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15 Aug 2001
Over ten thousand mobile phone users have been taken in by text messages sent randomly to their mobile urging them to call a phone number, which later turned out to be charged at premium rates.
Four UK firms have each been fined between £1000 and £10,000 for running the scam.
Two more firms are still being investigated by the premium phone rate regulator, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS), which hasn't ruled out claims that the same individuals were involved in more than one case.
SP Services of Sheffield was last week fined £10,000 for sending a text message urging callers to ring one of five different numbers. The text messages contained no information of premium rates, and were along the lines of "please call me on 0900 1234567, urgent".
When the user rang, they were greeted by either a recording of an engaged tone or a tipster phone service, and charged 50p.
Wellbourne Services of Manchester and Mega Mobiles of Leeds were also fined for advertising numbers linked to recordings of engaged tones and charging 50p a call.
Sporting Voice of Harrogate used the same technique to drive callers to its practical joke line, charged at £1 per minute.
Outraged users only discovered the hidden costs when they received their phone statements.
Rob Dwight, a spokesman for ICSTIS, said: "Using text messages seems to be the latest idea to make money. There can be no excuse for playing recordings of engaged tones, which are obviously used only to generate revenues by persuading people to call lines more than once."
Dwight said the regulator had now handed its files over to trading standards officers who will decide whether to press fraud charges against the operators.
He also said ICSTIS was currently taking legal advice on whether the process of randomly sending messages was illegal.
However, users are unlikely to get their money back as ICTSIS can fine operators of premium rate services but does not yet have the power to force refunds to consumers. Dwight said that ICTSIS was reviewing its rules so that future victims could apply for refunds.
The regulator also has the power to ban individuals from running premium phone rate services in the future.
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Do you agree?
YOU ALL GOT SCREEEEWD!!!!
DONKEYS ALL OF YOU.. I GOT YOUR MONEY IN MY POCKET!!! HAHAHHAHA!!!
Posted by: GOTCHA 30 Nov 2009
Well done!
Well done Anne, another number to hassle them on. I don't think Simon is the brightest spark but I can understand him being confused with the torrent of complaints he must get. Until they stop conning people and explain clearly what you are subscribing to and how much it costs, they deserve to be given as much grief as possible.
Posted by: pontiff 28 Apr 2007
MOBILE PARTNERS
I agree with pontiff. But make them ring you back. The 0871 number is a premium rate number @ 10p per minute from BT. I have today spoken to SIMON - he repeated everything I said 4 times. I have requested a refund for the 6 text messages received and told him to add another £1 for the phone call today as he kept me on the fone for 10 minutes. Register your number with the Telephone Preference Service -it doesn't cover all these scams but for the ones it does the registers are supposed to be checked by them on a weekly basis and they should not contact anyone on the list. There are heavy fines if they do. ICSTIS is a site where you can check what rate numbers are charged at and some have details of who the number belongs to. Its probaly cost me £30 to get my £10 but its the principal - isn't it. As I was writing this I received a call from Simon @ Mobile Partners asking me what the problem was - I couldn't believe it and I don't think he could when I told him he had just spent 10 minutes on the fone to me - poor man seems confused! But hey he foned me from a landline so if anyone would like to contact him the number is 01417 716 030 Good luck Anne
Posted by: Anne 27 Apr 2007
MOBILE PARTNERS LANDLINE NUMBER
01417 716 030 Have fun
Posted by: Anne 27 Apr 2007
I got a refund!
Ok, I finally got a cheque for £18 from mobilepartner.co.uk (the cheque was from 2comm who I think do their billing).Here's brief summary which I hope will be of help. Received 12 text messages saying I had been subscribed to some dating website called mobilepartner.co.uk (sms 82600).Charged £1.50 for each. I texted STOP to 82600 to stop any further texts. This worked. Phoned mobilepartner customer services on 08718725370 to complain. Spoke to Ali Zafar ( who incidently became Ray Anderson on a later phone call!( I recorded all conversations on my answerphone). I insisted that I had not downloaded anything or subscribed to anything and could prove it with O2 records. They agreed I was overcharged and promised a refund. I left my details with them ( a nightmare as he suddenly forgot how to speak english). Nothing happened so phoned again. This time they said refund was approved and would be with me within a week. Nothing happened... phoned again and informed them I would begin court proceedings within 7 days if I did not receive cheque. Wrote a letter stating my intentions to their address at Refunds manager ( Simon I think) 105/111 West George Street Glasgow Scotland G21QX ( paid £1.07 so somebody had to sign for it) I also sent a copy of it to 2Comm Limited 4 Clair Court Lime Street bedford MK40 1NH and emailed it to support@2comm.co.uk With 5 days left before I was going to start small claims county court proceedings i received a call from SIMON in Refunds ( Try getting to him via 08712400601... if not insist he calls you back..I heard him in the background and they wouldn't put me through!) He said once again the refund was approved and should be with me by the end of April. I said this wasn't good enough and since refund cheques are written on an individual basis informed him that he had five days left before I started legal action. A cheque arrived 2 days later. To summarize 1. Don't give up! I was prepared to spend whatever it took to make my point. Stay calm.Always ask who you are speaking to when complaining. Also ask every time that Simon from refunds rings you back personally. Try and record the conversations if possible (just in case you end up in court.) keep phoning. I know it costs up to 8p a minute so be brief with them!I'm lucky enough to be able to do this for free. Good luck to you all
Posted by: pontiff 23 Apr 2007
rip off
i was offered kieser chiefS SO CALLED FREE TONE NOT!!!.never even downloaded it but keep getting text thanking me for my order.its cost me a fortune.i rang the company who said text would stop i also text STOP! and was charged 1.50 for that.I am now afraid to top up.Ive been told i can have a refund but wont hold my breath.Can any one help!!!
