5 men have gone to jail for setting up a £4.5m international premium rate phoneline fraud.

The gang set up international premium rate numbers which they called using mobile phone sim cards, they had obtained using false identities.

Southwark Crown Court were told the gang obtained stolen identities to purchase mobile phone Sim cards which were then [...]]]>

5 men have gone to jail for setting up a £4.5m international premium rate phoneline fraud.

The gang set up international premium rate numbers which they called using mobile phone sim cards, they had obtained using false identities.

Southwark Crown Court were told the gang obtained stolen identities to purchase mobile phone Sim cards which were then sent abroad.

The result of this fraud resulted in the mobile phone operator O2 suffering large financial losses.

The gang who were from Essex, London and Birmingham, received prison sentences of 18 months to 3 years after admitting conspiracy to defraud.

The gang members were identified as

• Mohammad Butt aged 42, of Claremont Road, Forest Gate, London – jailed for 3 years
• Abrar Arshad aged 35, of Oastway, Rochford, Essex – jailed for 3 years
• Abiola Salami aged 30, of Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham – jailed for 3 years
• Ade Jamesaged 25, of Suffolk Street, Queensbury, Birmingham – jailed for 18 months
• Nikhil Jamsandekar aged 33, of St George’s Road, Forest Gate, London – jailed for 18 months

On passing sentence Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC said: “This is not a victimless crime, as inevitably such huge losses are passed on in part to honest bill-paying customers. This fraud was carried out by an international gang of conspirators. Simply stated, innocent, honest individuals’ personal identities and details were dishonestly acquired along with countless mobile phone handsets and Sim cards which were dishonestly obtained.”

The premium rate phone fraud involved over 960 mobile phone Sim cards and innocent people whose identities had been stolen subsequently being sent massive phone bills.

The gang were able to get their hands on the mobile phone via corrupt courier delivery drivers.

Judge Pegden also stated that there must have been others involved in this crime, who would also be brought to justice.

“There must have been a significant number of other conspirators, especially abroad.” said the judge. “I accept none of you were at the pinnacle of the conspiracy or creator of it, but you all played significant parts enabling the conspiracy to continue and to be very, very successful.”

Commenting on the case, Detective Supt Bob Wishart of the City of London Police also stated: “This was a highly sophisticated and co-ordinated attack against the global telecoms industry by an alliance of a number of different organised crime groups that had learned to exploit technology. They co-operated in an illicit scheme to subvert previously legitimate premium rate phone services to defraud millions of pounds in a relatively short period of time before their arrest. This was a hugely complicated and unique investigation and I would like to pay particular credit to O2 for their assistance, resources and analytical expertise.”

These fines are part of a strategy by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to assist in addressing problems in the premium rate [...]]]> Two Australian premium rate phone companies – Global One Mobile Entertainment and 6G – have both received fines totalling $375,000 for false and misleading advertisements for mobile premium rate telephone services.

These fines are part of a strategy by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to assist in addressing problems in the premium rate phone industry.

In addition to the penalties, the court has ordered both premium rate phone companies to implement a compliance program to “ensure a better understanding of their rights and obligations under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010″. The Federal Court in Sydney imposed the penalties after both premium rate phone companies misled consumers into thinking they could “purchase the mobile service at a one-off cost when in fact the consumer was actually requesting access to an ongoing premium rate mobile subscription,” according to a statement from the ACCC. Global One and 6G provide mobile premium phone services including ringtones, games and quizzes.

ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel, said the matter was the latest in a string of nine successful ACCC outcomes against problematic conduct in the mobile premium rate phone industry.

“The market is changing and newer technologies may see the end of many of these services. Traders in mobile content looking to make a quick gain by misleading consumers will find themselves in court facing significant penalties,” Samuel said in a statement.

According to the ACCC, the two premium rate phone companies mislead consumers through four television advertisements broadcast on both free-to-air and pay TV. They were broadcast at times that would have attracted the younger viewer, the court found.

