someone ran- up my bill (premium rate)

waaag

I (unfortunately)have a landline with ntl. I got my bill yesterday. When I opened and read it , I could not believe it! two calls for a premium rate number that I certainly did not make. Apparently accessed through the internet - though I was not able to get internet for a couple of months, including during the time in question due to a virus and other computer problems.... I live alone, by the way.

I decided to speak to ntl about this.when you finally do get to speak to someone at ntl (after enduring their automated 'help' for god knows how many hours) they say they do not have the facility to find out what the number is. Oh yes they do. they can't be bothered. After all they are making money from it. A company called icstis have a website. They find out what premium rate numbers are. I found what the number was, on here.and it is (the company)currently being investigated.

(strangely when I had internet connection fault - the ntl premium rate helpline cost me £20 - i had not realised this, and worse, it did not rectify the problem, when I saw the premium rate number on my bill I rang ntl to see what it was and to see why the bill was so high,they said 'we don't know what this number is!! - it's them, though!) I found this through icstis too!

Back to the calls I did not make - premium rate number - turned out to be a german company IQ test, and I since found out that the spoof e-bay email requesting my details passwords, bank, credit card etc was not actually from ebay - these crooks now had my details - then I realised - it must be them who's done it. I then had to change all passwords, etc,.

I have told ntl all of this, 'its not our fault' they said. All I can do is write to this company in germany, outlining what happened, requesting a refund or take them to a small claims court. if they refuse.

I think I am s****ing a dead sheep here - as I will be forced to pay it and dont think for one moment this company is easily going to refund me. Has anybody else had a similar scenario? Oh and I could pay about £2 a go to have premium rate call barring for ever more. which doesnt make me feel better - i think i will go back to bt. Is there an ombudsman for these things? My CAB is shortstaffed and short hours since a few moths ago and is impossible to be seen unless you camp out, like for the sales. only first few people are seen to in the huge queue. Help appreciated. >:(

sergeant121

BT don't charge for barring outgoing calls to all 09xxx numbers. You just have to ask.

Woby_Tide

so you managed to get your pc infected with a virus, install a premium rate dialler and get details ripped off you by a bogus e-mail

They say bad luck comes in threes but that is some going!

when you say you couldn't access the internet due to PC problems are you sure the problems weren't the dialer that had hacked your proper internet settings, so every time you went on PC to try and fix problem your PC was dialing out?

soolin

I'm afraid I do have to agree with woby-tide on this one, one error is unlucky (we've all been there) but two virus' (I am treating the auto dialler as a virus on the basis that it installed itself despite being unwanted) and falling for a well known and well publicised scam mail is more than unlucky.

You are obviously back on the net now and I would strongly suggest that you ensure that your virus protection software is up to date and that you also ensure you update it at least twice a week from now on. Also look at installing other protection programmes like Zoenalarm, spybot or ad aware, I have them all but then I am naturally paranoid! I'm sure there are computer experts on here that can offer more advice about them if you ask.

One other thing, anyone on dial up should periodically check that the number dialled is the correct one, this should be easily done manually if you check your connection details. (I told you I was paranoid)

Incidentally the ebay phishing mail is unlikely to have anything to do with the auto dialler, that probably came from elsewhere. All the ebay phishing e mails do is to cause havoc with ebay bidding fraudulently and offering items for sale to scam people in your name. You did sort all that out properly with ebay didn't you?


OK, now onto your billing problem. These auto dialler things have been discussed on various TV programmes and in newspapers. Normally the outcome is that the user is responsible for ensuring the security of their own PC and BT especially deny any responsibility for bills incurred this way. I'm not sure of the case with NTL but I can't imagine they will be any different.

However, you mention that this number is already a known problem..so it might be worth persuing the matter on the basis that it is not unreasonable for you to assume that where there is a known scam in operation your phone provider would automatically have barred that number. I don't know if it will help at all or get any of your bill paid but it is worth a try.

Looking back on your mail the only other thing I picked up is that you only mention 2 calls, usually where a dialler is installed the bills run into hundreds of pounds as it will dial in whenever the pC allows access. I'm also a little confused as to whether you are saying that you didn't have a working pC during the period the the two bills occured, as of course you would have needed the pC to connect to be able to run up a bill.

Soo (just off to update my own vrius protection)

System

Fancy giving your details via email at all - no one asks for those kind of details. Even if they did, they wouldn't ask by email. So that is stupidity, not being unlucky.

With the dialler, when I accessed the internet by dial-up, I always checked my computer for something like that. Just like I do for viruses, adaware etc.

I left NTL when I moved, now with BT. NTL does not have any customer service, each time you ring you talk to someone who is clueless. Every time I've phoned BT they've sorted problems out immediately, or the same day. With NTL, you have to ring loads of times and even then you get nowhere.

I have a credit card. I will now go and give the details to the next available stranger in the street......... ;D ;D

jockettuk

bt customer services in my opinion are unhelpful and and if you do get to speak to someone after dial 1 2 3 4 5 etc they havnt a clue what your talking abt.. im with ntl and although have had hassles they deal with them and sort them out.. mind you cant say the same for my boyfriend with ntl they have really peed him off .. seems most phone companys are ok if you get someone who knows what your talking abt otherewise they all a waste of time..

waaag

Thanks for the reply, soolin, I think you made a very good point about the dialer, because my pc was indeed dialling up and getting the internet but there was a page over the whole lot saying unavailable ( if I remember) I ended up having to have the whole lot re done with windows xp fed on, no-one could see what caused it, 3 separate computer fixing people looked at it.
thanks for your help!

waaag

;D Oops! the last message was for wobytide not soolin, sorry! ( Ha - see, I can't even do this right!!!) I knew I should have stuck with my yo-yo, and forget computers!!

waaag

Thanks, soolin for your reply, I will follow your virus advice, I didn't really understand about computer things like that, except for when my friend is here with me, as I very rarely use it.

And yes, I did sort it out with ebay, I immediately changed all my details, thanks again!

Esmerelda

I found £18 of calls to a premium number on my phone bill today (I am on ntl but it was on the BT bill). They came from dialler software on my brother's computer that he did not know was there and can't explain.

The 'Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services' regulate (if that's the right word) premium rate services. On their website http://www.icstis.org.uk you can enter the premium numbers on your phonebill and get the name and address of their owners. It also tells you if a company is currently under investigation and you can make complaints should you wish. It seems that nobody can force anyone to compensate you for the calls, but BT suggests you write to the company behind the number and request your money back.

sergeant121

It seems that nobody can force anyone to compensate you for the calls, but BT suggests you write to the company behind the number and request your money back.

And then you'll learn how pigs can fly!