Suspensions for text message abuse - what you need to know

jaymailsays

dtuxcomp I’d assume there would be a warning message first, like there is for people who go way over the limit on the always-on bag ?

From the affected members I have seen posting in and around Help, they are automatically suspended without prior warning.

Often they think it is a network or sim failure and have no inkling they have broken a rule.

The number that continues working after suspension is 443 and/or the nhs number.

Clearly once barred no texts get through and if you only use your linked email inbox on your phone, with mobile data, your emails won’t work either.

Reinstatement by agents is discretionary and if the offence is repeated, barring is permanent.

rickvigorous

pdean230470 no idea I was breaching giffgaff rules

That is your mistake. Are you planning to payback the money you made on the app? There is no such thing as free money and bassically the money mofono and you made came from giffgaff and its users.
Unfortunatly a lot of people get fooled by these scams 🙁

mrsgrowler

dtuxcomp
The difference is that if you over use the Always On bag you are just breaching giffgaff’s own policies whereas the sending of SPAM is an illegal activity
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3120628.stm

So the answer to your question

dtuxcomp do people who are doing this receive any kind of message asking them to stop before they are banned ?

is no.

Because it is something that needs to be stopped immediatley it is done automatically by the system as soon as it detects suspicious activity.

That way only the “innocent” will contact giffgaff to ask why their service has stopped, then when told why will explain what they did - eg “I sent a text to all me mates” - apologise and say they won’t do it again .

Whereas I doubt a spammer would bother!

dcameron194

Hi everyone

While we do fully understand the concerns of members, the issue here is twofold:

Firstly, by downloading the app, you allow a third party to automatically control the messages send from your giffgaff account. This is clearly and expressly forbidden by our terms and conditions.

Furthermore, we do not know what else this app is doing without our members consent or knowledge so, from a security perspective, we must discourage the use of this sort of app.

The second point is around the nature of the SMS messages being sent by this app. The messages are not standard SMS, they are billed differently and at a high cost by the company operating the numbers being sent messages. Rather than pass the cost of these messages on to our members, and bill them as out-of-bundle usage as we do with premium rate SMS, we swallow the extra.

There comes a point, however, when we see excessive usage (thousands of messages per month per user in some cases) and the costs associated with them, we have to take action to protect the gaff and our members. If we didn’t, we would be forced to increase prices for everyone.

We completely understand that you may not have understood what this app does and how it works – a fact the makers of this app rely upon. Our terms and conditions are clear, however, and the volume of usage seen has somewhat forced our hand in this matter.

Dave

mrjeeves

dcameron194 The second point is around the nature of the SMS messages being sent by this app. The messages are not standard SMS, they are billed differently and at a high cost by the company operating the numbers being sent messages. Rather than pass the cost of these messages on to our members, and bill them as out-of-bundle usage as we do with premium rate SMS, we swallow the extra.

Can you let us know if @i_am_sy’s guess was correct, to do with the termination charge, just to make sure we’re not handing out false info.

corin70238

dcameron194 it seems to me that giffgaff are looking after their customers!!!! Why would u allow a 3rd party access to your phone and account w n giffgaff does and gives so much???? Idiots!!! hayba12

helen87402

dcameron194 I would be too scared to allowed anyone free access to my messages and allow them to send anything, they could literaly land you in jail!

dcameron194

mrjeeves

Hi There

Yes, you are pretty close. The termination charge of the number ranges being used by MoFoNo are higher than they should be for a normal mobile phone.

So, while we expect a charge of X from the terminating network, which allows us to count this in our unlimited usage heading; we actually receive a charge of Y. Less than a premium rate number, but more than a regular number, it varies between apps.

This leaves us with an outstanding balance that we do not charge our member and have to pay ourselves. Times this by thousands of messages a day and hundreds or thousands of users of the app, and it very quickly becomes unsustainable.

We therefore have to stop the usage of the few members using the app, or pass the additional cost on to all members… something we REALLY don’t want to do.

I can’t comment on the inner workings of the app (as much as I’d like to have a very close look at it), but your summery is accurate based on the raw data we see in our network.

Again, I urge any member looking at an app like this to avoid it at all cost. It will breach out T&C’s and it will likely result in the loss of giffgaff services.

Dave

hayba12

mrjeeves I’ve had no email call or text still and I’ve been barred since 2PM yesterday I contacted a agent last night and I’ve still not been informed by giffgaff I’m barred 😔

jaymailsays

hayba12 I’ve had no email call or text still and I’ve been barred since 2PM yesterday I contacted a agent last night and I’ve still not been informed by giffgaff I’m barred

@mrjeeves misunderstood. Once you’re number is barred nothing gets through to your device not texts, calls or emails.

Are you able to call 443?

