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AT&T, Verizon, Jawa Make Millions From SMS Scams?
Party Could Come To An End For Scottsdale Company

Earlier this month Verizon sued a company by the name of Jawa and twenty other related shell companies all run by a man named Jason Hope. According to Verizon, Hope has been engaged in an elaborate string of text messaging schemes for more than a year. The schemes, according to Verizon, involved the forced sale of frequently useless SMS services, covered up by what Verizon calls "sophisticated cloaking software" to misdirect auditors to shell websites compliant with Verizon's consumer protection and disclosure policies. Jawa and Hope meanwhile claim Verizon knew about this all along and took 30% of profits:

quote:
Click for full size
In a counterclaim, Jawa said that its business practices follow industry standards and are not fraudulent and that Verizon is working to ruin its business by cutting off all sources of its funding. "Verizon has willingly accepted and retained the profits over the last four years from what it now describes as a 'criminal enterprise' even though, during this time, it audited these practices," the claim, filed Monday, stated.
The blog AZ Disruptors has been tracking Hope and Jawa's methodology, and created this interesting video that explains precisely what Jawa's doing. Specifically -- users receive an SMS telling them to "Text back STOP if you don't want to subscribe." Most smart users ignore this message thinking it's a scam -- but in this case ignoring the message ensures you enroll in the scam service and are charged $10 a month. The blog notes that Hope is busily building a 100,000 square foot home in Scottsdale off of the profits made the last four years.

As AZ Disruptor notes, wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon might not be trying particularly hard to put a stop to these scams, given they soak up 30-50% of the profits made. The blog calls AT&T to see why they can't put a stop to such practices, and is told (at minute 4:00) that AT&T has no ability to stop these scams from happening, and that AT&T doesn't profit -- neither of which is true.

Many regulators appear to be napping through this entire affair, though the state of Texas has also sued Jawa, placing a temporary restraining order against the company. While it's very likely Verizon filed suit to shift blame only after the company's exploits started being investigated by Texas regulators, they've at least set up a website intended to provide refunds to Jawa scam victims. Hamid Shojaee at the AZ Disruptors blog is asking all the right questions, and has a series of posts on the subject that are all worth reading. One amusing thing we noticed: CEO Jason Hope's old luxury car blog URL, which highlighted his acquisition of Lamborghinis, now directs users to his philanthropy work.

Update: AT&T has sent us this statement in response to this story:
quote:
We are aware of the alleged scheme outlined in the Verizon lawsuit, and we have retained a nationally recognized cyber fraud expert team to investigate JAWA to determine as quickly and effectively as possible whether or not the allegations are accurate. JAWA has agreed to cooperate by allowing these independent investigators full access to data and records. In the interim, we have suspended the short codes identified in the complaint, and have identified and suspended additional related short codes.
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BlueC
join:2009-11-26
Minneapolis, MN

BlueC

Member

Sounds like a mess

Why am I not surprised...

TwighlightLA
Premium Member
join:2010-07-03

TwighlightLA

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

As a Verizon subscriber several months ago I started getting unsolicited text messages from a company other than Verizon offering me the opportunity to sign up for premium text messaging plans for $9.99 per month. To enroll all I had to do was just punch in "Y" and it reply. I would sometimes get a couple a day for two or three days in a row. They have gradually decreased to being all most non-existent. I always simply erased them without replying.

I called Verizon when I got the first blitz of texts. They removed the charges after I explained about them. Surprisingly the first CS rep at Verizon advised me to just reply no. I pointed out in general whether you are talking computers or cellular phone clicking on a "link" isn't the best idea. He replied, yeah that makes sense.

Now when I occasionally get these texts I still just erase them. I don't call Verizon because the 60 cents or whatever charge isn't worth my time and effort to call and deal with the CS menu and conversation with a rep explaining the issue.

An interesting side note is that I've never sent a text in my life to anyone, anywhere at anytime. So these scammers got my number how?

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by TwighlightLA See Profile
An interesting side note is that I've never sent a text in my life to anyone, anywhere at anytime. So these scammers got my number how?
[/BQUOTE :

This is why I have text/sms disabled on my phone. I'll pay a flat rate for data... but not txt.