Posted by: sarah 20 Apr 2007
FULL REFUND PROMISED YET NOT RECEIVED
I too have been duped by the MOBILEPARTNERS.CO.UK offer of Mika's Grace Kelly free ring tone, down loaded it only to instigate 18 txts @ £1.50 a time charged to my phone. I rang as soon I got home on my land line as I had no credit left on my phone to complain. 4 weeks later, numerous calls and several promises made from them stating full refund of £27, still not received and no longer returning my calls. I have now been informed to put in writing that I require full refund within 7-14 days then pursue it further if not recieved by Consumer Direct. I tried to email said letter only to find that email does not recognise address. I will now post to address provided by one telephone administrative: 105111 West Georg Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 1QX. Anyone else wishing to continue the fight for a refund please do so. I will not give in to these petty thiefs and I hope you will not either.
Posted by: Linda Blakemore 19 Apr 2007
stealing ****holes
i also received text offering free grace kelly which i ringtone which stupidly i accepted i never got ringtone and in total i have lost £9.00 off my phone i have spoken to them twice they said they would put my request forward to complaints dept i would recieve a call and get a full refund that was 2 weeks ago and surprising im still waiting for that call and my refund these people should go to prison for what they are doing they are commiting fraud
Posted by: j kingji 17 Apr 2007
Awaiting cheque
Keep checking here every few days and hopefully i will be posting some useful info and contacts regarding this company. Quite a long battle with them but I'm nearly there!
Posted by: pontiff 17 Apr 2007
How to stop them after the first text.
Text stop all to 85558 AND 81404 this happened to my son one day after putting £10 on his pay as you go he now has 72p credit left but T - Mobile tells me there are more texts to charge to his account when I top up. I will have to get him a new sim card now and go through the rigmarole of changing his number. By the way how do you arrange to send e.mails to mobilepartners.co.uk so that I can help chad to eradicate these people.
Posted by: Liz Elliott 11 Apr 2007
Please can someone post thier email addy
I think Chad has the right idea and I'll join him in emailing them until they get this sorted out. Tired of ringing thier premium rate number and trying to speak with someone that barely speaks English. Anyone know how to get in touch with the regulator?
Posted by: Pauline Parish 10 Apr 2007
mobilepartners scam
Im getting the same from mobilepartners..cant top my phone up intill i can stop them sending me text messages..any idea how? I never subscribe to anything on my phone, also i have no internet conection on my phone as i have not set it up so how can they send me free ringtones?..this company needs looking into.
Posted by: sac 31 Mar 2007
MOBILEPARTNERS *******
I WONT CURSE BECAUSE IM A LADY BUT MOBILE PARTNERS WOULD MAKE A BLOOMIN NUN CURSE?? IM DISSABLED AND NEED MY MOBILE WITH ME AT ALL TIMES. I TO JUST SAW FREE RING TONES AND SINCE THEN AV BEEN RIPPED OFF LEAVIN ME VULNERABLE WITH NO MOBILE. IV TRIED TO CONTACT THEM BUT STILL ITY KEEPS HAPPENING I WAS GIVEN ANOTHER MOBILE BY A FRIEND SO I AT LEAST COULD RING OUT IN AN EMERGANCY? SOMEBODY NEEDS TO PUT THERE FOOT UP THAT COMPANYS BOTTOM LOL
Posted by: fever 27 Mar 2007
Scam aswell
Was offered free Mika Grace Kelly ringtone, so accepted it. Since then lost around £10 Anyone got a number to call that can stop recieving these £1.50 charges ?? Please!!
