11th April 2011) from +44 7526 300082 with the Free Msg scam claiming "you may be entitled to £3750 for the accident you had". "To apply free reply CLAIM to this message". My mobile is with Asda Mobile which is an MVNO brand underlyingly provide by the Vodafone mobile network. So in other words Vodafone are doing precisely damn all to stop this as the text in the message and the £3750 sum mentioned is just the same as it has always been. All that changes is the mobile phone number the messages are sent from.
I tried to report it to PhonePayPlus who are responsible for reverse billed text scams but their website said they did not cover this number and to complain to Ofcom. I called Ofcom and they said they do not investigate individual complaints but only recorded total numbers of complaints under various headings. I then telephoned PhonePayPlus where some bored and extremely unhelpful woman initially claimed she had trouble hearing me but then miraculously now could hear me perfectly after I asked for her name and mentioned knowing the name of their Chief Executive. She claimed it is a matter for the Information Commissioner and not for them.
However surely it is actually a matter for the Police and/or the Advertising Standards Authority since they incorrectly claim you may be entitled "entitled to £3750 for the accident you had"
Basically nobody wants to take any action including the mobile companies who profit from each of these messages being sent but who could easily block this one based on its constantly repeated content where the wording used is always the same.
Yes I suppose I must log a complaint with the Information Commissioner but they are the most useless body of all and their tedious and lengthy Word document is clearly designed to put you off complaining.
I think the most profitable way ahead is actually en email to the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham (attaching my completed Word Document complaint form) also copied to the CEO of Ofcom (Ed Richards), CEO of PhonePayPlus (Paul Whiteing) and the CEO of the OFT (John Fingleton) and the Permanent Secretary and Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice complaining that between them them they are doing damn all to stop this blatant scamming high nuisance form of telephone abuse.
Apparently Not:eek::(:mad::mad::mad:Hopefully now they might stop this!:AIt looks like we are getting some action, part of the e-mail I received today. Well done the ICO;
Clearly no useful action at all has been taken by the ICO, Vodafone, Ofcom, Phonepayplus or anyone else as they even use precisely the same message and amount of money as they have always done.:mad::mad::mad:0 -
@Nongeographicalman,
I have seen on several forums that this text was doing the rounds again. A while ago on another thread we had posts from the CEO of the financial company involved with this text at the time. (A variety of companies have used this text for contacts) He explained how he was taking the blame for the content provider that his company had employed to get customers. He was very helpful and answered all the questions that were put to him. Sadly a forum member complained about a forum rules that companies must ask permission before posting and all his posts were deleted.
Don't you just love these people:o0 -
@Nongeographicalman,
I have seen on several forums that this text was doing the rounds again.
I think the ICO, OFT (who still use a scam 0845 number that they misdescribe as "local rate" in some of their own documents), Phonepayplus, Ofcom, ASA and the Police need shaming over their joint combined inaction on this issue. An email to the ICO copied to the CEO of all the other parties and to any journalists who have previously shown an interest on the subject may help. A Word document complaint to the ICO alone undoubtedly won't
These texts have clearly been sent out in the hundreds of millions, which clearly tells you how profitable it is for them to do so. I myself have had at least 7 or 8 FREEMSG text messages in the last two years.:mad::mad::mad:0 -
@Nongeographicalman,
I can understand how you feel as I have been there also.
The Police will not or cannot get involved with any mobile phone issues unless called in by Phone Pay Plus (which will never happen) or OFCOM (who will not act on individual complaints).
The ICO are like a chocolate tea pot, totally useless :question:. Even when they have found a company has breached its regulations, as it was in this case, all it does is tells the company in question not to be a 'naughty boy or girl'.
The Ministry Of Justice, although the name sounds grand and official, gave me the same reponse as the ICO and did nothing but gave the company a slap on the wrists.
The Networks are not interested as somewhere along the route of the text they will be making money for either sending or recieving the text.
OFT, Trading Standards and ASA did not even repond to my letters.
The only newspaper that took any interest was the Daily Mirror but it was short lived.
It's like hitting your head against a brick wall :wall:. Too many people are making big money out of scams and nobody wants to rock the boat, that includes our MP's.
The way of sending out scams has started to change. Instead of sending out the text via a short code, which has to involve a content provider and another company which sends the mass texts, they now use normal texts. This also puts them outside the scope of the reguations of Phone Pay Plus, who don't do very much anyway. The content provider sending the text will receive a payment for every 'customer' that replies to the text.
If everyone who received the text answered (In this case there was no charge but this may not always happen) and told them to 'F*
*F' it may deter companies from using this method of finding business!
:beer:0
This discussion has been closed.
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