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Mobiplanet SMS scam (57976)

[Deleted User]

I recently received this:

'Free Msg: To subscribe to MobiPlanet for UNLIMITED ACCESS for 7.50 EUR/week (3x2.50 EUR) and confirm you are over 18 yrs, reply APP to to this message!'

First, where is this company getting my private number from? Second, is the company running this 57996 number the same Red27 Mobile company which runs the 57997 number scam? I reported the latter to Comreg, and it, Red27, said they'd remove my number from their database. Have they now set up a new company to continue this? I'm going to try the Data Protection Commissioner this time, as I really object to my private number being in the hands of these companies (or in the hands of anybody I don't give it to).

How is the licensing of these "services" to operate in this state even justified?

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dal

Grab All Association wrote: »

Dal claims he was brought to this by YouTube. There’s another avenue. And was this during a children’s programme/content on YouTube if you can remember? Whilst there’s no specific laws covering children’s content on YouTube and adverts, it’s pretty shocking to include these adverts if it was. I’ve also noticed that the majority of people it’s happening to uses an android phone

So - it wasn't specifically a children's programme - it was just some random video. Here is a screenshot below:

So literally, my child clicked that ad and then the massive green button on the page that opens (the previous screenshot I posted) and that was it. 2 clicks. Boom, 40 quid sterling charged to my mobile bill.

It has to be a scam, because there is absolutely NO DETAIL on what the content of the course is that you're signing up to. Like it doesn't tell you what the heck fitness guru is or does or what you get for your money. It's completely mental.

EDIT: Apologies for the enormous screenshots by the way

STB.

Reverse SMS Billing needs to blocked by default by phone operators. And Comreg need to make it so. Is it any wonder there is a plethora of complaints about these companies when you see how unscrupulous they are with cross scripting in youtube adverts (as shown above).

You should be required to actively sign up before anyone can legitimately send texts that charge.

Off to Comreg with that evidence Dal. Linked earlier in thread.

SeeMoreBut

I just got hit with the freemsg: your free trial to gamesunltd is here! free for 24hr, 30 days access for 20.00 eur after. send stop to 57977. help 016869147 support red27mobile.com

Three support told me to send stop or turn off all premium services on my account. I just turned it off as couldn't trust the stop going what I read.

I'll buy a pay as you go if I need to use them

Grab All Association

This on YouTube. I luckily spotted it before I could’ve accidentally clicked it. I was watching Gordon Ramsay cooking.

There’ll be a second post below by me in a few minutes so i hope this is ok or if not, can you merge them with attached?

Grab All Association

So I searched Peppa Pig on YouTube, the kind of things your child would watch on YouTube and low and behold

fritzelly

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

I just got hit with the freemsg: your free trial to gamesunltd is here! free for 24hr, 30 days access for 20.00 eur after. send stop to 57977. help 016869147 support red27mobile.com

Three support told me to send stop or turn off all premium services on my account. I just turned it off as couldn't trust the stop going what I read.

I'll buy a pay as you go if I need to use them

Good few threads about Three users getting conned by these - been with Tesco, O2, Vodafone, Eir and never got anything like it.

[Deleted User]

fritzelly wrote: »

Good few threads about Three users getting conned by these - been with Tesco, O2, Vodafone, Eir and never got anything like it.

A family member on Virgin Mobile was hit badly over a few months before anyone noticed.

STB.

AdBlock is available for Android. Get it.

bluemachaveli

SeeMoreBut wrote: »

I just got hit with the freemsg: your free trial to gamesunltd is here! free for 24hr, 30 days access for 20.00 eur after. send stop to 57977. help 016869147 support red27mobile.com

Three support told me to send stop or turn off all premium services on my account. I just turned it off as couldn't trust the stop going what I read.

I'll buy a pay as you go if I need to use them

I got hit with this back in December. I know for a fact I didn't click anything to sign up as I was at my desk in work not using the phone when the SMS came through about the trial, unfortunately I didn't read it correctly and got distracted by a colleague. Sure enough the following day I got hit for €20.

Opened a complaint on their website and head nothing back for 3 weeks. Eventually I escalated to Comreg and Red27 finally got back to me to advise the charges were legit and I signed up to the service. I had a huge amount of back and forth but finally got them to provide the information regarding the signup.