Your agent replies might be found here:-
https://giffgaff.com/support/questions

hayba12

dtuxcomp no u don’t!! I’ve been barred since 2PM yesterday and had no warning msg or email anything I just got barred

dtuxcomp

Thank you everyone for answering my question, I totally understand why anyone using this app should be stopped asap I just wanted to be clear on whether people had any warning before the bar so I could reply appropriately, usually we’d advise people to look for messages informing them of a forthcoming service bar or reduction.

mrjeeves

dtuxcomp

I guess it’s a priority to giffgaff – they operate on low enough margin as it is, so these higher costs would create havoc.

z201205

jaymailsays Your agent replies might be found here:-
https://giffgaff.com/support/questions

Unfortunately, if the member is banned, then how do they receive an email telling them so? How do they ask an agent? Seems brutal: turning off SMS sending only would be a much better solution as the member could still receive SMS messages and emails. And ask an agent to restore normal service in a more timely manner.

hayba12

jaymailsays

jaymailsays yes i just tried and that went through to voicemail 😁 but nothing else is working 😪

jesi23

mrjeeves It’s assumed you’d know as you “read” the T’s & C’s.

Many moons ago, I proposed an idea to
Require Reading of T&C before Joining is Possible
(05-11-2014 14:44)
https://labs.giffgaff.com/idea/15292782/require-reading-of-t-amp-c-before-joining-is-possible

Quote from the description of the idea:
CLEARLY, NOT EVERYONE BUYING A PHONE has read the MEMBER T&Cs to which they agreed when joining.

The technology exists to make the link for agreeing the Terms & Conditions conditional on clicking a link for Terms & Conditions before you can continue.

I have entered competitions, where instead of a ‘CONTINUE’ button there is a T&C button which brings a box up containing the Terms & Conditions with the Agree button at the bottom of the Terms & Conditions.

The giffgaff ‘Terms & Conditions’ are not so extensive that they cannot be skimmed quickly, and then no one could complain they did not already know ‘Up Front’ about the policies.

SO REQUIRE THEM TO READ THEM before they join.

I read them through. But then I also read the Microsoft T&Cs before installing my productivity software for Word/Excel/PowerPoint, and before agreeing anything …

… which is probably why I have not installed WhatsApp, and don’t use Facebook or Twitter or various other social media!🙄

_{_🤡}

mrjeeves

dcameron194 I can’t comment on the inner workings of the app (as much as I’d like to have a very close look at it),

I had decompiled the app myself but, obviously, all Android apps are converted to DEX/Smali code.

I do want to work out how it’s managing to do this. If I do, do you want me to pop you a PD?

danwillen

tuneintestaccount What I didn’t know was that an app automatically sending a few thousand texts per day would count as “fraud”…

Im not saying its the automated sending of texts thats fraud its how these texts are charged to giffgaff by the receiving network thats fraud at least thats what the following statement by a staff member makes it sound like to me

dcameron194 The termination charge of the number ranges being used by MoFoNo are higher than they should be for a normal mobile phone.

So, while we expect a charge of X from the terminating network, which allows us to count this in our unlimited usage heading; we actually receive a charge of Y. Less than a premium rate number, but more than a regular number

That to me reads as the difference in cost between X and Y is been obtained by deceit and obtaining money by deceit is fraud.

jaymailsays

z201205 And ask an agent to restore normal service in a more timely manner.

The agent delay in reply is seen by me as a penalty and intentional, not saying necessarily wrong, just inconvenient.

sloz

z201205
Wrote… Unfortunately, if the member is banned, then how do they receive an email telling them so? How do they ask an agent? Seems brutal: turning off SMS sending only would be a much better solution as the member could still receive SMS messages and emails. And ask an agent to restore normal service in a more timely manner
.
.
z201205
The proccess of barring services on giffgaff is and has always been far from ideal,
The bar is sudden and without warning, and nothing AFTER the event to inform you that you have been barred,

In my opinion, only outgoing services should be barred
(On this page
Http://giffgaff.com/call-services
Blocking outgoing calls and texts will also block data, so at the moment, data will also need to blocked at the same time)

A text should be sent after the bar, together with a link to the terms and conditions, informing them of that fact and advise them to contact an agent using wifi or another data source

Or at least send a text and /or email first AND THEN bar all services

jaymailsays

hayba12
Are you able to access ?
https://giffgaff.com/support/questions

If so update the form with a full apology and explain you were not aware of the app restrictions.
Up to 24hrs is the usual maximum time for a reply.

z201205

sloz IMHO data should not be blocked in such circumstances. giffgaff is an online service and preventing customers contacting them is surely an unfair contract condition. I don’t see how data can be misused on any goodybag: if you run out, then you are charged from airtime credit.

harrrrrry

sloz Or at least send a text and /or email first AND THEN bar all services

A text would only work if the member had their phone switched on and in coverage at the time, and even then isn’t guaranteed to be delivered immediately.

The email would be retrievable if the member has set up independent access as suggested at https://community.giffgaff.com/d/23040019-make-sure-you-have-independent-access-to-your-email – but the requirement for that tip arises because most members don’t understand the need to do that.

Both are better than nothing, but certainly an “outward only block” would be the proper way to do it.

hayba12

Thankyou so much 😁 I will update my form with an apology I have stated I was unaware it was against giffgaff standards and stated I’ve deleted the app,thankypu for all your help

jaymailsays

hayba12
You’re very welcome, do let us know how it works out.