SPAM text question

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

BrianD

The short code '57080' is allocated to Opera Telecom Ltd. (Source: ComReg)and you should contact them about your unsolicited spam and copy the letter to RegTel (www.regtel.ie) RegTel are the regulator of premium rate services and would be very happy to hear about your complaint and will probably raise the issue with Opera on your behalf.

I am pretty amazed that your brother aged ten has a mobile phone (must be brainy if he got all 4 questions to the quiz right). There is an interesting piece of law here. A ten year old can not enter into a contract therefore the people behind the Quiz will have to refund him his money.

Was the SIM card in use by anyone else e.g. other family member or friend? It is possible that they signed up for a service at some point and then passed on the SIM and phone to your brother without unsubscribing. In this case it would not be classed as spam. You should check on this before making your compaint.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Q_Ball

It's not meteors place to follow up on premium rate numbers as far as i know, as they have to be subscribed to. if you sent 'offer' to the number that would technically count as a subscription, whether you knew it was subscription or not. All the premium rate numbers are subscription these days. You would have to go to opera about this really.

The spam number to the best of my knowledge is for unsolicited spam numbers. I'm sure there's a legal loophole that would allow them to keep the money taken aswell (probably down at the bottom of wherever your brother got the number from, right beside where it says 'this is a subscription number' but you'd need a magnifying glass to see it).

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

BrianD

Pursue it with Opera and RegTel. I'd go to RegTel first as Opera are an international company and you might find it hard to get in contact with them.

Your brother would not have been charged for the original message. However, once he replied he set the ball in motion. The thing is that there is a contact in place a finiacial exchange that your brother legally can't enter. Therefore he is entitled to a refund.

Meteor will take note of the complaint but it is unlikely that they will do anything about it in the short term. If the get repeated complaints about a particular short code or spam message they will move.

You also need to educate your little brother on this matters. Personally I believe he should not be in possession of a mobile phone but thats your business.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

BrianD

From an 085 number? That's very dubious. In fact do a google on Opera and you'll find that there has been some controversy in the UK over their use of standard numbers. I wouldn't just text Meteor the message, I would ring or write to both Meteor and RegTel.

To be honest if you want to get some satisfaction from this you are going to have to put in a bit of legwork.

As regards the age of a mobile user, personally I don't think that any kid under 16 should have one. Easier said than done when it appears that minors are prepared to kill and maim for a phone!