Directory Enquiries and Call Connection Services explained. Don't get caught out.
Comments
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Both ActionFraud and the Insolvency Service issued a bulletin about fake premium rate 084 phone numbers for contacting the Insolvency Service:
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dont-be-a-victim-of-insolvency-service-telephony-scam
- https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/premium-rate-insolvency-service-telephony-scam-apr18
- https://www.lovemoney.com/news/73041/phone-scam-insolvency-service-helplinecall-uk-debt0 -
Further ASA work has branded several sites "non-compliant".
2018
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/connect-caller-llp.html
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/daniel-land.html
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/d-smith.html0 -
Further ASA work has branded several sites "non-compliant".
2018
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/connect-caller-llp.html
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/daniel-land.html
https://www.asa.org.uk/non-compliant/d-smith.html
I bet that's three companies quaking in their boots now that's been done.
Why don't the ASA just have the power to order the websites removed?"There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe a 'Princess Coronation' locomotive in full cry. We shall never see their like again". O S Nock0 -
poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »Why don't the ASA just have the power to order the websites removed?0
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It's someone else's job. Cases can be referred onward to Trading Standards, another regulator such as the Phone-paid Services Authority, or to ActionFraud or Serious Fraud Office, all depending on exactly what the issue is.
But the ASA can order an advertisement that offends its guidelines be withdrawn, amended, re-designed or whatever, and frequently does, but it can't do the same for websites. Still, it makes more jobs for others. It's what makes the civil service go round."There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe a 'Princess Coronation' locomotive in full cry. We shall never see their like again". O S Nock0 -
The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) has published research by the University of Nottingham showing just how easily people are fooled by the Call Connection Service scam:
https://psauthority.org.uk/blogs/2018/april/call-connection-services-what-are-they-and-how-to-spot-them
The research also hints at stricter regulation to come.0 -
Concerned at the huge increases in the Service Charge element of the call charges for calling some 118 numbers seen in the last few years, Ofcom proposes setting a cap of £3.10 per 90 seconds of a call.
The Service Charge for calling 118118, for example, is currently, £8.98 per call plus £4.49 per minute (after the first 60 seconds), making a 90 second call cost £11.23 (plus, of course, the Access Charge levied by the caller's phone provider).
Around 200 providers currently operate, but Ofcom found that most people simply call the most memorable number and do not shop around for cheaper services.
See:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/directory-enquiries-118-review
Advice given elsewhere, to avoid calling 118 numbers and simply use the internet to find a phone number has seen a huge rise in the number of people falling victim to the "call connection service" scam.
The number of ICSS providers continues to increase. The vast majority of these operate on premium rate 084 numbers, and therefore outside of the PSA regulations governing such services. The regulations currently apply only to services operating on numbers starting 087 or 09.0 -
PSA has issued a penalty against an ICSS provider operating on 087 numbers:
- https://psauthority.org.uk/for-business/adjudications/2018/6/halak-online-ltd-13792-track-2-def01f3d-066b-e811-80dc-00155d0519e3
- https://psauthority.org.uk/-/media/Files/PSA/For-Businesses/Our-role-in-the-industry/Tribunal-adjudications/2018/137924-Halak-Online-Ltd.ashx
The provider then simply swapped to using 084 numbers, presumably to avoid further regulation by PSA.0 -
Ofcom has published proposals to define all ICSS as Controlled Premium Rate Services (CPRS) irrespective of call price or prefix used. This will bring all such services under Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) regulation, including those operating on 084 numbers. This will match the regulation of "adult" entertainment services, chatlines and internet dialler operated services which are already subject to identical provisions.
See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/review-premium-rate-services-condition
The consultation is open for eight weeks.0 -
The Ofcom consultation closed last Friday. It will likely take Ofcom a couple of months to analyse the consultation responses and publish their formal statement.
In another development, if you called Yorkshire Water via the various fake premium rate 09 numbers listed online, you are now due a refund from the third-party premium rate provider.
Details: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/customers-charged-6-premium-rate-for-ringing-yorkshire-water-offered-refund-1-93637160
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