Initially a user would approach their operator to get the ability to use such services enabled not a 3rd party approaching the operator. If someone makes use of my bank details without my permission the bank will investigate and return the funds, etc.
Mobile charges scam
- Thread starter weringo
- Start date
Initially a user would approach their operator to get the ability to use such services enabled not a 3rd party approaching the operator. If someone makes use of my bank details without my permission the bank will investigate and return the funds, etc.
This is the key point really. For each £4.50 charge Vodafone probably make £1. For such trivial amounts a lot of people probably can't be bothered with the hassle of getting the funds returned, so Vodafone is massively disincentivised to take any preventative measures to stop it.
Except they don't really. If a legitimate company makes a payment request the bank will pay it.
Plus...they're not a bank. They are a completely different type of business and what they are sending you each month is essentially an invoice. This is why you query it. You don't have that with a bank, the funds are instantly withdrawn.
This is the route you need to go down. Vodafone won't credit the charges and it's unlikely any other provider will. in the vast majority of cases the charges are valid and someone has used the service in some way.
I've had the exact same thing happen on o2. A pop up add appeared while I was surfing the Web while eating dinner, so didn't have both hands free at the time to close the Web page. Seconds later I got a text message thanking me for signing up to 'Funny gifs daily' for £4.50 a month. I kid you not, leaving a pop up message open for more than 10 seconds was enough for them to grab my number and sign me up. O2 weren't able to reverse the charge, and I couldn't get the money back. But I did manage to cancel it for the next month.
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Well, yes and no.
Yes it has nothing to do with Vodafone, these charges only activate when something from the phone is telling them to, so it's the fault of whoever uses the phone for pressing on the button that says £4.50 for every health advice text.
Whereas they aren't exactly without fault, Vodafone allow scam companies to also do this on pretend adverts where the cancel is very close to the accept button. Also the only 'weekly text' you'll get for £4.50 Is essentially a blank text.
Scam or not, Vodafone make money from this.
I immediately apply a bar for premium texts or services and international calls whenever I get a new contract.
I learnt my lesson after something similar to the OP happened. The third party did refund me the charges though (I had received 3 of these texts which I had assumed were spam before I noticed on my bill) as I phoned them and disputed I agreed to a subscription.
I learnt my lesson after something similar to the OP happened. The third party did refund me the charges though (I had received 3 of these texts which I had assumed were spam before I noticed on my bill) as I phoned them and disputed I agreed to a subscription.