Broadband Tech > Security > Scam and Phishbusters > [Phish] Predicto Scam: class action for unauthorized billing

[Phish] Predicto Scam: class action for unauthorized billing

From the pdf
"In a widespread industry practice little known by those outside the industry, but
known to Defendants, carriers such as Alltel routinely “recycle” so-called “dirty” telephone
numbers to their customers when they sign up for new cellular telephone service. The numbers
are “recycled” in that they were previously assigned to another person or entity. The numbers
are “dirty” in that Predicto and other content providers fail to remove the pre-existing billing obligations, as required to do under their contracts with the aggregator and/or the wireless carrier partners."

So they assign a new customer a number knowing that number comes preloaded with extra charges?
I've never heard of that practice but if true the executives who either sit around & mull ways of increasing revenue without regard to ethics or give such unethical policies the green light should be held personally responsible.
The Corporate shield should offer zero protection in matters of outright fraud.

Carriers recycle phone number after they provide the list of phone with terminated contracts to third parties like Predicto.

The 3rd party (Predicto) signs a protocol where they engage themselves to terminate any contracts attached to the cell phone numbers listed by Alltel, Verizon, Sprint, ATT, T-Mobile, etc...

As you can read in the cour document, Predicto ignored the rules established in this protocol and bill new subscribers who never passed any contract with Predicto (or get scammed).

Predicto never cleared the cell-phone number from old attached contracts and use these old contracts to bill the new customers.

There is a double scam: the basic subscriber scam and the investor scam as Predicto claims that they are leader in the paid service cell phone market with 1.8 Millions subscribers.

Once we count the unused cell-numbers, the people who got scammed and who don't know (because they didn't check their bills), the people who asked Predicto to stop billing and still get billed how many still remain in this market segment.

Investor are misled by figures and get scammed too. This business is all built on air.

But what is shameful is to see kids and old people scammed by predators like Predicto.

reply to Snowy

reply to john_sf

reply to Snowy

quote:

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"An increasing number of consumers are choosing to use their cell phone to access information and stay updated on the latest news and current events" stated Eyal Yechezkell, CEO and co-founder of Predicto. "We are delighted by the continued growth of the Predicto community and will continue to look for additional ways to engage and entertain consumers on their mobile devices."

About Predicto
Predicto Mobile has established itself as one of the most sought after text message services providing live feeds and information for people and the media to discover what the country really thinks about pop culture and current events. Predicto is a privately owned company headquartered in New York. Follow the company's updates on the Predicto Twitter page and latest videos at Predicto TV.

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quote:

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NextWeb Media

»www.nextwebmedia.com/company

Eyal Yechezkell, Co-founder & CEO
Itai Kathein, Co-founder & President

We're NextWeb Media and since 1999 we've been building a proprietary subscription-based network one exciting service at a time. Utilizing management's extensive marketing skills, the company has developed a market leading network of websites with some of the highest converting offers online reaching millions of Americans every month. Our innovative team consists of a variety of specialized talents including direct marketers, copywriters, programmers, graphic designers, and customer support representatives.

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reply to Snowy

reply to john_sf
Thank you for your contributions!
Eyal Yezchekelly, Predicto Mobile CEO already helped to found another company called Email Discount Network (EDN) and guess what?
EDN was sued in Florida, Washington State, and Georgia for the same type of scam Predicto is spreading today.
See Washington State Office settlement agreement (EDN)
»www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?id=14424
See Georgia Settlements (EDN)
»www.lawyersandsettlements.com/se···ng.html#
Georgia Subscriber Refunds
»www.georgia.gov/00/article/0,208···,00.html
See state State of Florida complaint:
»myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/···aint.pdf
See Predicto Mobile CEO on YouTube (the guy will appear in the middle of this interview):

We are sorry to hear about your experience. Please be aware that we at PredictoMobile take customer satisfaction very seriously and would like to address any concerns you may have. You can call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-360-0518 so that we can resolve your inquiry; you can also contact our customer service at »predicto.com/support or by sending an SMS message with the word ”HELP” to 654654. Keep in mind, we post our toll-free customer service number on our website and include it in SMS messages we send to your cell phone.

Please note we use an industry best practice double opt-in to prevent inadvertent or fraudulent sign-ups. To enroll in our service, a prospective member must first submit their cell phone number on the PredictoMobile sign-up page which clearly explains our terms and conditions including the monthly price of the service and billing to the cell phone. We then send a text message to their cell phone which again discloses the essential membership terms. They then must correctly enter the PIN on our website or reply with a confirmation SMS message from their cell phone to activate the account. The double opt-in process and clear disclosures ensures a high level of consumer protection and satisfaction. If a member wants to cancel the service, they can simply text “stop” to 654654 or call Customer Service or go to »predicto.com/support.

We hope this addresses any concerns you may have; if not please contact us and we’ll take care of your issues.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
PredictoMobile

reply to john_sf
Looks like boilerplate to me. The wording is remarkably similar to that of the 12-12-2008 post.

And the phrase "double opt in" is a telltale sign you might be dealing with a spammer or scammer. Only they use such a phrase.

The correct term, BTW, is confirmed opt in.
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"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they are very sophisticated idiots." - Doctor Who (from Robot)

reply to john_sf
that double opt-in is an excuse IMO. I saw wireless card accounts that had predicto (and other) subscriptions on them. there's no possible way for a wireless card to sign up for anything

the double opt-in statement is more like a catchall to CYA
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