Leadwinners Prize Scam

Contact them (Lead winner) and request a refund stating that no consent was given. If they refuse then lodge a SAR under GDPR to find out how they got billing consent.

If that doesn't succeed then lodge a SAR with three to see how they allowed billing consent to Lead winner.

GDPR is in the remit of Data Protection Commission which has more power than Comreg.

You can also contact Comreg to see what advice they have but they are the ones who take a fee from the likes of Leadwinner so don't expect much joy there but it is worth letting them know your displeasure with the premium SMS licencing system.

https://servicechecker.comreg.ie/PR7022/LEADWINNERS
The description of their service from that page is such hogwash, it's difficult to see it as anything other than money for nothing.

There are plenty of threads on boards about other companies billing for phantom SMS subscriptions, it's a serious issue that Comreg are allowing to continue. IMO there's no need for any of those premium SMS services except to make easy money off consumers without their consent.

As above, depending on how ripped off your mother feels, submit a SAR to three and Leadwinner.

I wouldn't just accept Leadwinners version of events if your mother hasn't a clue what they allege she agreed to...eg has she any recollection of submitting her number for a voucher or receiving the notifications etc etc.

Have you reviewed the texts on her phone to see what, if anything, she received?

SAR will get all data they hold on file about the account holder. Eg dates times of accessing a website, texts sent/received. Hopefully it will give something to see if three's and Leadwinners traffic match. For example, if LW say a text was sent/received, see if this is verified by three's details.

Even the hint of data protection requests to a company may yield results, unless their actions are entirely above board then they may just grant a full refund and move on to someone else.

Apart from Leadwinners discount offer, 3's bill reduction is also a bit odd. They are effectively subsidising Leadwinner by taking a loss on charges they have already paid...it's not much to them but mobile networks normally wash their hands of responsibility and direct any complaints to the premium provider (Leadwinner).

As an aside, anyone unfamiliar with a smartphone should really be on PAYG rather than bill pay to prevent being unknowingly gouged on text scams. You can still get scammed on PAYG but only for the amount of credit available at the time.

skinny90 wrote: »

Sorry to bump this up.

I heard nothing back so I sent a new email.

Within 2 hours they got back to me.

They outlined the time she signed up....it sounds like some sort of add that gets you to enter a number for a tesco/argos voucher.

Anyways they have a time stamp of the time she did it aswell as the Ip address.

They have a timestamp of when they notified her she had spent over 20euro.

Obviously she didnt head the message (all news to me)

They have offered a 50% refund of 90euro.

What do you reckon?

Did you ever get this refund? Wondering as they have offered it to my sister in law too via paypal just today...

Please don't accept anything less than a full refund, they have contravened the Code of Practice for premium SMS and 50% is still a massive profit for them. They need to show proof that they have a SMS with AGREE before they can charge for any "subscription".

Hi there,
I am involved in Leadwinners prize scam. Just wondering if you could give me the Email to claim refund or who could help me to solve the problem. Thanks