Comments on: Mediterranean Cruise Scam http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/ nice of you to drop by. tea? Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:21:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-hemorrhage hourly 1 By: JohnnyFox http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-268438 JohnnyFox Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:52:22 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-268438 I've had a ICSTIS letter, too, although not about Cruise Connection. The wording is so remarkably similar to your own announcing that the perpetrator had been fined that I think this is also possibly a scam/placebo for irritated victims of telemarketing trickery. I’ve had a ICSTIS letter, too, although not about Cruise Connection. The wording is so remarkably similar to your own announcing that the perpetrator had been fined that I think this is also possibly a scam/placebo for irritated victims of telemarketing trickery.

]]> By: Jane Thomson http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-55545 Jane Thomson Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:59:46 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-55545 There are all sorts of rules against this. If you need to contact anyone from a premium rate service, they must offer an alternative form of contact such as a normal landline or an address to write to. These people are not payed for 6-8 weeks after the call is made. They must state at the beginning of a call what the likely cost will be. But you must all know that you won't win a prize if you haven't entered a competition. And you must have seen enough warnings about premium rate services over the years to know that the call costs up to £1.50 per minute and are mostly scams - unless they are used to pay for a service. The reason these scams prosper and flourish is because people are daft enough to fall for them. If that guy made thousands of calls and nobody called him back, he'd soon give up - or have his 'phone cut off. Don't whinge or ask for rules to be tightened. The rules are very strict as it is - and rightly so. Just be wary of offers that are "too good to be true". Read newspapers, watch consumer programmes or type "scam" into Google and you'll find out all the latest ones to avoid. The authorities can't catch every new scammer - particularly not ones from abroad - so YOU have to be wary. There are all sorts of rules against this. If you need to contact anyone from a premium rate service, they must offer an alternative form of contact such as a normal landline or an address to write to.

These people are not payed for 6-8 weeks after the call is made.

They must state at the beginning of a call what the likely cost will be.

But you must all know that you won’t win a prize if you haven’t entered a competition. And you must have seen enough warnings about premium rate services over the years to know that the call costs up to £1.50 per minute and are mostly scams - unless they are used to pay for a service. The reason these scams prosper and flourish is because people are daft enough to fall for them.

If that guy made thousands of calls and nobody called him back, he’d soon give up - or have his ‘phone cut off.

Don’t whinge or ask for rules to be tightened. The rules are very strict as it is - and rightly so. Just be wary of offers that are “too good to be true”. Read newspapers, watch consumer programmes or type “scam” into Google and you’ll find out all the latest ones to avoid.

The authorities can’t catch every new scammer - particularly not ones from abroad - so YOU have to be wary.

]]> By: john http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-1772 john Mon, 14 Feb 2005 19:56:08 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-1772 my teenage son has recently received an unsolicited letter advising "Congratulations Winner". To claim his prize of a holiday in Ayia Napa he has to phone a premium rate line 090 6120 5656 ! The competituion operator is R.A.I. Regent Street London. I have ascertained that the address is merely a mail collection box. The company behind R.A.I. are Consumer First Marketing ltd 70/72 North St Bedminster Bristol BS3 1HJ. What I fail to understand is the ease with which these premium rate scams are set up, and the ineffectiveness of the Regulator in stemming these squalid scam merchants. my teenage son has recently received an unsolicited letter advising “Congratulations Winner”. To claim his prize of a holiday in Ayia Napa he has to phone a premium rate line 090 6120 5656 ! The competituion operator is R.A.I. Regent Street London. I have ascertained that the address is merely a mail collection box. The company behind R.A.I. are Consumer First Marketing ltd 70/72 North St Bedminster Bristol BS3 1HJ. What I fail to understand is the ease with which these premium rate scams are set up, and the ineffectiveness of the Regulator in stemming these squalid scam merchants.

]]> By: lawrence Perry http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-38 lawrence Perry Sun, 17 Oct 2004 15:24:19 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-38 I had the same message today at 1321 Sunday 17 October 2004 stating that I had won a return ticket to New York by Cannard Lines and telling me to ring 09061250050. I listened to the message thinking it was on 1571 call minder and pressed 2 to hear it again. I now relize that it is not on call minder. I live in Greater London, UK I had the same message today at 1321 Sunday 17 October 2004 stating that I had won a return ticket to New York by Cannard Lines and telling me to ring 09061250050. I listened to the message thinking it was on 1571 call minder and pressed 2 to hear it again. I now relize that it is not on call minder.
I live in Greater London, UK