TwighlightLA
Premium Member
join:2010-07-03

TwighlightLA

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

Yes, I hear you and for many people that is an excellent idea or suggestion. (Verizon suggested it.) However, I like to get free helpful info text messages from Verizon on my phone when I travel to Mexico. I also like to get their occasional promo offers--some are actually pretty good or at least worth considering.

Finally, all though it may only be once every couple of months someone I know may send me a text. I wouldn't keep the texting capability just for that but primarily in view of the paragraph info above and to a lesser degree I may NEED or want to sent a text someday...well...

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by TwighlightLA:

Yes, I hear you and for many people that is an excellent idea or suggestion. (Verizon suggested it.)

You don't block text messages you block being able to be billed for what these scammers hustle.

I got a bill with the $9.99 charge on it that is when I had "premium" SMS "services" blocked. If that blogger from "AZ Disruptor" is such a hot-shot why did it take him over a year to notice the charge on his bill. This is why interweb blogs are not worth the paper they are printed on.

TwighlightLA
Premium Member
join:2010-07-03

TwighlightLA

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by batterup:

You don't block text messages you block being able to be billed for what these scammers hustle.

I got a bill with the $9.99 charge on it that is when I had "premium" SMS "services" blocked. If that blogger from "AZ Disruptor" is such a hot-shot why did it take him over a year to notice the charge on his bill. This is why interweb blogs are not worth the paper they are printed on.

Despite the fact I have a smartphone/multimedia phone I don't access the web or email or send texts. I am somewhat of a neophyte on the technology and features of said phones. However, all though I don't access the web I have two apps, Contact backups and City ID, one of which, perhaps both may have to communicate with "mother" for updates and so forth.

I do get some texts, all of which are fine I want to receive, all that is except for the unsolicited "buy our text messages service for $9.99 per month" from a third party, not Verizon.

So I don't understand you post, probably because of my lack of understanding of cellular technology and features.

Doesn't blocking text/SMS block my ability to send or receive texts? I don't want to interfere with the operation of contacts backup and city ID. I want the ability to receive texts as I like the texts Verizon and on rare occasions a friend sends me. Less important but to some degree I want the freedom to send texts. I DO NOT want unsolicited texts from some stranger company I've never dealt with trying to get me to buy their products. That's my whole deal.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by TwighlightLA:

Doesn't blocking text/SMS block my ability to send or receive texts?

No what you are blocking is being able to buy ring tones and wall paper type crap and have it billed to your account not your ability to text or use the browser.

This should not have to be and opt-out but an opt-in but sadly The Phone Companies make big money billing for these clowns.

I got the charge on my bill and called Verizon to ask what it was. When I found out it was for ring tones and wall paper I told them I did not order it. The rep started giving me a hard time until I informed her that I had a data modem plan with no voice or phone so ring tones and wall paper were of no use to me. She then shut up and took it off my bill.

So sad a great company that was the first to hear the sound of the beginning of the universe is reduced to hustling ring tones to kids.

TwighlightLA
Premium Member
join:2010-07-03

TwighlightLA

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by batterup:

No what you are blocking is being able to buy ring tones and wall paper type crap and have it billed to your account not your ability to text or use the browser.

This should not have to be and opt-out but an opt-in but sadly The Phone Companies make big money billing for these clowns.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It is good stuff to know. But its not a problem or issue with me, never has been.

As noted my problem was strictly limited to receiving unsolicited texts from third parties trying to sell me a texting service. So even if I chose to implement what you describe it would not be a benefit to me.

wes
join:2004-10-20
Marietta, GA

wes to TwighlightLA

Member

to TwighlightLA
Remember, though: Scamming scumbags are relying on a million subscribers to not care about "just that one dollar".

We don't want to encourage that kind of behaviour.

TwighlightLA
Premium Member
join:2010-07-03

TwighlightLA

Premium Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

said by wes:

Remember, though: Scamming scumbags are relying on a million subscribers to not care about "just that one dollar".

We don't want to encourage that kind of behaviour.

Which is why initially I reported it in detail to Verizon and got the charges dropped. Plus one other time I called for something else and while I had them on the phone reported as well as one time at the Verizon store.

