On Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:17:07 +1000, Rod Speed wrote:

> Horry <horacewachope@gmail.com> wrote
>> Rod Speed wrote
>>> DavidBee <DavidBee.38een5@no-mx.phorums.com.au> wrote
>
>>>> I'm writing this on behalf of my 17 year old daughter.
>
>>>> Her mobile phone was stolen last month. Someone used it and
>>>> ran up a bill of over $400.00. When we received the bill we found
>>>> that the thief made premium SMS calls on the number 19942226
>>>> which were used to buy credits from the Habbo Hotel. We believe
>>>> that the person was someone from my daughter's school.
>
>>>> We're going to make out a police report and the police will require
>>>> details of the account. Does anyone know the legal situation and the
>>>> best way to approach it. There are privacy laws, but as this is a
>>>> criminal act can the police get details of the Habbo Hotel account holder?
>
>>> Corse the cops can get any details they want when criminal activity like theft is involved.
>
>> Isn't "Habbo" based overseas? They may have an Australian arm,
>> but if my memory serves me correctly, they're based in the UK.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habbo_Hotel
>
>> If that's the case, he may have trouble convincing the cops here in
>> Australia to arrange for the British authorities to obtain and serve a
>> subpoena in London -- when the subject-matter of their investigation
>> is $400 worth of Habbo credit. (I doubt Habbo will cough up their
>> subscriber's details without some form of legal process.)
>
> We'll see...
>
> Its unlikely they would be stupid enough to require anything
> to be served in pomland etc with something so trivial.

Who's "they"?


>> My suggestion would be for the OP to fax a copy of the police
>> report to Habbo's head office, together with a letter explaining the
>> situation and requesting that the credit be refunded (enclosing a
>> copy of the phone bill highlighting the fraudulent purchases, etc).
>
>> He may well get fobbed off, but it'd be a better shot that expecting
>> the cops to start an trans-national investigation over $400.
>
> You havent established that any 'trans-national investigation' is involved with something so trivial.

Huh? It doesn't matter how "trivial" an investigation is. If it spans
more than one country, it's trans-national.