Text Spam Scam: Service provider fined by telephone watchdog

United Kingdom

ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, has fined Polo Limited £15,000 and barred access to its premium rate text service for a year. Polo Limited was sending text spam to mobile phone users stating that they had won a "£150 prize". The text referred to the user as a "valued customer", which ICSTIS found inferred that the text had come from the users' network provider. The text invited recipients to text a premium rate number but did not indicate the cost or duration of that call.

Related to the above disciplinary action, and as a result of complaints received, ICSTIS has stated its concern regarding reverse billed SMS messages where users are charged for receiving text messages. When recipients respond to a text message it can trigger a premium rate call service which may result in users receiving a series of premium rate text message responses which can trigger charges of between 25p to £1.50 per message received. ICSTIS is warning premium rate service providers to ensure that they abide by the ICSTIS code of practice. Please click here for more detail.

For further information please contact David Roberts on +44(0)20 7367 3678, [email protected] or Lisa Benjamin on +44(0)20 7367 2328, [email protected].