MOBILE
PHONES - FRAUD AND ABUSE
Have you got a text message
on your mobile saying "reply to find out more? Text back to
get this service?" Perhaps you’ve unwittingly signed
up for something you didn’t want by replying?
People are annoyed that they’re
paying for something they didn’t ask for, and others are disturbed
by the sexual nature of the messages
And Childline NI says that
the mobile phone is increasingly becoming
the bullies’ weapon of choice:-
"Bullying is the issue
that children and young people most call us about"
And of the 105 calls received
by ChildLine nationally, which related specifically to being bullied
by text, 12 came from Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Advisory
Committee on Telecommunications (NIACT) aims to protect Northern
Ireland consumers from receiving what is known as premium rate reverse-billed
SMS (this is where the customer is charged for receiving a premium
rate text message).
NIACT wish to advise consumers
on what to do when they receive such messages.
Five years ago, targeting mobile
phone customers would have been unheard of but, in the past year,
complaints regarding this kind of text message have soared as advertisers
target the mobile arena.
NIACT have received numerous
complaints from consumers who have received such messages. Examples
include:
- Four messages sent to a
minor (aged 10 ) stating "I fancy you. To find out who, call…"
- A woman spent three £5
PAYG cards after continuously receiving messages of a sexual nature,
such as: "I like talking dirty and bleep bleep bleep"
- she had unknowingly signed up to a service.
- Competition lines that informed
the caller they had won a prize, which the caller never received.
- A local business contacted
NIACT about hard-sell messages from third parties and from their
network provider.
ICSTIS, (the Independent Committee
for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Service
) is the regulatory body for premium rate telecoms services. They
regulate the content and promotion of all premium services including
competition and adult telephone lines.
Providers are obliged by law
to state clearly in all promotional material the likely charge for
receiving a text message and this must contain full pricing information.
Services offering what is referred
to as "text chat" services, all SMS contact and dating
services must have PRIOR PERMISSION from ICSTIS before they can
operate.
The main problem with this
type of service is that there is no legislation in place to clarify
what commercial companies can and cannot do, so at the moment this
is a very grey area, leaving the market open to exploitation.
However, ICSTIS are working
with those involved with SMS services to reaffirm its regulation
of premium rate SMS services.
But the main problem with this
new type of marketing tactic is that there is no legislation in
place to clarify what commercial companies can and cannot do, so
the market is currently open to exploitation.
The good news is that ICSTIS
is working with those involved with SMS services to reaffirm its
regulation of premium rate SMS services.
Frank Hewitt NIACT Director
says:-
"NIACT is concerned for
many NI consumers who are receiving unwanted text messages. NIACT
is working within their power, in conjunction with other organisations
such as ICSTIS to ensure that appropriate regulation of the premium
rate SMS market is in place.
"The message is clear: if you don’t
recognise a message on your phone you should delete it but, whatever
you do, don’t respond!"."
If a consumer does receive
a premium rate reverse-billed SMS without knowing, NIACT’s
advice is:
- Write down the telephone
number of message sent
- Contact ICSTIS and report
a complaint who will investigate further
- Contact your mobile network
provider and make a complaint
- Delete the message from
your mobile phone
- Contact Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA) who will investigate misleading or offensive adverts
(see under related links) or Wireless Advertising Association
(WAA) who run a voluntary code of practice for advertisers sending
SMS messages.
- Contact Telephone Preference
Service 0845 070 0707.
Contact ICSTIS on (freefone): 0800 500 212
NIACT can be contacted on:
0845 714 5000 or 9024 2631
Childline can be contacted
on 0870 3362945
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