They sent over a screenshot showing the timestamp, IP address of the request, Referral link and mobile device info. I could see straight away that the click through was from the Fortnite App (don't have this installed) and the IOS version didn't match (request came from a device on 12.1.2 and I've been on 13+ since the dev beta in June). I tracked the IP to the 3 network, which is correct. Contacted 3 to confirm if the IP was associated with my account on the date in question and they informed it was not.

Finally got a refund out of them once I went back with all the info. I suspect that they are buying batches of numbers from somewhere and signing them up on a batch of devices. I forwarded all the info on to com reg and asked them to investigate as despite getting a refund, I know I didn't sign up for it. Don't expect much to be done tho :rolleyes: I've since removed all premium SMS from my account, I can go without the competitions.

whiterebel

Fair play for questioning it to that level. You could see why people wouldn’t bother. My son has now been hit twice in the last couple of months.

Ten Pin

They sent over a screenshot showing the timestamp, IP address of the request, Referral link and mobile device info. I could see straight away that the click through was from the Fortnite App (don't have this installed) and the IOS version didn't match (request came from a device on 12.1.2 and I've been on 13+ since the dev beta in June). I tracked the IP to the 3 network, which is correct. Contacted 3 to confirm if the IP was associated with my account on the date in question and they informed it was not.

Could they explain how they got your number or is it based on the IP address alone? And was it an internal or external IP address?

Wonder are they harvesting IP addresses and submitting them on following days resulting in someone else getting scammed. If that's what's happening then 3 are assisting the PRS provider by not checking for a confirmation text which AFAIK the PRS provider must receive before they can start charging.

Did you have to use GDPR to get access to the details from 3 and Red27?

Grab All Association

bluemachaveli wrote: »

I got hit with this back in December. I know for a fact I didn't click anything to sign up as I was at my desk in work not using the phone when the SMS came through about the trial, unfortunately I didn't read it correctly and got distracted by a colleague. Sure enough the following day I got hit for €20.

Opened a complaint on their website and head nothing back for 3 weeks. Eventually I escalated to Comreg and Red27 finally got back to me to advise the charges were legit and I signed up to the service. I had a huge amount of back and forth but finally got them to provide the information regarding the signup.

They sent over a screenshot showing the timestamp, IP address of the request, Referral link and mobile device info. I could see straight away that the click through was from the Fortnite App (don't have this installed) and the IOS version didn't match (request came from a device on 12.1.2 and I've been on 13+ since the dev beta in June). I tracked the IP to the 3 network, which is correct. Contacted 3 to confirm if the IP was associated with my account on the date in question and they informed it was not.

Finally got a refund out of them once I went back with all the info. I suspect that they are buying batches of numbers from somewhere and signing them up on a batch of devices. I forwarded all the info on to com reg and asked them to investigate as despite getting a refund, I know I didn't sign up for it. Don't expect much to be done tho :rolleyes: I've since removed all premium SMS from my account, I can go without the competitions.

Armed with that evidence surely you can now go to An Garda Síochána and report this as fraud. You have evidence proving your device did not sign up to this service and they signed you up for a service without your knowledge.

bluemachaveli

whiterebel wrote: »

Fair play for questioning it to that level. You could see why people wouldn’t bother. My son has now been hit twice in the last couple of months.

It's a nightmare, I got off light to be fair. With €20 is was more the principle than anything. I'm usually pretty careful with scam links. The timing is what got me, I barely had time to pick up my phone that day not to mind arse around with games and links.

Ten Pin wrote: »

Could they explain how they got your number or is it based on the IP address alone? And was it an internal or external IP address?

Wonder are they harvesting IP addresses and submitting them on following days resulting in someone else getting scammed. If that's what's happening then 3 are assisting the PRS provider by not checking for a confirmation text which AFAIK the PRS provider must receive before they can start charging.

Did you have to use GDPR to get access to the details from 3 and Red27?

The IP was logged on their end. I figured they would have to record it somewhere along the line and was pretty certain it wouldn't be mine. It was an external 3 IP, I reckon they are just running a **** ton of numbers through from some sort of IOS device and hoping it sticks.

They claim they got my number from my 'signup' to their service. The refund they eventually sent was a 'gesture of goodwill' so they won't admit fault.

I threatened them with GDPR to get the info they provided. Three were cool and confirmed that the IP wasn't associated with my account after I passed the usual verification checks. It's a pity they can't tell me who it did belong to.

This is what they sent me over, don't mind sharing as it's not my info:

Grab All Association wrote: »

Armed with that evidence surely you can now go to An Garda Síochána and report this as fraud. You have evidence proving your device did not sign up to this service and they signed you up for a service without your knowledge.

