Posts by Mike

Premium-rate industry pushes into class

PPP in our schools: "must do better"

What's particular funny here is that PhonePayPlus's "innovative new schools programme" includes a "case study" of one "ALEXANDER AMOSU – LORD OF THE RINGTONES" in which PP+ write (without trace of irony):

"Alexander Amosu is one of Britain’s most successful young entrepreneurs and a leading figure in the mobile entertainment industry. He launched one of the first ringtone phone-paid service companies in the UK in 1999 and made his first million at the age of 25.

Growing up on a north London council estate, Alexander Amosu learned earlier than most that there were two ways to get what you want in life. 'You either stole it, or you found a way of paying for it.' "

Now Mr Amosu has been mentioned before by PP+. In March 2001, ICSTIS (PP+ under old name) fined Mr Alexander Amosu £1,000 and warned him about his future conduct after several breaches of their code of conduct.

So if Mr Amosu is held up as a shining example and role model for young kids by PP+, God protect us from the other PRS entrepreneurs who even PP+ admits are a bit dodgy.

Skype ignores PayPal siphoning hijack scheme

attempted transfer of funds from PP a/c to another Skype user

I discovered that two (unsuccessful) attempts were made to transfer funds from my PayPal account to someone else's Skype account. Why they were thwarted is not clear. There are two withdrawals and two refunds in my PP statement. Needless to say, both PP and Skype have been totally unhelpful, though they have told me that my account was compromised in some way. BTW, I have no arrangement set up to transfer funds from PP to Skype in my own name.

I have certainly not been phished and there is no malware on my computer. I have changed my passwords at Skype and PP to be on the safe side.

It is, of course, always a good idea to use strong passwords and different passwords on related accounts - although the article suggests that someone has found a way round this.

Be careful out there in cyberspace.

attempted trransfer of funds from PP a/c to another Skype user

I discovered that two (unsuccessful) attempts were made to transfer funds from my PayPal account to someone else's Skype account. Why they were thwarted is not clear. There are two withdrawals and two refunds in my PP statement. Needless to say, both PP and Skype have been totally unhelpful, though they have told me that my account was compromised in some way. BTW, I have no arrangement set up to transfer funds from PP to Skype in my own name.

I have certainly not been phished and there is no malware on my computer. I have changed my passwords at Skype and PP to be on the safe side.

It is, iof course, always a good idea to use strong passwords and different passwords on related accounts - although the attached account suggests that someone has found a way round this.

Be careful out there in cyberspace.

Phone watchdog plans text spam clampdown

"I'm a bit ahead of our board on this,"

Said George Kidd

This is, of course, the board that currently contains four premium rate crooks. Thank goodness kidding George is not "a bit behind them".

But what do the board actually do? They sit around a table listening to Sir Ali G "proactively leveraging his pre-emptive synergies" and telling us that he has had a vision (hallucination?) that we can trust PRS.

The people actually responsible for doing stuff about PRS are the executive - led, funnily enough by George Kidd.

He failed to act (until forced by media pressure) on the rogue dialler epidemic; ditto for the "crazy frog" epidemic; ditto for the TV based PRS scams; and omplaints to PhonePayPlus have just gone up by 40%.

If George really wished to stop premium rate crime, he could do this now by introducing a few simple measures (including some of the ideas mentioned here; double opt in; reverse charge SMS blocking; reporting criminals to the police and so on). The fact that he has refused point blank to implement these simple and essential measures over many years is, ipso facto, proof that George has no intention whatsoever of cleaning up this industry - only in continuing to "reduce the appearance" of unregulated theft and fraud.

Close PayPhonePlus down now and set up a new branch of Ofcom dedicated to actually putting in place the measures required to prevent premium rate scams.