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The Guardian: txt msg rippd u off? we cn hlp -
15th October 2004
http://money.guardian.co.uk/scamsandfraud/story/0,,1327473,00.html
Despite the best efforts of watchdogs, websites and phone companies,
unscrupulous text scammers are still preying on credulous mobile users.
Who operates these scams? And what can phone users do to protect
themselves? Emma Lunn investigates
Friday October 15, 2004
Most mobile phone owners will at some point have received a rogue
text: an SMS message intended to dupe the recipient into calling an
expensive premium rate number to claim prizes which often do not exist,
or are not what they seem.
Frequently, these messages promise some generic object of desire such as
a free holiday, a cash reward or a new relationship. People calling the
numbers provided (which usually begin with the digits 090) can be
charged up to �1.50 a minute, and are often to be left hanging on for
some time before either giving up or "winning" a prize that is
either virtually worthless or requires some sort of hidden outlay.
Another common scam is repeatedly to send unwanted ringtones, charged
at up to �1.50 a time, and often sent when the owner has not knowingly
subscribed to the service.
People fall for text scams for a number of reasons. They
instinctively feel their mobile number is private. They also know that,
unlike email, it costs money to send a text message. This false sense of
intimacy often leads people to believe they are the text's sole
recipient, lulling them into a false sense of trust.
In August 2004 ICSTIS, the independent watchdog responsible for
policing companies operating premium-rate services, fined the Kuala
Lumpur-based firm Vertical Media for operating a text scam encouraging
people to call a national number to retrieve a voicemail message.
Callers were informed they had won a �5,000 prize and were instructed
to call a premium-rate number in order to make a claim.
The "prize" turned out to be holiday discount vouchers,
which callers had to text yet another number to claim. The texts were
often rejected, rendering the claim incomplete. This sort of ploy is
fairly common, as is the type that offers flight vouchers containing a
clause requiring travellers to pay for expensive accommodation on
arrival.
ICSTIS can take action against rogue companies, closing down scams by
blocking 090 numbers. But as quickly as one 090 number is blocked, the
scammers move to another. In the case of Vertical Media, ICSTIS levied a
�75,000 fine. But its overall powers are limited, and it remains to be
seen whether Vertical Media will pay.
Adrian Harris, the founder of Grumbletext, a website set up to
collate information and warn people about misleading and expensive text
messages, says the fines are not a worthwhile deterrent.
His view is backed up by Sir George Young MP who told the House of
Commons in June that it appeared 70% of fines issued by ISCTIS, for text
scams and rogue internet diallers - scammers who surreptitiously divert
personal internet dial-ups to premium rate lines - went unpaid. Often
the companies concerned are overseas or in liquidation.
For its part, ICSTIC says the number of fines unpaid was nearer 60%
in 2003. Spokeswoman Catherine Bell says: "So far for 2004 we have
collected 55% of the fines and are still collecting money. We are
working very hard with the networks and service providers to insure
these fines are collected and the sanctions imposed are upheld. We have
implemented several measures, including employing a financial manager,
to improve on last year's figures."
Nonetheless, frustrated by what Harris sees as a toothless and
ineffective regulatory body, Grumbletext has taken matters in its own
hands, displaying rogue texts forwarded by users, and warning others not
to respond. But how do you get rid of these messages once they have
started?
Harris says: "In theory, there is now a universal unsubscribe
command: you text the word STOP back to the service which is charging
you. However, when this doesn't work, Grumbletext has directed consumers
to complain to ICSTIS, the premium rate regulator. But experience has
now shown that this appears to be of little benefit to consumers."
Grumbletext now advises aggrieved recipients to contact their mobile
phone providers directly. Harris even suggests that mobile companies may
be responsible in law for unsolicited texts. If no opt-in message for
subscription services has been sent to the premium rate provider,
unrequested text messages are illegal. And, as mobile companies receive
a proportion of the money raised by these messages, they may be in part
responsible.
"Even where the services such as ringtones have technically been
subscribed to, there will be a number of arguments which consumers can
use - along the lines of commercial abuse, unfair terms and conditions,
and misrepresentation," says Harris.
"The operators are potentially at risk of being held liable,
even though in many instances they themselves were not the promoters and
operators of these services."
ICSTIS deputy director Paul Whiteing points out the number of
complaints is down on last year, after mobile operators started to take
action against firms running scams from overseas. A new law introduced
in December made sending unsolicited text messages illegal, while new
data telephony privacy regulations mean people now have to opt-in to
receiving charged-for messages.
Whiteing says: "Most companies send messages randomly or get
numbers from list brokers. Children or older people are particularly
vulnerable - kids don't realise these offers are a rip off as they don't
understand how these things work."
Mobile phone company O2 suggests that mobile uses register their
telephone number with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). It's
illegal to make a direct marketing call or to send marketing SMS to any
number after 28 days from the time it is registered with the TPS. You
can register by calling 0845 070 0707 or at www.tps-online.org.uk.
But as scammers find ever more inventive ways to prey on the
vulnerability and credulity of phone users, it probably pays to remember
the old maxim: if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
� For more information visit www.grumbletext.co.uk. Or contact
ICSTIS on 0800 500 212 or 020 7940 7474, by email [email protected],
or at www.icstis.org.uk.
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