The subscription services promoted were through advertisements for: the One Time ringtone by Justin Bieber; entry to a quiz with a prize of $100,000; the Space Invaders mobile phone game; and The Doodle Jump mobile phone game.

In addition to imposing fines, the commission vows to continually review the MPS Code and monitor changes in the technology and their impact on consumers.

Both Global One and 6G said they will appeal the court’s decision.

Plus-Five revealed that its services are powered by the AliQuantum Gaming Platform and offer clients a complete end-to-end gaming solution that includes payment processing, customer services and marketing facilities [...]]]> Malta licensed white-label gaming services provider Plus-Five Gaming has received approval from UK premium rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus to run premium rate phone services for mobile gaming.

Plus-Five revealed that its services are powered by the AliQuantum Gaming Platform and offer clients a complete end-to-end gaming solution that includes payment processing, customer services and marketing facilities alongside full licensing.

The provider stated that the approval from PhonepayPlus means that it can now offer premium short message services (PSMS) to permit customers to deposit using text messaging in addition to many other payment methods. Plus-Five also provides a J2ME solution with over 30 games alongside another for smartphones that includes in excess of 25 titles for iPhone and Android handsets.

“With an ever-increasing interest in the mobile space, Plus-Five Gaming has taken steps to ensure that we can offer a full-service to any operator wishing to launch on mobile,” read a statement from Plus-Five.

“Plus-Five aims to be a mobile provider of choice with the largest range of mobile content available for our ‘white-label’ clients. We have already launched Playphone Riches, Bet2Go Casino, BetCirca Mobile and Ventti.com and have numerous other mobile game engine providers and new ‘white-label’ partners in the pipeline.”

Plus-Five has signed 15 white-label deals since launching 18 months ago and has a ‘similar amount’ set to go live over the next few months.

“Plus-Five is excited to have been approved by PhonepayPlus to offer PSMS services as, we know, this is one of the preferred methods of depositing for mobile customers,” said Mark Jones, Marketing and Business Development Director for Plus-Five.

“Furthermore, we are also preparing to join the new PPP registration programme when it goes fully live later this year.”

For more information visit http://www.plus-five.com/

A computer wizard who recently tapped into local residents telephone lines to then sell fraudulent credit to other people who wanted it to play computer games online has been JAILED FOR ONE YEAR.

Mr Dariusz Ganski used his expert knoweldge of computer and electronics to hack into private telephone lines and then ring premium rate phone [...]]]>

A computer wizard who recently tapped into local residents telephone lines to then sell fraudulent credit to other people who wanted it to play computer games online has been JAILED FOR ONE YEAR.

Mr Dariusz Ganski used his expert knoweldge of computer and electronics to hack into private telephone lines and then ring premium rate phone numbers.

Once Mr Ganski got hold of the special codes which gave him credit for online computer gaming websites, he then sold this credit to other games users on the internet. The result of his actions meant that massive telephone bills were charged to the original phone owners without their knowledge.

Mr Ganski’s fraud only came to the attention of the police when residents of Black Horse Hill in Easton-in-Gordano called the authorities when they noticed Mr Ganski had been parked up in a local lay by for an extremely long time.

Bristol police found Mr Ganskis van and inside he had two laptop computers and a large number of mobile phones. Mr Ganski gave the police false information about who he was and was subsequently arrested.

Police then discovered on the same day that local resident Mr Kelvin Little and Mr Mark Bott had both reported problems to British Telecom about being able to use their phone line  and broadband service.

British Telecom engineers could find no fault with the phone lines, but investigations by the billing department soon found out that both members of the public had suffered £500 in call charges for phone calls made to premium rate telephone numbers.

Mr Ganski was then re-arrested on suspicion of telephone fraud. Police then raided his house and found mobile telephones, numerouus SIM cards together with a variety of laptop computers.

