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Premium rate services petition to O2

MI5
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EE have introduced a 2!step verification process for premium rate services. 

Vodafone allow customers full control within the My Vodafone app. 

O2 currently do nothing and many thousands of customers are scammed out of a lot of money every month. 

What will you do O2!to keep up with the competition and protect your customers or are you happy to take a cut and leave customers exposed?

if you want to add your voice to this, please comment below. 

Over to you, O2 ?

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.

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MI5
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@Gelphyn cancelling your direct debit isn't wise as you will end up with a ruined credit score.

We always suggest you call customer services to discuss these issues but if you follow the advice on the Payforit Sucks website you should also be able to stop the charges and obtain a refund .

Some help links https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/How-to-Guides/Have-you-fallen-for-or-been-conned-into-a-premium-rate-s... and https://payforitsucks.co.uk/

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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MI5
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*Yawn*
Another week of being ignored........
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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Payforit_Sucks
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@Gelphyn wrote:

On Feb 10 2019, 09:57:54 AM I spoke to Akshay about charges made to my O2 Pay Monthly Account.

I have the full Transcript of the conversation if needed.

O2 claim I have made 'In App' purchases.

Akshay set up a Block on similar purchases being made.

Akshay also advised that it would be escalated to a higher level of Customer Support and to expect contact from them within 10 Days.

Eleven [11] days have passed with no contact from O2.

Reviewing my Account it has again been charged for purchases identical the the previous scenario.

The charges have now doubled.

I set a a Chat just now got underway until my cards were placed on the table, surprise surprise 'Our System has gone down'.

I intend to cancell my Direct Debit

Luck has it a very much reduced cost offer crossed my path this morning. Guess what!

 

No thanks O2 up U


@Gelphyn

 

Be careful here. O2 could trash your credit score over  few pounds and it just isn't worth it. Fight back in other ways. There are many ways to do this. The charge is not lawful unless your consent to it can be proved. It can't. Unfortunately, although the law is on your side, because the money has affectively already been taken, YOU will have to take action to get it back.

 

Pay the bill as requested, write to O2 clearly stating that you believe it was fraudulent and that it shouldn't have been paid. Draw their attention to the transcript of your chat with them, and the fact that a further charge occurred after that chat.

If possible get a deadlock letter ( a letter saying that you and O2 have exhausted discussioons on the matter and stating clearly that they are refusing to refund). Then send them a letter before action, stating that you hold them responsible for your losses and intend to use the Small Claims procedure to recover them.

In the event that O2 don't pay at that stage, get help through the payforitsucks website to prepare your claim and then proceed to file a claim using Moneyclaim Online. It will cost £25 to file your claim, which can be added to the amount claimed. I don't believe that these charges will hold up in court, or that a court will accept O2's excuse that they are nothing to do with them.

Consumers who fight back don't just get their money back, they put a further nail in to the coffin of these outrageous scams.

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

@Gelphyn

 

Be careful here. O2 could trash your credit score over  few pounds and it just isn't worth it. ...............

 

I really appreciate your points and have previously reported that my inital anger was tamed by such comments. After discussions with O2 I have my PAC and await a Refund. On the 26 February 2019 the outcome will be known and I will report appropriately.

 

Perhaps someone can answer the questions raised:

According to O2 apparently I made 'In App' purchases that created the Extra Charges levied.

The only App running on my iPhone that O2 have any control over is the MyO2.app.

If I go to it now it will require my PIN to be entered.

I enter my PIN and it will advise me that it has expired, and so I should Login and set a New PIN.

In fact I have never used this App at anytime other than to set the original PIN.

My assumption was that this App was an alternative to using the Mac to access My O2 via a web page.

The latter is the only means I have ever used to access My O2 simply because it is easier to use IMO. 

 

1. Is this App fundamentally different to the Web Based My O2?

 

2. Is there the possibility of 'Purchasing Games' in this App?

 

3. If that is possible would some form of notification/advice note/ or other document be issued to cover the purchase?

 

4. O2 are extracting the funds via my O2 Account and so MUST have information regarding the alledged Vendor, in my case this is Finite Inc Global on 28 Jan; 04 Feb; 11 Feb; 18 Feb 2019: each for Games £4.50 each = Total £18.00. Is there a Listing of ALL the offending 'Vendors' and are there verifications that they exist and are Traders of some sort?

 

5. On 10 Feb, one day prior to the alledged second purchase, O2 'blocked' purchases from hapening but the invoice was already in the system. To be in the system on the 10 Feb the latest possible date for that invoice would have been 10 Feb because my complaint, on the 10 Feb, was regarding an Extra Charge of £9.00. Can anyone explain this or is my reasoning adrift?

 

Best regards,

G

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zombiebait
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I have had 2 of these now they terrify me if I'm honest, I even had cloned tax office number call me with recorded msgs threatening to send me to jail and a warrant was out for my arrest if I did not call and pay. Obviously I did not call but o2 will not even block numbers that are fraudsters so on my phone all I can do is add them to contacts, send straight to voicemail and deactivate my voicemail.

These payforit texts are really starting to freak me out now though

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gmarkj
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In app purchases are just that @Gelphyn - you buy something within an app and the charge appears on your bill.
These could be for any app, not just an o2 one.