My name is TwighlightLA, not Wyatt Earp. I'm not trying to clean up Tomstone!

wes
join:2004-10-20
Marietta, GA

wes

Member

Re: Sounds like a mess

hee hee: Fair enough!
Mercifully, I don't get many unsolicited texts.

I guess short of becoming a sort of digital Wyatt Earp, you're still doing your part by sharing your story. Thanks!

Anon Y Mouse
@cox.net

Anon Y Mouse to wes

Anon

to wes
A lot of people like me don't even get to see their bills. My cell phone bill is handled by my company's IT group. A penny here and a penny there and pretty soon you are talking large amounts of money.

Subscribing to a service should be a proper process like switching carriers with a third party verification.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild to TwighlightLA

Premium Member

to TwighlightLA
said by TwighlightLA:

An interesting side note is that I've never sent a text in my life to anyone, anywhere at anytime. So these scammers got my number how?

You know there in on it all the way, I've offered suggestions that we should be able to block area codes seeing as most spam text messages come from a few select area codes...I suppose this makes too much logical sense to eliminate a bulk of spam and will cut into the 'oops' cash cow
mgamer20o0
join:2003-12-01
Norwalk, CA

mgamer20o0 to TwighlightLA

Member

to TwighlightLA
happened with my dads verizon account. he hardly uses his phone never texted anyone but out of the blue $10 fees started popping on up. fight like crazy to get it removed its such a scam. any of these things it should take a call from verizon asking you if agree to opt in.

its bad enough when you have to deal with the scaming verizon sales office, crap like this makes it worse.

Harddrive
Proud American and Infidel since 1968.
Premium Member
join:2000-09-20
Fort Worth, TX

Harddrive

Premium Member

JAWA...

Just Another Worthless App.
It's pretty amazing that Verizon Wireless played along for 4 years, taking 30% of the $9.99, until the Texas Attorney General started looking into JAWA.
rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO

rradina

Member

Re: JAWA...

In their defense, they must sell a lot of services sold this way and that means there's a high level of "background noise" above which you have to rise before becoming significant.

What's troubling is that this is a pure scam and over four years there had to be a ton of subscriber complaints and commensurate refunds. This can only mean one of two things:

1) Services sold this way are often disputed by subscribers therefore once again creating a lot of "background noise" above which you have to rise before becoming significant.

2) Verizon recognized the high degree of refunds/complaints and balanced that with the number of subscribers that DID NOT COMPLAIN (and the profit they made) and chose not to act.

Either way this situation points to a weakness in the text message services model. Without a text message from the subscriber to the service's registered text number, the system should be setup so that it's impossible to allow third-party charges to be added to your bill.

It still doesn't solve the scam because they could still send you a text message saying "Text STOP to NOT be charged" and then charge you anyway but at least it would not be possible for them to broadcast a text and start charging folks who IGNORE the message (or never get due to network/phone issues!). Quite frankly the fact that such a scam is possible (and probably STILL POSSIBLE) is ridiculous and beyond belief. Any SANE organization would recognize the possibility for fraud and NEVER design such a possibility into their system.

In an era where Best Buy wants to see my driver's license for a $25 credit card transaction, it's amazing how LOOSE communication companies are with their billing practices.

This is the kind of crap that makes me pause when these companies bitch about regulations. This is like drivers who bitch about red light cameras all while thinking green mean go fast, yellow means go faster and red means stop. Well, we wouldn't need cameras if folks didn't run red lights and cause accidents! We also wouldn't need regulation if companies took their head out of their ass and realized that blatant FRAUD is never acceptable.

The other thing that's ridiculous is if they get 30% for billing, that's a scam in and of itself. In an era where retailers are actively lobbying to get the government to regulate credit card transaction charges (which aren't ANYWHERE NEAR 30%!!!!), who thinks 30% is SANE. Being allowed to charge that much for billing is FAR TOO TEMPTING and it's why this kind of CRAP exists in the first place!

It never ceases to amaze me just how fubar'ed people are when it comes to making money. I love capitalism but why is there ALWAYS an element in our society that take it too far.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Another Reason to Use Google Voice

Why pay for texting? Just block it and use Google Voice. Even if you're unfortunate enough to get caught in scams like these, you won't pay anything for them.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

said by pnh102:

Why pay for texting? Just block it and use Google Voice. Even if you're unfortunate enough to get caught in scams like these, you won't pay anything for them.