At trial Mr Ganski aged 25 Kingswood of Bristol pleaded guilty to 6 charges of unlawful use of an electronic system and also a single count of obtaining electronic communication services.

Originally he had told the police that he did not have any knowledge about phone lines and had only stopped in the lay becuase his car had broken down. A British Telecom investigation actually found out that nad been hacking tapping into phonelines to ring premium rate telephone numbers to obtain codes & obtain credit for internet gaming websites, which he then sold onto other innocent online individuals.

Bristol court also were told that Mr Ganski also had a previous conviction for wiring his home up to the national grid to obtain free electricity.

In addition to the one year prison sentence, the judge also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of Mr Ganski’s computers & mobile telephones.

The new Code of Practice replaces many prescriptive service-specific rules [...]]]> The UK premium rate telecom regulator – PhonepayPlus today issued a public consultation on the Guidance for networks and premium rate service (PRS) providers that will support compliance with the regulator’s new Code of Practice when it comes into force in 2011.

The new Code of Practice replaces many prescriptive service-specific rules with simplified outcomes designed to allow consumers to use premium rates services with confidence. The proposed Guidance in this consultation aims to give support to networks and PRS providers throughout the value chain in achieving these outcomes. The Guidance is not mandatory on providers, but given it is subject to full industry consultation, it will be considered the best practice method of compliance with the Code of Practice. Networks and providers who choose to comply with the Code in different ways should ensure they are able to demonstrate how their chosen approach was designed to ensure compliance.

The proposed suite of Guidance in this consultation represents a consolidation and rationalisation of current Guidance. Service-specific rules in the current Code have been incorporated into Service-Specific Guidance. Statements of Expectation and a significant number of Help Notes have been reviewed and amalgamated into General Guidance. This has reduced the number of Guidance documents to just over 20 from almost 50. We aim to publish the Guidance as cross-referenced, web-based documents.

We have also comprehensively reviewed current Guidance and developed new Guidance wherever necessary to support the objectives of the new Code.

As well as questions about the general style and clarity of Guidance, we seek responses in this consultation to specific question, including those on:

• due diligence and risk control,
• promotions and the ‘freemium’ model of PRS,
• exiting a service and the provision of software that can identify mistaken ‘STOP’ commands, and
• subscription services and initiation messages.

The consultation is open for responses from 27 October 2010 and closes on 19 January 2011 (12 weeks from the date of issue of this document).

To view details of the consultation, please click here.

Payforit is a form of payment mechanism for WAP and web users.

In the early morning operation, nine addresses were [...]]]> Police in the City Of London have today made a series of arrests across the United Kingdom as part of an investigation into a criminal network suspected of stealing millions of pounds by using fraudulently purchased SIM cards to dial international premium rate phone numbers.

In the early morning operation, nine addresses were targeted across London, Essex, the West Midlands and Middlesbrough. Eight men and one woman were arrested, aged 42, 34, 32, 32, 28, 26, 22, 21 and 18 on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.

Officers also seized up to £15,000 worth of mobile phones, found still in the boxes with the SIMs removed, along with hundreds of SIM cards, thousands of pounds, laptops and computers and fake documents.

In one property they also found ‘advanced fee’ fraud letters, prepared to try and con people out of their savings with the promise of a much bigger prize.

Detectives from the City of London Police, which is the National Lead Force for fraud, worked in partnership with O2 after the mobile phone network noticed customers’ phone lines running up massive bills.

A nationwide investigation uncovered an elaborate and expansive fraud that began with an organised crime gang utilising fake identities and counterfeit accounts to buy phones operating on the 02 network.

The gang purchased the phones from high street shops and online before passing them to the person detectives believe to have been the mastermind behind the whole operation.

The next phase of the fraud saw the SIM cards from the phones being used 24/7 to call international premium rate telephone numbers, some costing up to £10 a minute, set-up by the same criminal gang.