]]> By: Norman http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-37 Norman Thu, 14 Oct 2004 12:08:15 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-37 We have found some details about this premium rate number: Name: Competition Type: Telephone Cost: £1.50 Per Minute Period: 01/09/2004 onwards Description: Competition line promoted via unsolicited telephone call, offering a cruise or £1000 cash. Notes: This service is under investigation by ICSTIS. Here are the details of the service provider responsible for this number: Consumer First Marketing Ltd 70 - 72 North Street Bedminster Bristol Quote (http://www.crikey.com.au/whistleblower/2003/03/28-junkfaxes.html): A search of the UK phone book does not give a number for National Enquiries. I made a quick call to Chop Suey House at 64 North St Bristol BS3 1HJ (0011 44 1179 669 166). The proprietor stated that the building at 70-72 North St was a former bank and was locked. Another call to Compassionate Friends at 53 North St BS3 1EN (0011 44 1179 539 639) confirmed these facts. As yet, I haven't made contact with The Art of Tattoo Time at 88 North St Bristol. --- Dodgy... We have found some details about this premium rate number:
Name: Competition
Type: Telephone
Cost: £1.50 Per Minute
Period: 01/09/2004 onwards

Description:
Competition line promoted via unsolicited telephone call, offering a cruise or £1000 cash.

Notes:
This service is under investigation by ICSTIS.

Here are the details of the service provider responsible for this number:

Consumer First Marketing Ltd
70 - 72 North Street
Bedminster
Bristol

Quote (http://www.crikey.com.au/whistleblower/2003/03/28-junkfaxes.html):
A search of the UK phone book does not give a number for National Enquiries. I made a quick call to Chop Suey House at 64 North St Bristol BS3 1HJ (0011 44 1179 669 166). The proprietor stated that the building at 70-72 North St was a former bank and was locked. Another call to Compassionate Friends at 53 North St BS3 1EN (0011 44 1179 539 639) confirmed these facts. As yet, I haven’t made contact with The Art of Tattoo Time at 88 North St Bristol.

—
Dodgy…

]]> By: Jon East http://boakes.org/cruise-connection/#comment-10 Jon East Sun, 12 Sep 2004 09:56:07 +0000 http://boakes.org/cruise-connection#comment-10 I think I'm the person that spoke to Rory just before you did - it was at about half-past twelve. He also gave me a reference number (154475, just one less than yours) and said that customer services would call me back on Monday. I've also filed an ICSTIS complaint on the Web. Dialling 1471 gave me 'no number is stored' as opposed to 'caller withheld their number', so I'm glad that you got a number back (unless it's spoofed, of course). I want these people stopped, too. It really should be possible, if there are only 70 companies in the UK issuing premium rate numbers in the UK, for the regulator to tell them that it should always be a contractual term that scams such as this should not be allowed on their numbers, and that there should be a system in place in each company to immediately call the buyer when a complaint is received, and shut down their numbers if there is no satisfactory response. It should also be a contractual term that the number-purchaser becomes liable for all costs incurred by the number-vendor in investigating the issue, if ICSTIS subsequently determines a scam to have taken place, and that the number-purchaser will not receive any of the proceeds from the numbers. This would reduce the natural corporate inertia which limits the number-vendor's interest in investigating their own customer, and provide some incentive to do so. There should also be a delay of at least two weeks between the numbers first being made active and payment for calls being made to the number-purchaser. In the age of the Net, information on such scams will hopefully be posted and become Googleable within a week or so, as in this case. This would prevent the number-purchaser getting paid before they are discovered. I think I’m the person that spoke to Rory just before you did - it was at about half-past twelve. He also gave me a reference number (154475, just one less than yours) and said that customer services would call me back on Monday. I’ve also filed an ICSTIS complaint on the Web. Dialling 1471 gave me ‘no number is stored’ as opposed to ‘caller withheld their number’, so I’m glad that you got a number back (unless it’s spoofed, of course).

I want these people stopped, too. It really should be possible, if there are only 70 companies in the UK issuing premium rate numbers in the UK, for the regulator to tell them that it should always be a contractual term that scams such as this should not be allowed on their numbers, and that there should be a system in place in each company to immediately call the buyer when a complaint is received, and shut down their numbers if there is no satisfactory response. It should also be a contractual term that the number-purchaser becomes liable for all costs incurred by the number-vendor in investigating the issue, if ICSTIS subsequently determines a scam to have taken place, and that the number-purchaser will not receive any of the proceeds from the numbers. This would reduce the natural corporate inertia which limits the number-vendor’s interest in investigating their own customer, and provide some incentive to do so.

There should also be a delay of at least two weeks between the numbers first being made active and payment for calls being made to the number-purchaser. In the age of the Net, information on such scams will hopefully be posted and become Googleable within a week or so, as in this case. This would prevent the number-purchaser getting paid before they are discovered.

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