I do that. However, Google voice has some glass ceiling where you will get blocked from sending any more texts for the day/month (I believe) if you send more than an unspecified number of texts.

I'm an infrequent texter so it doesn't bother me but I can see some people hitting the limit pretty easily.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

said by fifty nine:

I do that. However, Google voice has some glass ceiling where you will get blocked from sending any more texts for the day/month (I believe) if you send more than an unspecified number of texts.

Do you have a source for that? I would say my wife sends/gets about 100 to 200 texts a month via Google Voice and she has yet to run into such a problem. Either that or any limit is higher than that.

Even if Google Voice caps texting, it is still a far better deal than any offering from any wireless plan, and if I am paying for data anyway, I sure as heck am not going to pay extra for texting.

Dragasoni
We're All Mad Here
Premium Member
join:2001-12-14
Palm Bay, FL

Dragasoni

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

100 to 200 texts a month? LOL! I average between 3,000 and 4,000 a month, so I have no choice but to use an unlimited plan through my provider.

-Dragasoni-

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

said by Dragasoni:

100 to 200 texts a month? LOL! I average between 3,000 and 4,000 a month, so I have no choice but to use an unlimited plan through my provider.

Why?

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

jap

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

said by pnh102:

Why?

He's a scam contractor for Jawa.

Dragasoni
We're All Mad Here
Premium Member
join:2001-12-14
Palm Bay, FL

Dragasoni to pnh102

Premium Member

to pnh102
It just adds up. For example, the thread between my wife and I hit 1,000 messages after just 5 days, and that's just her.

By contrast, I use about 200 total minutes a month on phone. I'm a big texter and a small talker

I'm not really sure how I got into this habit. It's just easier for me and more discreet to send text messages rather than be on the phone. I mainly text my wife, a bunch of my friends, and my sister. But now my dad has the iPhone and he's learning to text, so I text him too. I'm trying to get my mom to try, but she wants no part of it.

-Dragasoni-

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

I mean, why go with an unlimited texting plan when you can just get an unlimited data plan and use Google Voice to text all you want for free? At the very least, you get more for your money that way.

For me, I refuse to pay for texting on principle. I know it costs the provider 0, and I know that from a technical perspective there is nothing to them. I simply cannot bring myself to pay for that.

Dragasoni
We're All Mad Here
Premium Member
join:2001-12-14
Palm Bay, FL

Dragasoni

Premium Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

Because, I get unlimited data, unlimited text, and 300 minutes for $25 a month.

-Dragasoni-
informpage
Never Be Satisfied
join:2003-07-09
Forest Hills, NY

informpage

Member

Re: Another Reason to Use Google Voice

Except when someone sends you a text message. They could easily send it as an email, but just like they could scan a paper instead of faxing it, people do what's easiest for them.
informpage

informpage to Dragasoni

Member

to Dragasoni
Except when someone sends you a picture text. Not that they couldn't send it as an email, but they don't, just like people fax instead of attaching a scan. They do what's easiest.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList to pnh102

Premium Member

to pnh102
said by pnh102:

said by fifty nine:

I do that. However, Google voice has some glass ceiling where you will get blocked from sending any more texts for the day/month (I believe) if you send more than an unspecified number of texts.

Do you have a source for that? I would say my wife sends/gets about 100 to 200 texts a month via Google Voice and she has yet to run into such a problem. Either that or any limit is higher than that.

Even if Google Voice caps texting, it is still a far better deal than any offering from any wireless plan, and if I am paying for data anyway, I sure as heck am not going to pay extra for texting.

»www.google.com/support/v ··· r=115116

at the bottom.

it doesn't say what the limit is, but there is a limit.
SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

SunnyD to fifty nine

Member

to fifty nine
I've been putting in probably 30-50 texts PER DAY over the last few weeks with GV to my wife who's been out of town. I've had no sort of service interruption.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

text messaging it's self is a scam

Sending a text message should cost the sender less than a penny.

It should cost the receiver nothing.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: text messaging it's self is a scam

said by b10010011:

Sending a text message should cost the sender less than a penny.

