topic Charged £4.50 a week subscription to zapwin in Pay Monthly

Charged £4.50 a week subscription to zapwin

ChrisSawyer — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 21:53:14 GMT

I'm on a pay monthly contract with o2 and I just recieved this text :
FreeMsg: Thank you for subscribing to www.zapwin.com for £4.50 every week from Wahoo Limited until you text STOP to 83463. HELP? 03300538652

At first right I'd say it was a scam and to ignore, but after reading up a bit, I'm seeing people are actually being charged for similar things.
I've not subscribed to anything or even heard of the website so obviously I really don't fancy getting charged. Is this real and if so, how do I stop charges (if I go to text the number it says I'll be charged for texting it so, no).
Thanks for your help,
Chris

Re: Charged £4.50 a week subscription to zapwin

MI5 — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 21:57:32 GMT

@ChrisSawyer help here https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/How-to-Guides/Have-you-fallen-for-or-been-conned-into-a-premium-rate-scam-What/ba-p/968023 and https://payforitsucks.co.uk/

and our community petition here https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-and-Feedback/Premium-rate-services-petition-to-O2/td-p/1188385/highlight/false

Re: Charged £4.50 a week subscription to zapwin

Payforit_Sucks — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 20:04:24 GMT

@ChrisSawyer

Zapwin is a 'Payforit' scam operated by a company called Wahoo Ltd and using shortcode 83463.

These companies use vulnerabilities of the 'Payforit' system to obtain consumers numbers and sign them up to bogus subscriptions. Simply closing an innocent looking popup can pass your number to these scammers.

O2 appear to have a policy of not helping members affected by these scams, so you will have to take action yourself to stop the charges and obtain a refund.

Sending a STOP ALL text to 83463 should stop further charges. You can then call them on 03300538652 to insist on a FULL refund. You can also call Tap2Bill (who handled the payment) on 0333 003 0599 or email them at customer.service<at>tap2bill.com. The address of Wahoo Ltd is Wahoo London, 124 Cromwell Road, Kensington, London, SW7 4ET.

'Payforit' charges are applied directly to your account by a 'third party' which has acquired your phone number. O2 make no check that you have consented to these charges. You can ask O2 to place a ‘charge to bill’ bar on your account, which will protect you from further ‘Payforit’ scams. However, be aware that his is a blunt instrument and will also stop other third party charges such as donating to charity and voting in TV competitions

You need to be aware that O2 leak your phone number to third parties when you access the internet using mobile data, and this is probably how your number was acquired in order to make these charges. The system which does this is called 'Payforit'.

Comprehensive and independent information and advice on dealing with these scams is on the payforitsucks website. This website won't blame you for being scammed and provides constructive advice about forcing the scammers to refund. Specialist and legal support is also available through the site if you encounter difficulties. Google "payforitsucks" or follow the link to the faq in my signature. The website contains detailed advice on the steps you need to take to stop further charges, obtain a refund and protect yourself from these scams in the future.

I hope you manage to resolve this matter. These scams are a disgrace to the mobile communications industry and O2 should be doing more to assist affected customers and to protect them from these scams.

Paul

Re: Charged £4.50 a week subscription to zapwin

Pal — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 11:39:12 GMT

Cheers for the info Paul. Just got hit by this myself. Went from a pop up that I closed to an instant text. Can't believe that this company has been in action for several years!