Rating: Watchdog still hasn’t learnt how to bite, though
Usually when you put out a Press release on 22nd December [2011] at 5.45 pm which says it has an “embargo 00.01 am 27 December 2011″, then the issuer is definitely trying to bury some news. (See here). PhonepayPlus did this very thing but try as hard as we could, we couldn’t see anything in the information which needed to be hidden. But – and this is a big but – the regulator is still displaying a remarkable lack of courage in trying to control the industry is has been put in charge of. Basically that’s the Premium Rate SMS sector. Now, it’s very laudable that PhonepayPlus has sponsored the PhoneBrain social enterprise competition challenges for 11 – 19 year olds. The finalists will present their ideas in January to a panel of industry experts at ITV’s London headquarters. ITV, eh? Isn’t that the TV company which perpetrated some of the worse cases of premium rate fraud (here). Yup, it is. Who’s the compere? Gary Glitter?What really concerns GoMo News is that most viruses which afflict mobile phones at present are based around PRS fraud.
We know that Paul Whiteing, PhonepayPlus’ CEO, has promised to act against this kind of scam here, but we haven’t seen any real evidence that strong measures are being put into place.
Our advice for 2012 is to install a decent smartphone security app on the new handset you just got for Xmas right now.
The should be able to catch such viruses.
Many of these apps are free and if you search for these companies: – Trend, AVG, Microsoft [don't laugh], Kaspersky, McAfee, Bullguard, F-Secure, Sophos, Avast! and Symantec, then you should be able to find one.
As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus memorably used to say in Hill Street Blues: – “Hey, let’s be careful out there.”
The PPP (PhonePay Plus) scam – the fines it collects are used to fund its business @ £4 million per annum. It therefore has a vested interest in keeping scammers. Half of its budget is reliant on finning companies the other half is from operators. Without scammers they would be out of business. Record fines have been given – most probably well deserved but I’m sure that’s not the case in all instances. I guess its Xmas and they want to through a lavish party as they have fined in excess of £2.7 million this year alone – whereas Ofcom for the whole of the telecommunication industry fined £200,000.
My point is the fines should go back to the government or to the consumer. Not a bunch regulators who think they can do no wrong & cannot be scrutinised.