It should cost the receiver nothing.

1 second of a voice call is ~60 test messages
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

Re: text messaging it's self is a scam

said by patcat88:

said by b10010011:

Sending a text message should cost the sender less than a penny.

It should cost the receiver nothing.

1 second of a voice call is ~60 test messages

Not on my plan...

One text message sent and received (I have to pay both ways) cost more than a minute of talking.

No, I am not going to pay for unlimited text or data.
Chahk4
join:2003-12-11
Brooklyn, NY

Chahk4 to b10010011

Member

to b10010011
Text messages cost the carriers absolutely NOTHING! There is a reason why 160 characters is the limit - that is the size of the handshake packet between your phone and the cell tower, on which the SMS is being delivered. In other words, there is no overhead for SMS since it's is using the overhead in the first place.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to b10010011

Member

to b10010011
said by b10010011:

Sending a text message should cost the sender less than a penny.

Even a penny is too high. A full text message is 160 bytes. Even if you go by Verizon's and at&t's data overage charges of $10 per GB ( which is joke in of itself ) for 1 penny you should be able to send or receive 7000 text messages.
expert007
join:2006-01-10
Buffalo, NY

expert007

Member

Unfriggin believable

What is really unfortunate is that when (not IF) this is exposed, the wireless providers will settle for pennies on the dollar. I'm going to pull up all of my AT&T bills now to check...I've recently gotten these STOP messages.

••••

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

1 recommendation

rit56

Member

A bit off topic but appropiate

Seeing how Verizon and AT&T have gladly profited from this do you really trust AT&T to use their own meters to track broadband usage? It's needs to be regulated by the government just like all other utilities....... they will overcharge their customers until caught red handed and even then they will continue to do so...

•••••••

minidu
Premium Member
join:2002-09-28
Cheboygan, MI

minidu

Premium Member

My bill got hit

My mother's phone which has texting disabled by AT&T had a charge show up from one of these scams when an at&t sales idiot turned off the text messaging block.

I called up and read them the riot act, and demanded that it be removed and the text block go back on.

I can't see paying for a text plan for a 71 year old woman, who doesn't know how to read or send them.

I personally hate text messaging, the only reason I pay for it on my phone is because I have idiot friends that will send a text regardless of what I tell them, and there are rare occasions it is nice to send a "I'll call you back" message when I ignore a call.
drzewo
join:2001-08-22
Cary, NC

drzewo

Member

Re: My bill got hit

Completely agree with you. I'm not a cane-shaker yelling at the whippersnappers from my front porch, but I still prefer to use the phone to talk--not text. My friends do not understand this and still text me although I get billed per item. I will not be roped into getting an "enhanced" texting plan.

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI
GL.iNet GL-B1300
Netgear CM500

mix

Member

Never trust a Jawa!

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· qnINyLXM

DanH
@comcast.net

DanH

Anon

Had to pull the plug

After several go-rounds with AT&T we had to cancel all SMS function on my wife's account. She has never played an online video game in her entire life, but she kept getting auto-slammed into $10/month game cheat "tips" by one of these scammers and no amount of arguing with AT&T or using their blockers would stop it, so we got them to disable SMS, period.

It would be so easy for the carriers to stop this, but they want that 30%.
olegy
join:2003-06-02
San Diego, CA

olegy

Member

T-Mobile spams you as well

One time, a few years ago, I have stopped to use T-Mobile prepaid, just because of sms spam. As soon as I activated a new prepaid account and placed $25 to it (and nobody knew my new number, but T-Mobile) I started to receive numerous sms messages. It drained my $25 prepaid account within a few days. There is (was) no way to opt-out of SMS on prepaid.

•••
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Verizon also allows land line customers to be scamed!

My Cousin was in a horrific accident and wound up in the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I guess he was unaware that the following was the policy regarding Television and Telephone Service.

"Telephone and Television

Television and telephone service in patient rooms must be activated to use. To activate this service, call 7-8732 and follow the voice prompts. A one-time activation charge of $1.25 and then a charge of $4 per day will be assessed to your home telephone bill or a credit card. This charge includes cable television. The maximum charge is for 18 days per admission. If you have any problems with the phone, please call Patient Relations at 412-647-7615."

