Four premium rate 070 phone number providers are under investigation, following complaints by the public that the phone number providers had been using underhand measures to prompt consumers to unknowingly call 070 premium rate numbers.

PhonePayPlus, the regulator for premium rate service provider, says it has launched four separate emergency procedure investigations against H. Naveneeth, K. Felix J. Paul, T. Jaya Kandan and Mr Jaswinder Singh following complaints from the public that indicated that the service providers' misuse of 070 premium rate phone numbers was seriously breaching the PhonePayPlus code of practice.

What is 070?
Phone numbers starting 070 can easily be mistaken for mobile phone numbers, which also start 07. However, in reality phone numbers that start 070 are charged at a premium rate.

In the case of this PhonePayPlus investigation, the four premium rate number services are charged at 50 pence per call, plus 3.95 pence per minute at all times from landlines, and potentially considerably more from mobile phones.

How the 070 premium rate scam works
The complaints about the 070 premium rate scam relate to consumers receiving missed calls to both landlines and mobiles from 070 prefixed numbers. These calls are terminated after one ring which prompts the consumers to call back the premium rate 070 number, believing it to be a genuine missed call.

Depending on the premium rate phone service under investigation, consumers have reported hearing a continuing recording of a ringing tone, or have been connected to a voicemail messaging facility, upon callback. In each case, consumers have been charged at a premium rate from the commencement of the ringing tone heard.

PhonePayPlus concerns
The premium rate regulator believes that each of the premium rate scams may breach its code of practice in several ways.

Due to the very serious nature of the alleged breaches of its premium rate code of practice, PhonepayPlus has invoked its emergency procedure to bar access to phone numbers associated with the four 070 premium rate services with immediate effect.

The bar on access applies to all phone numbers on which the four premium rate services have been operating. In addition, all revenues payable to the four service providers have been withheld by their individual network operator pending the outcome of the investigation.

Say no to 070
A PhonePayPlus news release relating to the 070 premium rate scam investigation states that: 'PhonepayPlus is concerned about the volume of calls made to members of the public.

'PhonepayPlus believes that the services in question offer no value to consumers and that the use of emergency procedure is necessary to promptly remedy the apparent harm to consumers.'

News Date: 2008-12-14