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Scam J1 Media please be aware

Stein-o-mite
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Hello

Recently I noticed I was being charged £4.50 per week on my O2 bill by a “company” that call themselves ‘J1 Media’. After googling them and finding not much info other than threads on forums of people warning of this said scam. I spoke to o2 help online chat and they could see it was a scam, basically from pop-ups on the internet. I hadn’t clicked anything or more importantly not entered any of my details to anything. I was given various blocked or dead numbers to call and an e mail. On emailing I was put into contact with a David Flood who I found is listed on HMRC as “director” of J1 Media so when I saw this I was 100% convinced this was bogus! After him denying me a refund I called him out and now he has backtracked.

Has anyone else had this? O2 are very aware of this scam and on looking on the internet, I can summise that this company has a few pseudonyms to hide under.
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Merlion
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I've also recently fallen victim to David Flood, director of M1 Media Ltd mobile 83463 scam costing me a total of £162 because I've not checked my O2 bill since the first charge appeared on 23rd March 2018! To my horror, I've neglected to check each month's bill until last week. 

 

His scam must be on an industrial scale because I was advised by O2 to text STOP to mobile 83463 when reporting this to them. O2 immediately gave me all the company contact details including business telephone number, company name and website reference before I emailed contact@J1media.net to claim a refund of the charges. David Flood replied from his email david@J1media.net and acknowledged the cancellation of the charges on 21st Dec 2018 but refused to return the total charges (£162) since 23 Mar 2018. He also produced a string of my actions below showing I had accepted his scam:

"I can see that the user of the service has:
 - Clicked an advertising banner (which contained the service cost)
 - Clicked a further 3 buttons consenting to the charges
 - Been sent the cost of the service when you signed-up (by SMS)
 - Been sent regular reminders that they were subscribed to the service (every month by SMS)
 - Been given the opportunity to cancel the service at any time (every month by SMS)"

 

He had failed to provide any evidence supporting those allegations and replied with the following email:

"Thank you for your email.  Please request your solicitor to contact me directly and I will forward correspondence on to our solicitor.

 
Kind regards,
David
J1 Media Customer Care
0330 058 2628
 
He is obviously trying to scare me off by this strongarm tactics. This convinced me of issuing a county court summons against him as detailed in your entry. Thank you.
 
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Rob7
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Managed to catch it within minutes of it happening and got in touch with o2 customer support. Will be reporting it to ico, but I'd strongly suggest that you report it on www.actionfraud.police.uk. I've just done so and it's free. Unless this individual is listed he'll move onto the next thing.

 

Rob

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RichG61
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I have had same issue. With £18 being taken from my account for a Learn German app I never subscribed to. Reported it to O2 who advised i send stop message to 83463 and call J1 Media 'customer service' on 033005538774 - only to get curt recorded message "all services related to that mobile number have now been cancelled" before being cut off. I have emailed David Flood who is the sole director of J1 Media (registered office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3AX) via David@j1media.net informing him I will be taking further action unless i get a full refund and compensation within 7 days. Lots of optons including ICO, small claims court etc. O2 tell me they will also pursue company for refund and advise me of outcome in 5 days.

This is criminal activity which needs to be stopped. It looks like lots of people have been victims of this scam meaning all those £18 fees will add up to a not insignificant number.

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MI5
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@RichG61 you can join in with our petition here https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-and-Feedback/Premium-rate-services-petition-to-O2/td-p/118...

I have no affiliation whatsoever with O2 or any subsidiary companies. Comments posted are entirely of my own opinion. This is not Customer Service so we are unable to help with account specific issues.

Currently using:
Pixel 7a (O2 & Lyca), One Plus 6 (Sfr), iPhone 12 Pro Max (Vodafone)
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J1MediaSCAM
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Just found out J1 media have stolen £495 from me via O2. Im suing........

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Cleoriff
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@J1MediaSCAM 

Have a look at this website https://payforitsucks.co.uk/

Veritas Numquam Perit

Girl in a jacket
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Payforit_Sucks
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@J1MediaSCAM wrote:

Just found out J1 media have stolen £495 from me via O2. Im suing........


I've been told that J1Media are now looking to defend these cases. Don't let that put you off suing though. Make sure you send "letter before action" and follow the pre-action protocol as described on the Payforitsucks website. We can help with preparing your case if J1Media choose to defend.

 

 

 

Phone payment scam? Need independent advice? Payforit Faq for O2 Customers
 
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Payforit_Sucks
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@J1MediaSCAM wrote:

Just found out J1 media have stolen £495 from me via O2. Im suing........


@J1MediaSCAM  I'm currently dealing with a case like yours where a large amount of money was taken. J1 Media are defending the case (not very well!). Was your case defended? Did you get your money back?

Phone payment scam? Need independent advice? Payforit Faq for O2 Customers
 
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Payforit_Sucks
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Post 16 of this thread suggests the use of Moneyclaim Online to recover money stolen as  result of Payforit scams like those operated by J1 Media.

 

There are some serious dangers in this approach. The Small Claims procedure lays down a pre-action protocol which should be followed by both parties to a dispute prior to the filing of a claim. A failure to follow the pre-action protocol can put you at a serious disadvantage should the case be defended as is now happening with J1 Media.

 

I've recently had to give advice in two cases where legal action has been started against J1 Media following the advice in this thread. Both those cases are in danger of being lost because the necessary steps prior to filing a claim were not followed.

 

It is essential that, prior to starting a claim, you send a "letter before action" to the defendant outlining your dispute, and asking them for a resolution. This letter should allow them at least two weeks to respond. You need to be able to prove to the court that the letter was received by the defendant.

 

Legal action should be a last resort. The courts take a dim view of litigants that have made no effort to resolve their disputes prior to filing a claim.

 

Most companies will pay a full refund on receipt of a letter before action, voiding the hassle and costs associated with legal action. You may be offered ADR. It does no harm to accept this. It is not legally binding and you can still use the Small Claims court if you are unable to agree. So far, nearly all these cases have been settled out of court in the claimants favour. If a case does end up in a hearing, the claimant puts themselves at a disadvantage if they have failed to follow the correct procedures.

 

A template letter before action is here.

 

Phone payment scam? Need independent advice? Payforit Faq for O2 Customers
 
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jonsie
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