88101 unsolicited text messages charging me

sjh101

I have recently checked my phone bill and noticed a couple of £1.50 text message charges which I thought was strange as I make a rule as to never go over my allowance. And I'm very careful as to who I give my details to for these exact reasons!! I looked further into the matter and low and behold it was from a company who I believe to be called 'oxygen 8 communications' whos uses the short code 88101. I rang my service provider orange and they said to ring a number 08444480700 which i am reluctant to do as it cost 35p a min. It does give you the option to text stop to these messages to cancel but I dont want to incase it charges me even more.

Has anybody else experienced anything like this and how do you stop the messages?? Can my service provider bar the messages.??
They dont seem very helpful, and I'm afraid they are going to take even more money from me.

Please help

Thanks

evenasus

This scamming has been going on for a number of years now.
I was scammed a couple of years ago. You might find some useful information from some of the posts on this.... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1607621

My outcome can be found on...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1683951

If you're on T Mobile or Tesco, I know you can put a block on premium rate unsolicited texts yourself.

Good luck.

akin.r45

I had the same problem, Every week I was getting charged sms from 62220, happy hr offer. Its been going on for months and I never noticed till resontly. I never text in to any of these stupid services.

I rang my mobile operator and they gave me phone pay plus details, so I complaint, they responded

"PhonepayPlus is the organisation that regulates phone-paid services – the goods and services that you can buy by charging the cost to your phone bills and mobile pre-pay accounts. These include services operating on numbers beginning with the digits 09, mobile phone services accessed via a five or six-digit short code, and directory enquiry services. Our aim is to minimise consumer harm by ensuring that the companies responsible for providing these services abide by the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice.

We are very grateful for alerting us to your concerns about the shortcode 62220.

Your complaint will now be reviewed and the company operating the service will be contacted for more information. Should we find this service to be operating in breach of our Code of Practice we will pursue a case against the company and notify you by email. If insufficient evidence is found and we cannot take further action we will also contact you by email.

In the meantime, we would strongly recommend you contacting the company responsible for the shortcode 62220 directly. They will be able to tell you how your number was obtained and how you came to receive these messages.

WIN (Wireless Information Network) Ltd
1 Cliveden Office Village
Lancaster Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP12 3YZ
Phone: 01494 750 500

If you have any further queries or information regarding your complaint please contact our helpline on 0800 500 212, between 9 am and 5 pm weekdays, quoting your case reference at the top of this letter. We will be in contact in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Terry Armstrong
Consumer Support Adviser

Phone: 0800 500 212
Fax: 020 7940 7456


So I rang Wireless Information Network and spoke to a lady called Catherine, she said its not them and its a company called Twist Mobile Limited. But she said she will stop the service.

Its not about stopping the service, how can these companies get away from scamming me? is there any justice to bring these scammers to justice??

In your case best bet is to ring the above number but I doubt you will ever see your money.,

G51shopaholic

had something similar happen, I'm with O2.
Over £7.50 of charges for "premium rate text" apparently I opted for nude photos! (I'm over the age of 40, I have breast cancer, why the *&$£ would I want to look at other womens breasts!)
I challenged the bill and O2 came back and said it was from a 3rd party and when the company tells them a customer has text them
they just pay out@!
I had to put a written complaint into O2 before they credit the money back to my account.
They then said the 3rd party had told them my number was noow blocked

Cooler

It seems to me that, if I take the above tales at face value, then they are describing a situation where a mobile service provider has stolen money from your account in order to give it to someone who has simply demanded it. Yes ?

In which case surely the service provider should be liable for money they have bountifully chosen to give away to some company who demanded it, and in the meantime should replace the money they have stolen from you to cover the costs of their generosity. Or doesn't the law work like that ?

wantmemoney

Cooler wrote:

Or doesn't the law work like that ?

the five Mobile Networks paid the UK Government £24.4B for their operating licenses when they were auctioned.
reduced consumer protection in the 'self regulated' market place increases the value of those licenses when they come up for renewal again.

ps i am being very serious.