In the event that you always find yourself with the phone credit running out even after making a top-up or if you find yourself paying an unusually higher amount than usual on your mobile phone bill, a subscription service that is climbing money may be active every week. In fact, there are more and more cases of people who found these weekly subscriptions active without realizing it, completely scammed by a few clicks or some links that activated this paid service without being asked for it .
This type of services, which are real legalized scams, are like computer viruses that are activated on the mobile number only by clicking a link on Facebook or an advertisement on the internet, perhaps relating to the download of ringtones, backgrounds, emoticons, tests psychological, funny videos, gossip news, erotic videos or dating services just to give some examples.
The sad thing is that these services are not only considered legal, but are also provided by partner companies of Italian telephone companies and approved by European cell phone operators including Tre, Wind, TIM and Vodafone.
Unless there is really an illegal scam, these services operate in a "transparent" way by warning the user of the activation of a subscription service via SMS and giving indications, often confused, of how to disable it.
In the event of higher costs than usual on the phone bill or if the credit recharged on the SIM runs out very quickly, open the SMS list and try to find the one that warns about the activation of a paid service.
The number from which the SMS message comes varies, it can be the number 4340016 or another similar one.
For safety, better read all the SMS received and check them to find the one to activate the service.
In that SMS message there should also be the link to connect to to find the instructions with which to deactivate the service and cancel the subscription .
The name of the paid subscription services come from companies such as EmCube (partner of Tre, who hit me with 4 Euros scaled in 1 minute) Tekka or MobilePay / Mobando which, as you can see from the official websites, are advertising companies partner of telephone operators.
These companies can activate paid services such as: Smart TV live, Cultmovies, TS Fitness, CucinaFacile, Gamearea, Kiddingroom, Gameplanet, Xroom, Xplanet, GossipGirls, TuttoCalcio, MobandoChat, Mobando News, Mobando Video, InfoCoupons, Lot 48, Palmago, okwit, Meet N Fun, Youmeets, Funnymobile, FunnyMe, IMOBI, Joliess, VOP, Klubgame, Musiklub, Bestgameklub, Slelx, Ediplay, Palmago Plus, Vip Rumor, Wazza and others.
The way in which these services are activated is completely deceptive.
For example, you can click on a Facebook link to take a test that tells us who we are or the link of an advertisement on the internet to download a particular app.
It will then happen on a web page where you are asked to accept the conditions of use or, if it is a test, to identify yourself as male or female to continue and accept the conditions and terms.
In this type of pages it is almost impossible to notice the writing below that warns about the activation of a subscription service if you go ahead.
Going on, the omelette is done, the service is activated, the money is immediately deducted and you receive an SMS informing us of the subscription.
" Palmago: active subscription. The best web content at your disposal. Cost 5Euro / week, info 0287186015 or wap-it.palmago.com ".
The price can go from 3 Euros up to 7 Euros per week .
The link to the site to deactivate the service sometimes referred to as " info " and a telephone number to call to manage the subscription should also appear in the same SMS.
The easiest way to deactivate your subscription and avoid making more money in the next few days is to open the indicated site and follow the procedure to deactivate it.
The site must be opened from a computer and not from the mobile phone because, usually, the mobile version of these sites does not allow you to deactivate the subscription.
For example, in another article we saw how to disable MobilePay and Mobando services.
To deactivate other services such as Palmago, you must go to the Deactivate.it website.
Some services are instead managed by the terrible and fearsome Gomobile which requests to send an SMS with STOP written to the 48xxxx telephone number that activated the service or to fill in the form on the site.
The same goes for the services of the DigitApp company
Only upon receiving the SMS confirming that this subscription has been deactivated can you be sure that no more money will be deducted and that the service has been removed.
If the SMS does not arrive or if it seems impossible to disable the service that continues to eat phone credit, you must call the telephone operator's assistance number and ask that anyone be prevented from taking money from the credit on the SIM or by the mobile subscription .
This operation is called SMS barring and deactivates the reception of each automatic SMS, therefore also those of paid services or that of banking services.
To be precise, call:
- TIM by calling 119 and asking to put our number on the Black List .
- Vodafone: number 190 and apply for Barring Sms .
- Wind: call 155 and request the Block of the surcharge services
- Three: calling 133 to activate the "Barring sms".
Basically you are asked to block any possible new activation of subscription services via SMS and you solve the problem at the root forever.
Chapter refunds
Telephone companies deny refunds although with some exceptions.
La Tre is the most infamous company in this, giving the user the responsibility for spending.
With other operators it seems easier to meet and get a refund for the credit deducted from these subscription services that activated themselves without us wanting them, just for having made a click too much or by deception.
First of all, call the customer service and kindly request a refund of the money spent explaining that you have fallen into a scam and reporting the incident as unseemly.
In case of refusal, the official refund request can be made by filling out a form such as the one provided by the site Bastabollette.it, sending it to the registered office of the telephone operator (the addresses are on the Bastabollette.it page).
If the amount spent is high, you can also ask the lawyer to send this letter of protest and reimbursement, bearing in mind that the telephone operator is a partner and accomplice of these premium subscription service companies.
