Received 2 unsolicited premium texts, at £4.50 each. No number to send stop to

[#1]

Hi just noticed two premium texts have taken £4.50 each out of my airtime credit (only had £10 in as I use goodybag). No idea what they are or where from, and no number listed (just a hyphen) on the giffgaff statement, this is where I noticed them gone. 

 Obviously a scam, other than leaving giffgaff what options do I have? 

Thank you for reading.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @badgerist Please see this guide https://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Solve-your-questions/What-to-do-if-you-receive-SPAM-text-messages/...

[#3]

@badgerist, hi there,  don't top up airtime credit then they can't take your money from you, buy goodybags until it's sorted they will give up trying after a couple of goes. 

https://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Tips-Guides/Premium-text-charges-do-s-And-don-t-s/td-p/18597940

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts

[#4]

https://psauthority.org.uk/for-consumers/what-are-phone-paid-services/sms-shortcodes

[#5]

Afraid this doesn’t help, there is no number listed and I haven’t received any texts.

[#6]

i do not understand your message

[#7]

@badgerist
Hi you must have at some time received a text indicating you've been subscribed to a weekly service

Could you have blocked the number so no texts arrived?
Look in your blocked /spam /reject list to see if you can spot any 5 digit numbers.

If you can see any unblock them now and post them here

[#8]

Hi,
You are not the only one here getting Unsolicited Premium rate SMS Messages. There is many mobile phone users having same issue like you. Your account is debited when you receive SMS. There is a possibility that you will lose credit even if you've blocked sender's number. 9 out of 10 times they will say that you subscribe to their services (It could happen even without your knowledge. How many times did we tick box AGREED without reading small print)

First of all try to send STOP text (you will need at least £0.10p as those numbers are not included in goodybags)
Secondly, if you have got sender's contact number or 5 digit premium number please go to http://psauthority.org.uk/ to see details of the company that is registered to use that number.

The PSAuthority regulator search should give you the landline number so you can speak to the company directly.

Following links should also be helpful

https://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Tips-Guides/Stopping-Unsolicited-Premium-rate-SMS-Messages/td-p/33...

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-stop-unwanted-premium-rate-texts

[#9]

@badgerist

Sorry to see that these scams have claimed yet another victim. A search of the forums for '£4.50 scam' reveals a large number of these reverse premium rate scams. However usually there are some texts which give you a clue as to who originated the charges.

Ultimately it is GiffGaff's responsibility to explain these charges, as in the absence of any evidence why should you believe that the charges are due to premium rate texts!

The Phone-paid Services Authority is responsible for regulating this sector of the industry and they are very clear:

The network provider is responsible for explaining what the charge on the bill is for and providing the contact information of the service provider.

GiffGaff may try to hide behind section 4.13 of their terms and conditions, which you signed up to when you opened your account. This states:

You  may  be  charged  to  receive  certain premium  rate  text  messaging  services  and multimedia  messaging services. We  will  not  notify you  of  charges  for  premium  rate  services operated by  third  parties.

Refer them to the regulators unambiguous statement that they are responsible for identifying the orginators of these fraudulent deductions. Then tell them that they can only use Section 4.13 of their terms and conditions to evade responsibility if they can prove that the debits on your account were made in respect of one of the specified services. In practice this means they have to grass on the low-lifes who perpetrate these scams, or refund your money.

Sadly all the mobile phone networks operate a similar scammers charter, where third parties can dip in to your funds without having to prove they have your permission to do so. The network operators take their fair share of the proceeds of these scams, so I suppose it is not surprising that they are somewhat reluctant to assist in bringing them to a stop.

My wife was recently the victim of a similar scam, perpetrated by a company called Remote Games Ltd. I wrote quite a detailed explanation of the steps you can take once you have identified the scammer here:

https://community.giffgaff.com/t5/General-Discussion/Remote-Games-FunnyVideos-PayForIT-scams-using-s...

I hope you manage to get this sorted out.

[#10]

I'e just received one of these messages but I've not got a Giffgaff account....what do I need to do to stop this and money going off my account