Click and be tricked into paying R5 a day

Im sure people can calculate that winning instantly is just too good to be true...In other words, its not what it looks like
 
By looking at their written response and the steps you have to follow to sign up for this service, your ears have to be connected with a piece of string if you fall for this. Minus someone signing up on your behalf, there is nothing wrong with this?
 
There is plenty wrong with this.
It's all just deceiving BS with one goal in mind and that is to get your money.
The cellphone operators are in bed with this too, they get a cut from each transaction. In reality they should act in good faith of the customer and not even bother to have this mechanism where a third party can take your money, but they won't because they will lose money.
 
werfie said:
Minus someone signing up on your behalf, there is nothing wrong with this?
Click to expand...

This...uh....this gives me an idea to deal with people who keep calling your number or whatever.
Sign them up to multiple services and drain their airtime so they can't call you! :D
 
bboy said:
There is plenty wrong with this.
It's all just deceiving BS with one goal in mind and that is to get your money.
The cellphone operators are in bed with this too, they get a cut from each transaction. In reality they should act in good faith of the customer and not even bother to have this mechanism where a third party can take your money, but they won't because they will lose money.
Click to expand...

+1

Spot on. As long as Vodascum, Yellowscum and Cell C get their cut, they have no incentive to stop this.

Every account holder should be able to completely block these services from being activated at all. As an option when signing up contracts. Also, customers should be able to to this online on mtn active, vodacom portal, etc Customers should also be able to see what services they're subscribed to.
 
Hans Mol, another mamparra of the week. Him and all the poor innocent "ou tannies" that click on these adds that we ALL KNOW are misleading junk.
 
I'm totally shocked. I can't believe these guys get away with this. ASA should surely pick up a trend that the adverts are intended only to deceive and not to inform, and issue strict warnings.

The normal victims are not techno-savvy so they are not likely to be users of hellopeter
 
Boris Becker said:
+1

Spot on. As long as Vodascum, Yellowscum and Cell C get their cut, they have no incentive to stop this.
Click to expand...

I was the victim of such a scam. I served the web with my cellphone. They did not even have to ask for the number as they had it. I tracked the homepage of the scammer to a MTN page. But it was not the local branch of the company, it was the Australian branch that scammed me = lovely outside our court's jurisdiction.

In my mind the cellphone host who shares in the proceeds of the crime should be held just as liable.:(
 
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lexis said:
I was the victim of such a scam. I served the web with my cellphone. They did not even have to ask for the number as they had it.
Click to expand...

Can anyone on the forum confirm if this is actually possible. ie. click an ad with a smartphone and it somehow picks up your mobile no.?
 
Napalm2880 said:
Can anyone on the forum confirm if this is actually possible. ie. click an ad with a smartphone and it somehow picks up your mobile no.?
Click to expand...

doubt it, smartphones pass the same amount of info as PC's and phone number is not one of them. You must have picked it up somewhere else. I got caught with one of these I while back when sending an sms to the wrong number, think it was for results or something and I ended up scrubbing to a R20 a day download service.

Would love to know if these okes have the rights to distribute all the material they do? Might be easier to make it the Americans problem then trying to sue someone from here.
 
Napalm2880 said:
Can anyone on the forum confirm if this is actually possible. ie. click an ad with a smartphone and it somehow picks up your mobile no.?
Click to expand...

Ipwn 4 said:
doubt it, smartphones pass the same amount of info as PC's and phone number is not one of them. You must have picked it up somewhere else. I got caught with one of these I while back when sending an sms to the wrong number, think it was for results or something and I ended up scrubbing to a R20 a day download service.

Would love to know if these okes have the rights to distribute all the material they do? Might be easier to make it the Americans problem then trying to sue someone from here.
Click to expand...

Yes it does. I'm not sure how prevalent it is nowadays, but previously, especially with Nokias, the default web browser would automatically send the MSISDN (i.e. your cell number) as part of the user-agent string. I have a feeling that modern day web browsers don't do this anymore.

Jan, RPM - could we please have investigation into this, which browsers and platforms send the MSISDN, and how to turn it off, if at all possible.

Update: A bit of Googling reveals that it's actually the mobile operators who inject the MSISDN and other information into the HTTP headers, after the packets have left the mobile phone. So it's not a problem with any device manufacturer or web browser, but rather with the operators. They provide you with a connection to the internet (via 3G/EDGE/etc), know your IP address, and your cell number, and are the only ones who can provide such information.

For more info, read here: Why are websites getting your mobile-phone number?
 
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Saajid said:
Update: A bit of Googling reveals that it's actually the mobile operators who inject the MSISDN and other information into the HTTP headers, after the packets have left the mobile phone. So it's not a problem with any device manufacturer or web browser, but rather with the operators. They provide you with a connection to the internet (via 3G/EDGE/etc), know your IP address, and your cell number, and are the only ones who can provide such information.

For more info, read here: Why are websites getting your mobile-phone number?
Click to expand...

In fact aggregators (WASPS) have the ability to whitelist an IP with the MNO, and bounce the phone off a webserver on it, and since the phone is on their APN, when it connects to that IP they do (as you said Saajid) inject MSISDN into the header.

The Nokia thing was waaaaaay back, although you still find it happening in Kenya of all places.

But thats last years thinking.... Now its about cookies being sold by affiliates to link up your previously entered MSISDN with the device hitting your site... and if its a bulk message ... as in your phone all of a sardine gets an SMS with a CLICK HERE link... then they served you out of a database, in which case the link contains a pointer to your MSISDN on some database. Thus, you click you subscribe (and of course actually agreeing to the fine print)
 
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