A mobile phone scam to watch out for

Declan Waugh from Bandon got in touch because he felt readers might be interested to know of a relatively new mobile phone scam that operates via text messaging which he says could cost the unsuspecting hundreds of euro.

“Recently, I was asked to examine the mobile phone of an elderly gentleman who could not understand how his mobile was costing so much each month,” he writes.

Waugh noticed that his friend was receiving text messages from a company which operates a premium rate messaging service. He says the company sent a text message to the mobile with an embedded web link.

“If you open the text message, it can direct you to accepting a premium cost service without your knowledge,” he writes. “In this case, the user unwittingly signed up to a service subscription that charged €2 for each text message received from the company.” He says the man he was helping was “entirely unaware he was being charged for a service he did not request, but could not understand at the same time how his mobile phone bill was so expensive. Incredibly, he had received over 270 messages resulting in €540 being deducted from his mobile account.”

He describes it as “highway electronic robbery” and “says the practice should be outlawed immediately. The people who are most susceptible are the elderly who may be unfamiliar with the technology.”

He suggests that readers check their mobile telephone bills and text messages to ensure that they are not being similarly charged for a service without their knowledge.

The glass is half full

Eoin from Dublin contacted us with a very valid point about measures and half-measures.

“Let’s say a pint of Guinness costs €5, then why should a bar charge €3 for a glass? It is the same drink, poured by the same person,” he says, “so why doesn’t it cost the same price?”

An Argos policy that wouldn’t pay out

Pete from Donegal got in touch in connection with Argos.co.uk. “I bought a TV on the company’s .co.uk site and got delivery to my address in Donegal using a credit card which again had the same address,” he writes.

He also bought insurance with the TV. He paid £109 (€124) for the policy.

“When I had to claim on the insurance, Argos said my insurance wasn’t valid as I lived in the South even though they posted it to me at that address and I used an Irish credit card registered at the same address.”

The retailer offered to refund his insurance but would not honour the insurance on the TV. He says managers in Argos stores have been sympathetic but he gets passed from person to person “who promise to do something but it just goes in circles”.

He says he has given up but feels Argos.co.uk should refund all insurance taken out by Irish customers on their Argos.co.uk website as these people weren’t covered. He compares it to the cases of the banks selling income protection to those who couldn’t use it.

More low-cost ways to keep fit

Last week we carried an item on how to keep fit for less. It prompted the people who run a programme called Link 2B Active to get in touch. Started in south Dublin two years ago it provides physical activity opportunities at reduced rates in leisure centres, golf clubs, outdoor fitness classes and bike shops for people out of work or on other social welfare payments. The programme is also aimed at helping local facilities to stay open and profitable by helping them to tailor offers to the target market at off peak hours.

“With approximately 450,000 unemployed, the importance of access to these opportunities for people’s physical and mental health can’t be overstated,” a spokesman writes.

There are 29 offers currently available and accessible via sdcsp.ie. The Irish Sports Council has embraced the programme and has supported its roll out nationwide supported by the network of Local Sports Partnerships.