"six-toes" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
Tuesday 22 February 2005, 00:55:37
United Kingdom
Written by Net 4 Nowt
National charity Citizens Advice is urging people to protect
themselves against an Internet scam that cunningly connects web surfers
up to premium rate numbers without them realising until they receive a
highly inflated phone bill.
The warning comes as the Office of Fair Trading continues its Scams
Awareness Month to alert the public to deceptive and fraudulent
mass-marketed scams.
Citizens Advice Bureaux report seeing many cases where Internet
users have been unwittingly connected to premium rate numbers by an
innocent click of the mouse. In some cases, by closing a pop-up box or
pressing 'no' when asked to view a website, scammers are
disconnecting you from your usual Internet Service Provider (ISP) and
reconnecting you to a premium rate number without you realising.
Often the premium rate number stays in your dialler, meaning that
every time you connect to the Internet, the dialler will dial up the
premium rate number. It is only when you check the dialler that you
will be able to tell that the number has been changed; it is then a
case of manually changing the dial-up back to your original provider.
This results in an exorbitant phone bill and can cause a dispute
between the individual and the telephone company over who is liable to
foot the phone bill.
In one case a CAB client from the Midlands received a bill for
£319.57 on top of her usual £14.99 a month. She had been closing
pop-ups and found instead she had been connected to a premium rate
number. She found out that a company in Spain had been causing the
problem and when she contacted them they asked for personal details
including her bank details and passport number, which they could have
used as part of the scam.
In another case a client from Suffolk received a bill for £173.45,
mostly for calls to a series of premium rate numbers. The calls were
traced back to Spain. When the client contacted the company in Spain
she was asked to provide bank details on the pretext that they needed
this information to investigate her complaint.
As part of its work as the UK European Consumer Centre (ECC),
Citizens Advice is urging people to sign up for their phone
provider's offer of barring of premium rate numbers on residential
telephone lines in the UK. The service stops any dialling to all UK
based 090 premium rate number and is the most flexible solution to
combat the problem. Phone providers will also bar international number
calls, where the scam can originate.
If you have been unlucky enough to fall victim to a rogue scammer,
you can contact premium rate services regulator ICSTIS, which has
recently been given greater powers to tackle these unscrupulous firms.
All diallers operating on premium rate numbers now have to be licensed
by ICSTIS, and if they do not have a licence they will be shut down.
ICSTIS will acquire greater powers later this year following the OFCOM
review of premium rate services.
Many of these scams operate from other countries, notably Spain. If
a number begins with 00 it is an international call. Currently no
international companies have a licence to operate in the UK and should
be reported.
Citizens Advice Director of Policy Teresa Perchard said:
"More and more people are shopping and doing personal business on
the Internet such as filing tax returns. This shocking scam will dent
consumer confidence.
"You can sign up for number barring with your phone provider, and
this is the best way to avoid becoming a victim of these scams.
However, if you do discover that you have been the victim of an
Internet scammer you should speak to your phone company immediately to
discuss any problems with your bill.
"You should also report the scam to the premium rate services
watchdog ICSTIS, who will be able to investigate the service to find
out whether they are operating illegally. Any company found operating
without a licence could then be cut off.
"If you do take matters into your own hands and trace the calls
to the service provider, do not be persuaded to send your bank details
or other personal information, as it is likely that you will become a
victim of a possible further scam accessing your bank account."
For advice on any Internet scams, contact any Citizens Advice
Bureau. More information about Internet scams can be found on the
ICSTIS website
www.icstis.org.uk or contact ICSTIS on 0800 500 212
Alternatively, disconnect the phone line from your PC.
(kim)
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