A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to reply,
but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without replying.
Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text the
word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to have the
advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of her $36 she
will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf of
another company. It seems, then, that this company must be misrepresenting
having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to be collecting a $6 fee.
Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:16:53 +0000 (UTC), John Savage wrote:
> A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
> Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to reply,
> but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without replying.
>
> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text the
> word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to have the
> advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of her $36 she
> will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
>
> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf of
> another company. It seems, then, that this company must be misrepresenting
> having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to be collecting a $6 fee.
>
> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
It's no-one's "responsibility" to go after the scammer.
The bogus charges on your friend's account are, however, Vodafone's
problem. She does not need to call some unknown 3rd party with whom she
has no relationship, in order to get her Vodafone account corrected. Your
friend's relationship is with Vodafone.
If Vodafone won't wipe the charges, your friend should complain to the TIO.
(The foregoing assumes your friend didn't sign up for or otherwise
authorize the SMS adverts.)
John Savage wrote:
> A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week
> period. Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the
> recipient to reply, but she has been warned about scams so deleted
> each without replying.
>
> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text
> the word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to
> have the advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of
> her $36 she will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
>
> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf
> of another company. It seems, then, that this company must be
> misrepresenting having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to
> be collecting a $6 fee.
>
> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the
> scammer?
> A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week
> period. Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the
> recipient to reply, but she has been warned about scams so deleted
> each without replying.
> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text
> the word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to
> have the advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of
> her $36 she will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf
> of another company. It seems, then, that this company must be
> misrepresenting having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to
> be collecting a $6 fee.
> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
Nope, but it certainly is to remove those fees if she never signed up for those SMSs.
> On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:16:53 +0000 (UTC), John Savage wrote:
>
>> A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
>> Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to
>> reply, but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without
>> replying.
.........
>> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
>
> It's no-one's "responsibility" to go after the scammer.
........
> (The foregoing assumes your friend didn't sign up for or otherwise
> authorize the SMS adverts.)
Exactly, like signing up for some sort of "Competition" on a web site and
not reading all of the terms and conditions.....
--
Regards, David.
David Clayton
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a
measure of how many questions you have.
We had a similar experience in early 2007 when we received a total of 43 of
these calls at $6 a pop from a company called Mobile Messenger. I called
Vodafone on the 30/1/2007 about it & was told there was a laid down
procedure which could take about 10 days to address. I called another 6
times up to 12/2/2007 only to be advised by Vodafone that they could do
nothing more. The call record showed there were up to three calls per day &
the total cost was now $258.
I then called the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman on 13/2/2007
(1300-365-506) & they were very professional & helpful. Shortly after this
Vodafone suddenly started to take an interest in the issue & asked that I
fax the call records to a Sydney number (02-9474-0885) which I did, (a check
via devious means showed this fax number belonged to Read & Associates -
solicitors)!
Then another 4 calls to Vodafone between 13/2/2007 & 2/3/2007. The final
call advising that a refund cheque would be sent by Mobile Messenger within
10 days. Around three weeks later a cheque did finally arrive. Of interest
was that the only call I had from Mobile Messenger was from an overseas call
centre offering to refund 50% of the costs. I said, no way as we had
confirmation from Vodafone the calls had never been subscribed to nor
authorised.
The elusive "Mobile Messenger" is almost untraceable but some research
showed that the directors live in Sydney in some of the most affluent
suburbs. Vodafone's excuse as to why they were untouchable was that they
were based overseas! What a scam. As already said we never subscribed to
this service & unknowingly deleted the calls when received, not knowing the
costs involved!
My advice is keep on it & definitely call the Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman, they will take the details verbally & give you a reference
number! These parasites need to be dealt with & it surprises me the industry
is so corrupt as to allow it to happen!
"John Savage" <rookswood@suburbian.com.au> wrote in message
news:071231000094747.31Dec07$rookswood@suburbian.c om...
>A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
> Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to reply,
> but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without replying.
>
> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text the
> word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to have the
> advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of her $36 she
> will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
>
> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf of
> another company. It seems, then, that this company must be misrepresenting
> having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to be collecting a $6
> fee.
>
> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
"Michael" <michael@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:NvTfj.32252$CN4.30519@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> "John Savage" <rookswood@suburbian.com.au> wrote in message
> news:071231000094747.31Dec07$rookswood@suburbian.c om...
>>A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
>> Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to
>> reply,
>> but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without replying.
>>
>> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
>> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text the
>> word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to have the
>> advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of her $36 she
>> will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
>>
>> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
>> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf of
>> another company. It seems, then, that this company must be
>> misrepresenting
>> having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to be collecting a $6
>> fee.
>>
>> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
>
> No
Correct, but it is Voda's responsibility to refund her money.
"John Phillips" <flatulantdingo@deadspam.com> wrote in message
news:20080110215152.3d1d8a2d@linux-k6os.site...
> On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 07:52:52 +1100 "Krusty" <news@kogarah.net> wrote:
>
>> The elusive "Mobile Messenger" is almost untraceable
>
> Is it these guys?
>
> http://www.mobilemessenger.com/
Yes I think so but this site I don't think recall existed when I had the
issues. Even so the site gives no details of location, only email & a 1300
number. They are masters of disguise & a most sinister & elusive operation.
The phone contact that I was given by Vodafone was actually a message
service & they NEVER returned calls, any email sent (different address) was
never responded to. I would assume nothing has changed!
"Michael" <michael@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:NvTfj.32252$CN4.30519@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> "John Savage" <rookswood@suburbian.com.au> wrote in message
> news:071231000094747.31Dec07$rookswood@suburbian.c om...
>>A friend received six unsolicited SMS adverts over a three week period.
>> Each SMS showed its sender as 19966664 and invited the recipient to
>> reply,
>> but she has been warned about scams so deleted each without replying.
>>
>> Subsequently, her Vodafone bill shows she was charged $6 for each of
>> the received SMSs. On ringing Vodafone she was told she has to text the
>> word STOP to the originating number, viz., 19966664, in order to have the
>> advertiser desist, and as far as trying to get a refund of her $36 she
>> will have to ring 1300737728 and ask them.
>>
>> Something seems wrong with this picture. Presumably Vodafone has a
>> business agreement allowing them to collect fee for service on behalf of
>> another company. It seems, then, that this company must be
>> misrepresenting
>> having provided a service, in order for Vodafone to be collecting a $6
>> fee.
>>
>> Shouldn't it be the responsibility of Vodafone to go after the scammer?
>
> No
>
>
Voda's 19966664 scam 
Linear Mode