He wound up with a bill for over $250.00 Crammed onto his telephone bill. The television and telephone service CRAM is run by a private company that handles the hospitals telephone and television system. When a Verizon Representative told his sister that they would disconnect my cousins home telephone service if he did not pay CRAMED portion of the bill. That is not true. I set up a conference call with my cousins sister and Verizon and after grilling them they admitted that they could not disconnect his telephone service if he paid for his basic telephone service and not the CRAMED charges which is what he did. I advised his sister to file a complaint with the Pennsylvania PSC and I am still waiting for the result of that complaint. The scam is, why send an unpaid bill for hospital telephone service to a collection agency, just CRAM it onto the patients telephone bill.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Verizon also allows land line customers to be scamed!

Wow, that is horrible. Talk about kicking someone when they are down. They should have some sort of bulk cable system that's included in the cost of being a patient there and receiving the appropriate medical care. It's not like it costs a lot to deliver 30-50 popular channels on cable...
keason
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Ann Arbor, MI

keason

Premium Member

MetroPCS has the best policy

They permit premium SMS but don't allow 3rd part billing charging.

Sprint will let you cancel premium SMS, but that also means you can't use Google SMS. You can use normal phone-phone SMS

What do the other carriers do?
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

This is all a scam

None of the carriers should allow text billing unless it is to a verified non-profit, like Red Cross. There is just no reason to have text billing other than for a scam or Red Cross or similar donations.
ArizonaSteve
join:2004-01-31
Apache Junction, AZ

ArizonaSteve

Member

Cricket "broadband" Spams Too.

In January I tried what Cricket calls "broadband". Their dialer or connection manager has a lot of extra features such as the ability to send and receive SMS messages and soon as I activated the service SPAM messages started coming in and there's no way to stop them. They don't cost anyting extra since it's prepaid at $30/mo but were just annoying. The Cricket "broadband" didn't work but a few days though before it got too slow to use for anything and I shut it off so I don't know if any of the spammers tried to charge me for anything or not.
mrexcelion
join:2008-08-06

mrexcelion

Member

T-Mobile Prepaid

Was a victim of this as well just 2 days ago. Got charged 9.99 so there was insufficient funds to refill my account, and I was left without service. Here is the process I went through for those with T-Mobile Pre-paid, hope it helps:

1) Call 611
2) Use the voice prompts for 'Refill your Account' and 'I have a question about a previous refill' and you'll speak to a representative
3) Make sure you have your 4-digit pin on hand. If you don't remember ever creating one, you can do so from the main menu by saying 'Change Pin'
4) The representative I spoke to saw that there was a charge for a '3rd Party Download' of 9.99. I had indeed received a txt msg similar to the one in the news story, and had suspected this to be the cause. He gave me the credit back, reset my minutes, and blocked all 3rd party downloads from the phone.

I highly recommend that anyone calling in for this also get all 3rd party downloads blocked. That's really the only solution they seemed to have for stopping stuff like this in the future.
mgamer20o0
join:2003-12-01
Norwalk, CA

mgamer20o0

Member

Re: T-Mobile Prepaid

said by mrexcelion:

Was a victim of this as well just 2 days ago. Got charged 9.99 so there was insufficient funds to refill my account, and I was left without service. Here is the process I went through for those with T-Mobile Pre-paid, hope it helps:

1) Call 611
2) Use the voice prompts for 'Refill your Account' and 'I have a question about a previous refill' and you'll speak to a representative
3) Make sure you have your 4-digit pin on hand. If you don't remember ever creating one, you can do so from the main menu by saying 'Change Pin'
4) The representative I spoke to saw that there was a charge for a '3rd Party Download' of 9.99. I had indeed received a txt msg similar to the one in the news story, and had suspected this to be the cause. He gave me the credit back, reset my minutes, and blocked all 3rd party downloads from the phone.

I highly recommend that anyone calling in for this also get all 3rd party downloads blocked. That's really the only solution they seemed to have for stopping stuff like this in the future.

not always just because they say they did it doesnt mean they did. had several times called up to get it blocked with verizon yet still showed up. i dont trust them at all.