Please note, this is not customer services and we cannot access your account. Do not publish personal details (email, phone number, bank account).


Link to our guide on how to contact them can be found here

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Payforit_Sucks
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@Gelphyn

 

After a bit of research, I don't believe that these are charges from In-App purchases. The fact that you are being charges weekly, and the amount is £4.50 lead me to believe that they are Payforit subscription charges. Furthermore Finite Inc Global operate such a service called Jammitup which has generated similar complaints in the past.

One of the (many) problems with Payforit is that it is very complex with many different parties involved. This allows each party to deflect complaints to another. The O2 staff seem pretty clueless and frequently give incorrect information.

 

You should have received text messages telling you about the charges. These will probably have come from a shortcode number 83463. You may have blocked, deleted or ignored them as they can look a bit like spam. The txt messages wil probably tell you to ext STOP to 83463 to stop the subscription.

 

Under the Payforit rules, you first have to discuss your issue with Finite Inc Global.

 

The PSA hold the following information about the Jammitup service:

 

Customer care number

0330 053 5838

Customer care email

info@jammitup.com

Customer care website

http://m.uk.jammitup.com/#/personalisation3

Search result provided by

Abacus Synergy Ltd

Service connected on

21 June 2018

Service terminated on

This service is still operating

Name of service

Jammitup

Type of service

Abacus Synergy Ltd has not provided this information

Service description

Abacus Synergy Ltd has not provided this information

How much does this service cost?

Abacus Synergy Ltd has not provided this information

If you would like to find out more about this service or have a question about it, then you should contact the service provider below.

Abacus Synergy Ltd
Abacus Synergy
27 Old Gloucester Street,
London
WC1N 3AX

 

Note that the company operating the service is listed as Abacus Synergy. However your text says it is Finite Inc Global. Companies House lists both companies with the same address. The names of the directors can also be found there.

 

I suggest that you call 0330 053 5838 to disuss your charges. Ask for an email confirming the discussion. Better still record it. Then you will have the evidence you need to escalate your complaint to O2.

 

Given tat the customer services agent seems to have wrongly advised that these are In-App purchases, it is also likely that they failed to apply the correct bar. You need a "charge to bill" bar. This will protect you from further scams of the same type. However it will not stop your current subscription. You should have been told to send a STOP text or phone Finite Inc Global to do that.

 

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'.

 

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.

 

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 

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Gelphyn
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@gmarkj wrote:
In app purchases are just that @Gelphyn - you buy something within an app and the charge appears on your bill.
These could be for any app, not just an o2 one.

I do not think Apple would let ANYBODY or ANYTHING steal their income, the APP Provider offers a service to both Provider of the Product the Purchaser of the Product. The resulting Proceeds of the Transaction are split by prearragemnt between the App Provider and the Product Provider, and these funds are collected from the Purchasers Account held by the App Provider.

You seem to be suggesting that O2 have some means of circumnavigating arrangements that have been set up properly in a legally binding manner between consenting parties.

The only legal obligation to O2 that I have is to pay for the Services that they provide on a Monthly basis.

Unless they can offer proof that the MyO2.app offers the facility for ' probably a mass of Developers/Sellers/Vendors/Providers/or whatever to Sell their Wares through the MyO2.app and that there are Complete Records of each Transaction they are clearly not being truthful.

By 'Complete Records' I mean not just someones seemingly random insertion of alledged purchases into O2 Accounts but every thing involved down to the minute timing of all the events.

Probably not many affected will be able to remember precicely what they did or did not do on a certain date? In the case of my alledged purchase on the 18 February 2019 I was very busy with timed events using only the Stagecoach.app. [Bus Timetables] My 'free' time was spent spent on my Mac wrestling with minor irritations with Password Managers. I could not have inadvertently triggered MyO2.app because it would have required setting up a New PIN etc, although I only learned that later.

 

This Thread is hopefully helping to fully uncover an attempt to part a lot of people from their money.

I urge everyone affected to pitch in every shred of information they have on the subject, if necessary interjecting with correcting or supporting input as appropriate.

I want to see the 'screws' tightened down on this particular coffin rather than using just nails. 

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Anonymous
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The myo2 app is to view your account & to add bolt on’s If needed. You only get pop ups or payforit scams likely via using the web based version
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Gelphyn
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@Payforit_Sucks wrote:

@Gelphyn

 

After a bit of research, I don't believe that these are charges from In-App purchases. ...........

 

Paul 


Sorry I recieved your message while ploughing through my post above.

 

Thank you very much for providing very detailed information that hopefully will be useful to many affected by this situation.

Of particular interest was the 'ext STOP 83463' that is recorded in a Chat with O2, they obviously know about it but either cannot or will not communicate the facts in a manner that the unwary can immediately understand.

 

I am now awaiting the message tellling me that my Mobile number no longer seerviced by O2.

This Thread is set to update me on new posts and I will chip in with the final outcome from O2.

I will fully support this Community attempt to stop these events occuring in future.

 

Sincere thanks for your knowledgeable input Paul and for taking so much of your time to share.

 

Very best wishes,

 

G

 

As I have agreed Temination of my Account with O2

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