Payforit scam, but by who?

[#1]

A little over a week ago I received a flurry of text messages during the night informing me of a £4.50 charge for services, giving a number to ring & a number to text stop to. Having not consciously signed up for any services & at that point unaware of payforit, I assumed a scam & deleted the texts.

Only when the following week a single text arrived from 030090009 advising of a further charge did I check & discover that 2 x £4.50 had been taken from my airtime balance. Then I looked here, saw best answers & the payforitsucks site. Since I had deleted the initial texts, I couldn't send a "stop all". I nervously followed the advice to send my number to mobilepaymentssupport.com. The site is insecure & didn't inspire confidence but I received my pin  text& input it. The only information under my number was the word "services". So I still don't know who is charging me, for what, & how I was "signed up".

I realise I was hasty in deleting the original texts, but obviously want to stop further charges first, then seek refunds. Could anyone please advise me how to either restore the deleted texts or identify how to contact the outfit behind this please?

[#2]

@uptodat
Can you recall anything that was shown in the initial text?
The name of the service or company for instance

As the charges are delivered by payforit, an agent wouldn't usually be able to detect the name of the company you've inadvertently subscribed to

text the word STOP to these numbers in order 
83463
80206
65065
(wait 5 minutes, if you don't receive a reply, text the the next 5 digit number)

If you have a subscription linked to one of those numbers you'll receive a reply confirming you've unsubscribed

[#3]

Unfortunately I remember nothing of the content of those initial texts. I have tried the first number you suggested & got a prompt reply. Thank you very much. Is it certain that it is the outfit in question? Would text to the next number be answered in the same way?

[#4]

@uptodat
If you received a reply confirming you've unsubscribed
83463 was definitely the 5 digit number mentioned within the initial text you deleted
(83463 is linked to quite a few companies, that's why I put it at the top)

There's no need to text the other two numbers

If you don't currently have a subscription linked to the 5 digit number
You almost always won't receive a reply
Occasionally it'll say we don't recognise that keyword
Or it'll specifically say you're not subscribed to a service

On most occasions, the reply confirming you've unsubscribed, wouldn't actually show the name of the service or company
There's no possibility of detecting and calling the company for a refund if that was the case with your reply (?)

At least you're now unsubscribed though

[#5]

Thanks again Sloz. The message read "FreeMsg: Your STOP request has been received. All Subscriptions will be cancelled within 24 hours. "
No company name to complain to & seek refund from but at least I can give something to PSA and the "subscription" hopefully won't result in a third charge next week. It seems 2 factor authorisation or better regulation is required!

[#6]

The sequel. Input of short code to PSA identified Tap2bill ltd as the technical operators of the platform.
I emailed them & they promptly identified the mechant as Lasevia, giving contact details, & confirmed the block had been applied.
More in hope than expectation I phoned Lasevia who undertook to investigate my issue.
I followed this up with an email.
Surprisingly I received a call only a few hours later saying that my charges would be refunded as I wasn't happy...so they wanted bank details. They told me my handset had subscribed to books4u. They are based in Cyprus but called from a uk number of their customer services: 0203 5987310. An awful lot of people appear to have signed up books4u or similar, according to Trust Pilot etc.
I will wait and see if any refund arrives and watch my phone & bank accounts closely. Coincidence or not, I received several calls about the car accident that wasn't my fault subsequently... Thanks Sloz for pointing me in the right direction.
An issue has also been raised with PSA & I advised Lasevia of this.

[#7]

@uptodat Just read the posts in this thread and it is quite a good outcome considering how it started off and a great example that others may be able to emulate.

What I did wonder was if you knew about the labs suggestion for putting a 2FA process for any payforit service like EE have for their customers?

I know that the labs process isn't totally without a bit of bias towards things that suit giffgaff or that they were going to do anyway. However it is worth a vote on the off chance that it is implemented it would be a good step for all of us.

Nice to read your feedback and how you got your results.

https://labs.giffgaff.com/idea/16712363/require-2-factor-authentication-to-sign-up-for-payforit-tex#

[#8]

@uptodat

A great result, which shows what a little perseverance can achieve. Let us know if/when you get your refund.

Paul

[#9]

Yes I did see the suggestion & add to "marvellous" numbers.

[#10]

Will do.