Nuisance and Rip-Off Premium Rate phone
calls
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"Congratulations - you've won a
prize!"
This is usually how the message starts. Then you're asked to
write down a phone number - call them back and claim your prize. The only prize
you'll likely get is a whacking great telephone bill!
What the message often doesn't indicate is that the number
you're calling back is actually a Premium Rate number that can cost anything up
to a £1.50+ a minute - and the calls often last four or more minutes! To
add insult to injury, you could be asked to simply press zero and you'll be
connected automatically - only to find out that it's the same Premium Rate
number! |
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PRIME RIP-OFF CULPRIT JOHN
MARLOW
BETTERPHONE DEALS
P.O. BOX 3514
COVENTRY
CV3-2WP
Premium Rate No: 0906 344-3210
(don't phone
this number it will cost you money!!)
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Not only
are we plagued by premium rate calls to residential and mobile phones, but it
seems that every magazine and newspaper is constantly bombarding us with
scratch cards that invariably say 'You've won a prize - phone this premium rate
number to claim your prize!'. Although the cost of the premium rate phone call
is on the card, it's often in the smallest of print that would require a
microscope to read! Also, it seems like overseas scams mostly from Canada and
the Far East are being aimed at the most vulnerable in our society - the
elderly.
Interestingly, I cannot find any other country in Europe that's
plagued like we are by premium rate numbers and scratch cards! Again, this
illustrates how the UK remains the 'soft touch' for all these scams. No matter
how 'legal' premium rate lines may be in this country, something needs to be
done to regulate these scams that are tantamount to legally printing their own
money.
These
annoying and often illegal calls should be immediately reported to
ICSTIS who regulate all
premium rate charged telecommunications services in the UK. I am waiting for a
reply regarding their investigation of my complaints, but as a quasi-government
regulatory body I don't hold out much hope in them stopping these nuisance and
potentially costly calls.
My
advice? Tear up all scratch cards as soon as they drop out of the magazine, and
hang-up on ALL nuisance 0906 and other calls that promote premium rate numbers.
If you get a letter stating you've WON and you must send money to CLAIM YOUR
PRIZE - BIN IT IMMEDIATELY!!
REMEMBER - If it's too good to be true - it probably
is!! Paul M
Editor - Rip-Off Britain
Copyright © 2003 - Rip-Off Britain |
