86868 "Multimedia Services Recd" - £1.28

Jo_F

supernudger wrote: »

I suffer this problem, i'm concerned that if i reply with STOP to a text that has been sent to 'made up' random number that this will just show that the number is live so they can continue to text me or sell the number to another company. I know that this scam works with spam email, as requesting stop confirms that the address is live so you normally recieve more.

anyone got any information about this?

For most premium rate numbers the STOP text will generate an automatic free text to tell you that you have unsubscribed from the service. If any do slip through, then a human operator will generally pick it up and manually stop that phone, the stop should kick the number out of the database.

Most premuim rate operators work to this system, as they know that disregarding a stop request can land them with a serious bill and restrictions on their operation.

With the unsolicited texts, they really should be sent free, and are sometimes done with a random number generator, being with the tps won't always help with that, as the computer generates the numbers and sends the texts, there is nothing that can be done to allow the computer to cross reference.

And on a freaky note, I have two phones, one is contract, one is an emergency PAYG, and one day my contract phone received a text from some girl that was apparently scantilly clad and wanting to chat, the number it came from was my PAYG phone! No one could ever explain that one!

cathysorbo

I've just had a similar situation on my PayAsYouGo with Asda (Vodaphone) I received 3 texts in succession from 80039 and upon phoning the Asda Services (which costs 25p) about my disappearing credit balance - it seems that each text had cost ME £1.50 x 3 texts = £4.50 (+25p) and all the operator offered was a free sim card (cost 50p) to replace my current sim card and a telephone number for a company called ZERGO Tel: 0871-871-9625 (another national rate number) and instructions to return a text to 80039 with STOP ALL (further charges) - all for something that I have not even subscribed to. Surely something should be done about these companies - £4.50 from a low income senior citizen is pure theft and these companies should be stopped. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can recoup this princely sum?