Posted by: Darren 26 Mar 2007
SAME THING
£9 LOST - TROUBLE IS WHEN YOU RING THEM IS IT PREMIUM RATE ON A LANDLINE? COS IF YOU ARE ALWAYS HELD IN QUEUE YOU ARE JUST GIVING THEM MORE MONEY THANKS FOR THE WINPLC NUMBER LEAST I STOPPED GETTING THEM NOW
Posted by: VIV PEPPER 22 Mar 2007
mobile partners - Scam
Received 5 messages from them all at the same time, saying £1.50 to unsubscribe. Vodaphone say they can't do anything about it but someone should. Don't know how much this will cost me
Posted by: Vicki Harmison 21 Mar 2007
moblile partners
I have tried to e-mail mobile partners but don't have their address. Any chance of posting it on your site so that I can send them messages. They have sent me 5 @ £1.5 a time so I would like to send them some back. Chad seemed able to do it and I think a lot of people woudld like to send them a message.
Posted by: Vicki 21 Mar 2007
Totally scammed
Recieved a text from supposedly 02 offering free Grace Kelly ring tone. picked "free" ring tone and thought no more about it, this morning recieved text from Mobile psrtners 82099 saying Non subscription - thank you for your order cost 150 pence. money taken off credit and another six message all saying the same. total taken £9.00!!!! Who do they think they are. Can't anybody stop this CRIME!!! I am a student who tops up my own phone - this is totally outrageous.
Posted by: Siobhan 19 Mar 2007
rip off
I also recieved a text message saying i could download a free ring tone, which i did, but tone was infact absolutely crap! Anyway one week later i recieved a text saying thanks for my order and charged 150 pence. I checked my balance and was in fact charged £4.50. I rang the company and was told i subscribed to this service. I had not! The same thing happened the next day, a further £4.50 taken from my balance. Again i rang and threatened that i would go to the national newspapers about this scam and guess what? i have been promised a full refund!
Posted by: Kirsty Baker 11 Mar 2007
Shame on them!
Good for you, Chad. The same thing happened to my 16 year old daughter, who unwittingly 'subscribed' just by opening the 'free' email, it would seem. She lost £10.50, £6 the first time and £4.50 a second (maybe there is still £1.50 lurking there for when she tops up again, as she only topped up by £5 this last time). She pays for her phone herself, so this is a big deal to her. I did manage to get through on the 'helpline' number, after holding for about 15 minutes (wonder how much that cost?), and spoke to someone who offered no apology or explanation, but said he would remove her details so she wouldn't receive any more messages - huh! We'll see! When I queried the amount of money it had cost her, he said he'd arrange for a refund - again, we'll see! I doubt whether that'll happen.
Posted by: Helen 08 Mar 2007
Ripped Off!
Got a free message to download a free ringtone. I don't normally bother with these promotions, and I can't be bothered with ringtones. Anyway, I downloaded it and it was pretty rubbish. I didn't think any more of it as it was 'free' and then I received 4 text messages which cost me £1.50 each. Why should I pay £6 for a crap ringtone that was labelled as 'free'? I tried calling their number, 08718725370 but there was no answer. I then tried their website www.mobilepartner.co.uk and it took me to a dating site. Don't suppose they are going to give me my money back, but I'm going to set up an email that will send them 100 junk emails a day for their trouble.
Posted by: Chad 03 Mar 2007
mobilepartners.co.uk
The other day i got a message from whom i thought was 02, i could pick a free ringtone for my phone, it ended up i was scammed for £7.50 from this company and 02 cant do a thing about it. So for anyone out there please check who exactly is sending your message before replying.
Posted by: Thomas Jaap 02 Mar 2007
Love scam
I received "free message....(they had my name and number) WHO FANCIES YOU??? REPLY LOVE TO 84243 service provider mobilepartners.co.uk call 08718725370 stop to 84243. What I did not know was that by replying I incurred a charge of £6.00 (4 x 1.50). Apparently I had joined them. When I checked the website it seemed by their verbage that someone was pursuing me (which is why I replied) Both Tmobile and ICTIS gave me differnt companies who are running this scam..beware there is no redress all perfectly legal what rubbish we are at protecting the consumer
Posted by: Richard J Regan 06 Feb 2007
84550 Venista W2 Mobile Scam
I have just wondered why my top up balance has been disappearing over the last few weeks. I noticed i was receiving text message from above 84550 number, telling me the service i had ordered was not available as my air time was low. I never applied for, nor received any service from them. I now know each text has charges approx. £2.00 per text they send me. I have contacted my phone co. T MOBILE via email and the next day they phoned me to explain what had been happening to me. They supplied information to enable me to register a complaint with ICSTIS who will look into this scam. Also tel.0845 1309911 and i was able to stop further messages being sent. I cannot however get a refund for the pounds they have scammed off my phone.Is disgusting they continually are doing this to people.
Posted by: miller 22 Jul 2006