Telecommunication regulation in some international destinations means the UK network providers must pay the providers of a phone service before they receive money from their own customers.

This meant the gang’s multi-million pound phone bill from the premium rate calls was paid, and only when O2 approached their ‘customers’ for payment was the fraud uncovered.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishart, from the City of London Police, said:

“Today we have struck at the very heart of a complex criminal network that has been targeting the telecommunications industry to steal millions of pounds.”

“Our investigation found a crime gathering momentum. Each month more SIM cards were being used to make more phone calls to premium rate lines at more expense to the network provider.”

“The criminal exploitation of the latest consumer technology is a recurring theme of our work. Our collaboration with O2 on this investigation highlights the benefits of how the private sector can work with the police to proactively target common threats to our communities.”

Adrian Goreham, O2′s General Manager Fraud & Security said:

“This was a sophisticated and organised attempt to defraud mobile phone operators. We are committed to reducing mobile phone crime and have a dedicated team that monitors and investigates such attempted criminal activity. We are extremely pleased that our own investigation and the information we have shared with the City of London Police has resulted in these arrests”.

For more information – visit the City Of London Police website http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/

This statement follows a review of Multi-Party Chat in 2009 and the public consultation published on 31 March 2010. The main changes are:

· [...]]]> PhonepayPlus has today issued a statement in response to its Multi-Party Chat (Chatline) consultation, as well as published a Multi-Party Chat (MPC) Prior Permission Notice.

This statement follows a review of Multi-Party Chat in 2009 and the public consultation published on 31 March 2010. The main changes are:

· Providers of MPC services will no longer be required to obtain the caller’s address prior to allowing them to participate in MPC services, or state that all calls will be recorded and details passed to the regulator where appropriate.
· The maximum tariff per minute for MPC services will increase from 60p per minute to £1.50 per minute.
· Successful applicants will be allowed to operate adult MPC services.
· MPC services will be allowed to transfer consumers to other services (although not where it is possible to access adult chat or IVR through a service which has advertised itself as being non-adult) provided this transfer remains part of the same call (with the same spend limit).
· MPC services will no longer be required operate on the 09059 prefix.
· The requirement for MPC providers to pay into a Compensation Fund will be removed, although the requirement for them to pay a security bond will remain.

Anyone wishing to operate a MPC service going forward will need to seek prior permission from PhonepayPlus.

Please click here to view PhonepayPlus’ final statement following consultation and the Multi-Party Chat Prior Permission Notice.

PhonepayPlus received a complaint regarding the number 070 99837507.

PhonepayPlus monitored the service and established that calls to this 070 number were being routed through to a live adult (sexual) 1-2-1 chat service belonging to a different, unrelated company called Livelines UK Limited (an established live entertainment provider known to PhonepayPlus).

During the course of its investigation, PhonepayPlus contacted Livelines UK Limited and it denied using the 070 number. Furthermore, PhonepayPlus was informed by the Service Provider that the 070 number in question had been set up for its client, Daniel Hill trading as ‘Blue Track’ (the Information Provider), as a reseller and that it had recently discovered that the number was being routed through to an adult service. As such, the Information Provider was depriving Livelines UK Limited of its revenue in relation to its adult services by channelling traffic through the 070 number in question.

The Executive recognised that the service was not on the designated number range for adult service and that the Information Provider did not have Prior Permission to operate such a live 1-2-1 chat service.

The Executive believed that the Information Provider had contravened the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice 11^thEdition Amended April 2008 (‘the Code’) and, therefore, raised the following potential breaches of the Code:

• Paragraph 3.3.1 – Designated number range
• Paragraph 6.1.1 – Prior Permission

The Tribunal upheld each of the breaches raised. The revenue generated by the service fell within the upper range of Band 5 (£5,000 to £50,000). The Tribunal considered the case to be serious, issued a Formal Reprimand and imposed a fine of £45,000.

Administrative Costs awarded: 100%