ASDA Mobile allowing fraudulent texts

Presario

I changed over to ASDA Mobile about 3 months ago and took my number from Virgin Mobile. I was also registered with TPS a few years ago and never had a single reverse cost premium rate text message. Now I am with ASDA Mobile I am getting at least two per week from different companies and I do NOT give this mobile number out to any companies. I also registered a while back to have it removed from the mobile directories.

So far I have been reverse text scammed by Screwfix Direct, Carphone Warehouse and tonight a claims company that refused to give me their name when I called them.

I contacted ASDA Mobile and they said they were "unable" to give customers a choice over whether they want to accept reverse cost premium rate text messages and will not limit how many are sent to a customer. They are unwilling to refund any money even though they take a percentage of what I have been forced to pay without giving my permission. They also can not give details of the companies they allow to use this fraudulent feature or why they refuse to stop it when it forms no part of the mobile phone agreement/contract customers have with ASDA Mobile.

After complaining I did get a £10 voucher from Screwfix. Carphone Warehouse never replied and I am still to find who the claims company is.

Do any mobile phone companies allow customers to put a block on ALL types of reverse cost charges? I just find it annoying as there is nothing stopping people setting up such an operation to scam people out of money. Mobile companies are reluctant to stop it as they also make money from it - a similar reason for never stopping phones they know are stolen.

ASDA uses the Vodafone network and I am sure Vodafone allows customers not to be scammed. The amount of money being made by ASDA Mobile from fraudulent messages must run in to many thousands each year. Perhaps it is now time to hit back and take legal action for each seperate reverse cost, then add loss of earnings to attend Court. One for Martin Lewis to publicise a bit more.

:beer:

4743hudsonj

In all honesty i have never heard of this.

Ive had my fair share of numbers and sims. Including my immediate family we have covered each network multiple times and not one of us have had this.

Ive stuck to Vodafone for a while on my persona phone and havnt had this, none of us have had to opt in or out to anything either so why not just get your PAC and move elsewhere?

xbrenx

I haven't had anything like this happen to me either. In fact I didn't even know companies could do a reverse charge type call

Sorry, haven't got anything more constructive to say.

flyingscotno1

Never had it on ASDA mobile either- get texts from them offering me stuff but not third parties and not cost ones either.

Someone must have got your number somehow? I doubt ASDA hand them out to companies to charge you money.

david39

If you Google "Reverse Charge Text Messages" you will find a lot of information about the practice although none of much help.

I had never heard of it before, but apparently it is not uncommon!

Scandalous!

Exhortation

Having read one of the blogs on this subject I would suggest that your beef should not be with Asda but with Virgin Mobile. It seems to me that Virgin may well be selling the numbers of people who have left them (and taken their numbers with them) as some kind of revenge. Of course, I could be entirely wrong as a reputable company such as Virgin would never stoop so low. Just like the employee at a certain other network provider who - entirely illegally - sold lists of customers mobile numbers to a marketing company. OFCOM - ever the customers' friend - found out about this but refused to release the name of the phone company on the grounds that it may lead to civil action from their affected customers.

Intasun32

david39 wrote: »

If you Google "Reverse Charge Text Messages" you will find a lot of information about the practice although none of much help.

I had never heard of it before, but apparently it is not uncommon!

Scandalous!

The scam known as 'unsolicited reverse bill texts' has been around for some years and has stolen tens of thousands of pounds from unsuspecting mobile phone users in the UK alone. I am one of those victims.

All the networks are aware of this scam although they will deny knowledge and accuse you, the victim, of signing up for the services. Saying that there are many cases when the mobile phone user has unknowingly signed up for continuous service when making a single purchase of a ringtone, wallpaper or downloading music etc. The sting is in the very, very small print.

These bandits are allowed to get away with this theft due to the lack of interest of the authorities, this being OFCOM, PhonePayPlus (the self policed premium rate industry regulator), The DTI, our law makers at Parliament, and of course the Police (whose hands are tied by law) who will not be interested in your case. Any action must be refered to the authorities, ie The Police, by the regulator PhonePayPlus. Since it's formation as ICSTIS and now it's new name, there is not a documented case of a PR company being refered to the police for criminal action. Month after month there are lists of adjudications on the PP+ web site of the same companies stealing thousands of pounds from unsuspecting phone users. They are given a smacked wrist and fined. These fines pay for the running of PP+. Are you begining to see the light :eek:

@David39, you advise to google but remark that none of it is of help, if you read some of the info you will realize how widespread this scam is and how it effects ALL mobile phone users.

Only T-Mobile make it easy to bar short codes, the means that these bandits use to steal our cash. Vodafone offer the service but do not make it widely known, sometimes telling PAYT customers (the most vulnerable) it can't be added to their account. All the other networks will NOT bar short codes, why? Because the networks can earn up to 50% of the money stolen from your account as administration.

OTELO & CISAS the industry arbitration service are also not very sympathetic towards disputes regarding stolen cash. Why? Check out who sits on the boards of the arbitration service and who they represent.

This info doesn't even scratch the surface but I hope this helps.

:beer:

BAILEYS6904

Its actually quite easy to sort this one

All CHARGEABLE text messages are sent from a shortcode (ie a 5 digit sender number). If they have come from an 07xxx number, they have not been reverse billed and have been free to receive ( still may be a nuisance, but at least it hasnt cost you anything).

If you have the shortcode number, you can look it up on the phonepayplus website that will tell you who owns the shortcode number (THESE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE PEOPLE THAT ARE BILLING YOU), but they are the people that can advise what company is charging you and the number you need to call to ask for a refund. They can also put a stop on the service. If you still have the shortcode numbers, you can just reply to them with a STOP ALL message. do this to the individual numbers (just to make sure). DONT PUT ANYTHING ELSE ON THE MESSAGE, as it will be a computer system that only looks for the STOP command. Anything else MAY trigger the service again.

Sorry about the CAPS, not being ignorant just trying to emphasize a couple of points

HTH

g_attrill

BAILEYS6904 wrote: »

If you still have the shortcode numbers, you can just reply to them with a STOP ALL message. do this to the individual numbers (just to make sure).

I would personally be wary about doing this, since it sort of implies that you accept you might have originally requested it and are now cancelling. It should really be the text service provider who unsubscribes and refunds at the same time, although I accept with the scam companies this can be impossible.

I agree that there should be a way to block chargeable messages entirely, I'm sure it is possible.

Intasun32

BAILEYS6904 wrote: »

Its actually quite easy to sort this one
If you still have the shortcode numbers, you can just reply to them with a STOP ALL message. do this to the individual numbers (just to make sure). DONT PUT ANYTHING ELSE ON THE MESSAGE, as it will be a computer system that only looks for the STOP command. Anything else MAY trigger the service again.

Just by returning a text you have informed the sender that your number is active. Another scam is for the cowboys to send out hundreds/thousands of random numbers, there is the software available to be able to do this. A large pecentage will be dead numbers, many texts will be ignored, it's the ones that acknowledge which are the cream. The scammers now know that this is an active number which can either be scammed by themselves or sold included on a live customer list. Something that is worth quite a bit in the scammer business.

The best way to deal with it is to use the short code on the 'number finder' on the Phone Pay Plus web site. This will give an address, a phone number (normally a 10p per minute number) and really useful an e-mail address. Use the e-mail address to demand the company stop sending the texts and to remove you from their data base. If they don't you have proof that you have contacted them to give to PP+ in a complaint.

:beer: