Paymo?

Fakefurbabe_2

Just wondering if anyone can help. I have just had a text from a company called Paymo saying "Thanks, your purchase is complete. This message is part of your payment and costs £5.00 (total cost: £5.00) Help? 08081202341 or paymo.com/help".

I haven't made a purchase using my mobile phone and I have never heard of the company called Paymo so just a little concerned. Has anyone heard of this company? Should I call O2 who I am with to see if they can help.

Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.

Exhortation

I would check with your network to see if any money has been taken from your account.

redintheface

i too have had bad experience with these scammers, my sons phone through vodafone is charged to me, i recieved this mnths bill and noticed £14 in extra charges, so went online and noticed the phone number paymo 08081202341, so contacted vodafone and they told me that 3 purchases had been made x1 @£2 x2@ £6, i said impossible as my sons phone is not set up for internet and cannot get online, they then told me they would credit account £7 as a goodwill gesture pff. i asked my son if he had phoned any numbers and he said no, but he may have answered an 08 call. if this is the case how is it possible for a ripoff scamming company to charge you just for answering a call.
and these ripoff artists need closing down.

Sindysy

My child has a mobile phone contract with Vodafone. I have just found out that in Aug I have been charged £449.87!!! There are purchases showing "Paymo-08081202341" each day there have been two transactions of £30 and £20.

I spoke to Vodafone customer service (based abroad) they couldn't help. When I explained everything they were unhelpful. They then went on to give me Paymo's customer service number which was the same as the scam number above!!! (If I did not know this I would have phoned the scam number and they would have taken even more money from me!)

I asked to be put through to the team in UK so they can investigate and they refused. Also, having checked through all my statements, they had also been overcharging me for the phone deal.

I phoned Vodafone head office in Newbury, Berkshire. Receptionist would not put me through to the UK team but through the overseas customer service. I asked if they could confirm that from my conversation with Vodafone the other day did block the above number and text 78860 & 78010 which was also costing me a lot of money. they said yes..... guess what? My daughter received a text today from 78660!!! So clearly they have not blocked it!!!

I then phoned the local police and the lady who took my call was nice and understood, thankfully! She said a police officer would come to my house and take a statement. Later, someone from the local police station phoned me and said there was nothing they could do!

I am so deeply upset as this is a lot of money and I am a single parent with two children. I can't help but think about what that amount of money could have done for my me and my children. We could have had a holiday... which we never have had!

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

grumbler

It's you who has a mobile phone contract with Vodafone, not your child. Children cannot have contracts.
AFAIK, Vodafone don't block individual numbers, but they can block all premium numbers and texts if you are persistent enough.

Sindysy wrote: »

...If anyone has any suggestions or advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

1. Make sure you know what your daughter is doing with the phone with unlimited credit that you trusted her with.
2. Call 0808 number. It's not a 'scam number' and is free to call from a landline.
3. If you fail to reach a resolution with the company, complain to phonepayplus.

http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/Number-Checker/Check-a-Number-Results.aspx?ncn=7860
http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/Contact-Us.aspx

Buzby

As you discovered, this is not a police matter. I also urge caution, as your contract SIM treats all content (Premium Rate numbers, adult websites etc) as being accessed by a 18+ customer. It also means you are legally liable for all costs incurred for all interactions, loss and abuse should your daughter be the the slightest bit careless or fund the handset stolen. PAYG provides automatic < 18yo protection unless proof is provided. You also cannot run up bills in an uncontrolled manner, unwanted premium texts will fail if the credit is used up - and your bargaining power to get any issues resolved is done without a DD attempting to empty your bank account. The money saving way is to cancel the contract as soon as practicable, and port the number to the PAYG alternative.

As to your original problem, all it takes is a 'friend' to play a joke by subscribing, thinking this is a great hoot or wind up. The bill should also show the time and date of the original subscription - this will allow you to track back and discover when it was done.

redintheface

i had the same problem at the start of the year, not nearly as much about £100 contacted vodafone and they said would block number, checked again week after and it was still taking money, so contacted them again and complained that these numbers were supposed to be blocked but hadn;t been and wanted to speak to supervisor. the supervisor said as i had been a customer for x amount of years they would credit half back and also gave me a number to text and that did block it..
but these numbers are a con my sons was activated via a txt message even though he clicked no..

Herongull

I've googled paymo and it seems that all someone has to do is input the phone number into the paymo website and then reply to their text. Any phone left momentarily unattended (eg on your desk at work) could be misused in this way, and the consequences can be devastating for your finances as several people have found out.

This is one of the big risks to your finances in having a contract phone. Careful adults should be wary of phone contracts.

And never ever let a child have unsupervised access to a contract phone.

Vodafone

Hi Sindysy,

Grumbler is absolutely correct here, we can bar premium rate numbers being used on a device.

If there are purchases on an account to a third party company, we cannot stop these directly as they are not charged directly by Vodafone.

Could it be that your child has text a short dial number to get a game, ringtone etc?

If you would like to speak to me directly about this, get in touch via the link here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject and I will get in touch.

Please also include a link to your post and a contact number.

Many thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

thevicar1968

I think i can help i`ve sent a STOP txt to 78660 got a reply thankyou for opting out it is defo a scam and will let you all know if more money comes out of my daughters account they must of took around 100 pounds off me already

I ALSO HAVE A LINK IF THIS IS ANY GOOD
/w ww. phone pa yplus.org.uk/
I have made a complaint to them and hopefully see how if it can be solved let you all know..remove the spaces as links are not allowed
SOLUTION HAS BEEN FOUND
short code 78660
customer service number for content owner 0870 0427150
to opt out send STOP to 78660

Service Micro-payment service for online content
MO Cost (sending sms to short code) 12p Premium
MT Cost (receiving sms from short code) £5.00
Company mBlox
Got this off vodaphone site hope it helps as i have do it so time will tell