ISP re-routing to premium rate numbers

m_thomp

Hi, I may have the wrong forum here but I really need some help. Myself and my girlfriend have recently moved in together and decided to get broadband, all fine and dandy, but to sign up - and because we wanted access - we decided we'd get a dial-up pay as you go in the interim. All well and good, we found an ISP which charged 1p a minute and checked the number the ISP dialled it was an 0845 number, we then checked with BT to ensure that they didn't charge premium rate for 0845 numbers, they didn't so we used them. We had no problems until the first bill came through which charged us £50 for 5 hours worth of internet use. Puzzled by this we phoned BT and they said our ISP dial up numer had been re-routed to a premium rate number, hence the cost. Now in my eyes this is fraud, people have stolen money from us (well, not yet as the bill has yet to be paid), is there anyway we can report this or get our money back? If we pay the bill via VISA could they possible make a claim on our behalf? And lastly does anyone know how to get rid of whatever software has done the re-routing? I'm using the works PC at the moment but can't go on the internet on the home PC as when we dial-up we'll get stung with the premium rate. We have broadband being activated today, will the illegal re-routing software affect this too? Thanks for any help you could provide

mrJ_5

- could be that you were infected by a trojan or something, which changes your dialup number - it does happen

Rex_Mundi

You need to report this to ICSTIS. My neighbour had the same problem (over £100 bill). They froze the internet part of the bill and she paid her normal amount. This is a very well known problem.

Your computer will be infected with a virus or spyware. This is what is causing this. Make sure your antivirus is up to date, and run this. Download and run Adaware and Spybot. They will find any spyware that could cause this. You need to do this ASAP. Otherwise your bills will get bigger!