Proof that Vodacom is facilitating SCAM transactions.
Here's irrefutable proof that Vodacom is sharing your mobile number with certain websites in order to facilitate scam transactions.
The transaction themselves appear to be hidden behind what seems at first to be an innocuous advert offering some form of assistance, for example "Your cellphone has a virus, click for help", "Your cell is too slow? Improve browsing here!", etc...
Whilst visiting various forums I have noticed these types of ads. Here's an example of the process followed all the way through:
Advert
Page2 after clicking on the advert
Page 3, after clicking on "Test cell speed"
The 3rd page whilst appearing fine at first, has been specifically designed to hide the terms and conditions
you are indirectly agreeing to if you click on "CONTINUE TO TEST".
If you don't scroll down you won't see this:
And just to prove that your number is being shared I clicked on this final link.
Immediately (within a few seconds), I received this SMS, confirming my subscription to Bempix:
Welcome:Bempix Click 2 Start
http://bzm.tv/s/60ad753572 Pass:61am1cmk
[email protected] subscription service R7/Day unsub sms stop to 43035 help:0105002341
Naturally I immediately unsubscribed, and here's the follow up SMS response:
You have unsubscribed from Bempix. We're sorry to see you go. Here's a gift of 5 Credits, click to claim
http://bzm.tv/ec/17/60ad753572 [email protected]
Clearly this type of behavior skirts in the area of fraudulence:
as none of the advertised services offered in the 3 pages were ultimately provided, and at no point was I asked to acknowledge that by clicking a button to "test my speed" actually meant that I wanted to subscribe to a paid "social" website (the real intentions were of course hidden from view; you have to scroll to see these).
Technically inclined users would naturally tend to avoid such promises in the first place, and/or be inclined to scroll to see any subsequent bits of info on the page; average users would most likely fall for this scam without seeing the "terms and conditions".
Just to confirm:
At no point was I asked to enter my mobile number, and
at no point did I provide any of my details; they of course didn't need it as Vodacom was providing it to them,
and there was no double opt-in process.
Potentially a bigger issue:
So if they can process an automatically reoccurring transaction against my mobile number, without me typing in my number, and without any second confirmation?
What stops them from capturing your number as you surf sites where their adverts are displayed. i.e. Assuming of course that Vodacom is injecting your number for their URLs; basically an advert served from their website would also have access to your number, and an unscrupulous company like the example above could process transactions without consent.
BTW here's what Vodacom said in this article about this practice:
Vodacom said that Vodacom disabled MSISDN forwarding almost 2 years ago. “The only way to subscribe via any one of the carriers (e.g. SMS, WAP, USSD) is to complete a double opt-in process,” Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman said.
To sign up for WAP services via mobile, said Boorman, the customer has to enter their mobile number into the WAP gateway for the WASP.
“We then check that against the MSISDN of the phone being used to make sure that nobody is able to randomly sign someone else up for services. If the two numbers don’t match then the subscription process stops,” Vodacom said.
Boorman added that they are not aware of problems related to MSISDN swapping, but will be happy to investigate it if they are provided details about this.
Don't you think we need Vodacom's response on this?
I know from some of the WASPS
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