I guess that would be an option, not sure how far it would go. I might chance it if I get no satisfaction from Com Reg. By right they should be looking into this crap. I'd love to see how much money they exploit from people. They chanced every sort of a refund from €7.50 to €15 hoping I'd go away and they could keep some few quid for nothing.

Ten Pin

Comreg's Code of Practice for Premium Rate Services lists the rules to be followed by the PRS providers.

Search "Comreg 14/45" to download it (less than 1MB filesize).

The relevant sections seem to be 5.15 to 5.18

5.15 Subscription Request Messages must follow the format of the
example provided below:

SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST MESSAGE
To subscribe to [name of service and optional description] for [signup cost] and [cost of service in €] per [billing frequency - message received/time] and confirm that you are over 18 yrs, text AGREE [or other unique keyword for the service] to Short Code 5XXXX.

5.16 Immediately upon a PRS Provider receiving an AGREE response to a
Subscription Request Message, and before any charges are incurred by the end-user, the PRS provider must send a standard, dedicated, SMS Subscription Confirmation Message as per Sections 5.17 and 5.18 to the mobile phone number that responded to the Subscription Request Message at no charge to the end-user

5.17 A Subscription Confirmation Message must clearly:
(a) commence with the phrase "Free Message" or "Free Msg" in the SMS
header or as the first words in the body of the text,
(b) confirm that the end-user has entered into a Subscription Service,
(c) include the name of the Subscription Service,
(d) include details of the PRS Provider's helpline,
(e) include any sign-up cost,
(f) include the basis for calculating charges including any:
(i) charges for each message received,
(ii) charges for each message sent, and
(iii) charge per charge period and that charge period,
(g) include details of how to unsubscribe from the service by
sending/replying "STOP" to the short code which is used to charge end-users of the service.

5.18 Subscription Confirmation Messages must follow the format of the example
provided below:
NOTE: any link (url) or promotion may only be provided after
the regulatory information set out in Section 5.17 above

SUBSCRIPTION CONFIRMATION MESSAGE
You have subscribed to [name of service and optional description] for [sign-up costs] and [cost of service in €] per [billing frequency - message received/time] until you send STOP to [originating service short code]. Helpline [not more than national rate phone number]. [Any URL that the PRS providers wishes]

The main condition is that they have to receive an AGREE SMS before charging but the PRS providers appear to just bypass that requirement but Comreg still give them a licence to operate.

STB.

Service providers should be required to opt customers out of premium service numbers BY DEFAULT, rather than the other way around.

The vast majority of this messing wouldn't arise otherwise.

Consumers came last when this was initially implemented. They also came last in thinking in allowing it continue. Comreg have consumer responsibilities.

How many complaints have been received by Comreg in relation to premium text services is the only question that need to be asked by journalists to get the ball rolling.

Morrisseeee

My daughter's phone bill (on GOMO) shot up from €10pm to €17.50 last month.
After some investigating I discovered 3 * 57976 texts @ €2.50 each. She said she didn't subscribe to anything !
Q. Do I just block the number or what can be done?
Who gets the money ? do GOMO pass it on to owners of 57976 ? I wonder do the phone operators get a cut of it as well !!

Ten Pin

Contact Gomo to put a bar on all premium rate services, do that ASAP.

You'll have to chase the sender of the SMS to get a refund, lots of threads between Consumer and Mobile forums that may give some guidance on how to proceed.

Find out who the sender is and insist on a refund.

larry2020

Guys
I noticed a charge of 39 euros on my mobile bill for sms messages
Eir refused to take them off my bill but agreed to block premium messages from my account in future
I complained to Comreg and they gave me the company name that owned the service. They gave me the name of Mobiplanet who gave me another company called Txtnation.
So you see I am getting the runaround
I am waiting for a reply and refund from latter company.

Grab All Association

Funnily enough I know someone with a Samsung GT button phone since 2010 on Tesco who received a similar one of these texts during the weekend. How can they explain that one when the phone has non connectivity at all? I’ve told them to go report this to An Garda Síochána

Grab All Association

If anyone gets hit by this service please go to Gardai. With enough complaints they’ll then have an obligation investigate it. Gone way past Comreg responsibilities now if they are just inputting random numbers. It’s fraud

MOTM

SB7mobile tried to take €20 from me to despite the fact that I never signed up to the V.fitness.Guru service. The 8*€2.50 premium texts were sent to my mobile broadband number (not even my phone number). Fortunately I was able to read the texts on an app I have on my phone to monitor the broadband router and trace it back to SB7mobile.

I complained enough to get a cheque back with a full refund. However, I have also followed up with comreg as SB7mobile have not provided me with screenshots or proof that the transaction ever happened despite the fact that I've repeatedly requested same.
I've checked my browser history for the date in question and there is no trace of me having subscribed to this service. SB7mobile gave me is this link, which doesn't prove anything: https://mobilepaymentsupport.com/. All it indicates is that somebody signed up my number to this so called service.

I have since blocked all premium text numbers from my mobile broadband router. As many above have said, this should be an opt-in rather than opt-out model.

It would be great if Comreg could do something about this....but I have my doubts.

spaceHopper

If this happens again, tell your mobile company that this is criminal activity and they are laundering money from them. Tell them it's not your problem network security is there. You are not accepting the charge and if they debit it form your account and hand it over to criminals you will take it further and do a DD role back with the bank. The phone companies have the power to shut these guys down but they must be making something from it too.

MOTM

spaceHopper wrote: »

If this happens again, tell your mobile company that this is criminal activity and they are laundering money from them. Tell them it's not your problem network security is there. You are not accepting the charge and if they debit it form your account and hand it over to criminals you will take it further and do a DD role back with the bank. The phone companies have the power to shut these guys down but they must be making something from it too.

I've already had a go at the network provider about this but may as well be talking to the wall. The only long term solution to this is legislation that looks after the consumer rather than the provider/scammer.

thesandeman

vFit.guru took €20 off me yesterday. I sent 'Stop' after the first two texts but it sent me another six a few minutes later.
I most certainly did not click or reply to anything to sign up to them.

MOTM

See my previous posts above and check with Comreg who the service provider is. You'll get a refund with persistence. Contact your mobile phone company to stop premium rate services from now on. See here on Comreg https://servicechecker.comreg.ie/Find/Index?q=guru&ServiceName=&PRSNumber=&ShortCode=57976&Description=

(apart from that, contacting comreg is a waste of time. They never responded or intervened in any shape or form. Just window dressing IMHO)

thesandeman

MOTM wrote: »

See my previous posts above and check with Comreg who the service provider is. You'll get a refund with persistence. Contact your mobile phone company to stop premium rate services from now on. See here on Comreg https://servicechecker.comreg.ie/Find/Index?q=guru&ServiceName=&PRSNumber=&ShortCode=57976&Description=

(apart from that, contacting comreg is a waste of time. They never responded or intervened in any shape or form. Just window dressing IMHO)

Thanks for that. I'm getting onto the SP later.
I'm just off chat with Three.
In fairness to them, they gave me all the details for contacting the spammers, blocked the number, and gave me a fiver and 1000mb as a gesture of goodwill until I sort things out with the SP.
Credit where credit is due (pun intended).

MOTM

thesandeman wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'm getting onto the SP later.
I'm just off chat with Three.
In fairness to them, they gave me all the details for contacting the spammers, blocked the number, and gave me a fiver and 1000mb as a gesture of goodwill until I sort things out with the SP.
Credit where credit is due (pun intended).

Good to see Three gave you something back...as I got nothing from them other than blocking the premium numbers.

thesandeman

MOTM wrote: »

Good to see Three gave you something back...as I got nothing from them other than blocking the premium numbers.

I've had good experiences with them the two times I've needed to contact them (the first time my credit disappeared for no reason and they sorted it eventually when they had the Talk To forum here).
They gave me a bit of leeway today because of the difficulties of getting a fresh top-up due to Coronavirus etc. It probably depends who you get.
Time for an argument with the SP now.

MOTM

thesandeman wrote: »

Time for an argument with the SP now.

From experience
(1) go in hard, and don't take no for an answer
(2) have your facts straight
(3) keep a record of everything they've said...so do it all on email and insist on written answers.

In truth, it isn't worth the €20 hassle but I was happy to spend my own time badgering them and forcing them into a U turn. Hopefully more people will read this and do similar.

Grab All Association

The majority of people getting hit by this scam tend to own android devices.

Sites like TippFM, Google, YouTube, Clare FM and MSM have these banner ads covering 50% of the page on screen in some cases. Some companies are just inputting random numbers and making you exhaust the complaints process before giving a refund. The majority of people don’t take it further and do give up.

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