0901 numbers on talk talk bill

[buzby]

No prob. It was Sugar who was convinced everyone would want one - and when he said people 'weren't sensitive' to these calls' I almost fell on the floor. They've been a spectacular failure, and the initial low price was meant to be recovered by usage. (Like a mobile). Boy did he get that one wrong!

[Zeppellina]

He surely did!

 

It seems quite of bizarre of Amstrad to design and market a product which has a built in self destruct mechanism.

To assume in todays highly competitive market place that people will neither notice or care about excess charges added to their daily running costs is more than short-sighted and naive.

 

Strange!

 

Zep.

[Network41]

Similar problem with TalkTalk , multiple entries for 0845 and 0844 numbers TalkTalk say they must have been phoned from my phone. Checked numbers but no luck. TalkTalk say they are international. Tey show up on the bill as being online for a very small time , such as 0.44 secs. Not a huge financial problem but very worrying thatTalkTalk can do nothing about this

 

 

Hello just got my talk talk bill in today and noticed that there is an 0901 number on it 44 times, at a cost of 20p a time. I contacted talk talk and they have said that the number WAS dialled from my phone, so i tried phoning the number to see what it was, all you get is half a ring tone then a high pitched noise.

The number is 09017675091, and it is called SERVICES F on the bill. Has anyone else had this problem and how do i sort it out?

[Movingon]

Similar problem with TalkTalk , multiple entries for 0845 and 0844 numbers TalkTalk say they must have been phoned from my phone. Checked numbers but no luck. TalkTalk say they are international. Tey show up on the bill as being online for a very small time , such as 0.44 secs. Not a huge financial problem but very worrying thatTalkTalk can do nothing about this

 

They can and will remove these if pressed. Write them a very stern letter stating that the calls were NOT made from your 'phone and that you insist that they are removed immediately. You may even wish to threaten Court action although they may well be able to show a Court sufficient information to convince them that the calls were indeed made from your line. Make sure you have enough circumstancial evidence which shows that you did not. Also state that if they will not refund that you will call the Police as you suspect that your line has been tampered with.

[klubbinlass321]

Hey! I had to write 2 u when I saw this I can totally relate. We have been with talk talk for a while and have been having these service calls all of the time, we phoned them up and they told us that it was the internet and that I was doing something that costs money, but I have finally decided to investigate it tonight, and this is what I have found. I'm really really disgusted with talk talk, and it's not just the phone bill neither, it's also the broadband issue, we bought the package and never got the actuall broadband but managed to get the money taken off us though. Heres a few of the numbers

09016550001- services F

08450700365 - services L

08450723333 - services L

08450700365 - services L

08452468256 - services L

08456043550 - services L

08456090082 - services L

09050818086 - services F

09058560424 - services F

09050818086 - services F

08456091122 - services L

08459555200 - services L

08456091122 - services L

08715551555 - services G

09016550001 - services F

09012250008 - services F

Not only that but these calls are worth 2 thirds of the phone bill.

[klubbinlass321]

Hey! I had to write 2 u when I saw this I can totally relate. We have been with talk talk for a while and have been having these service calls all of the time, we phoned them up and they told us that it was the internet and that I was doing something that costs money, but I have finally decided to investigate it tonight, and this is what I have found. I'm really really disgusted with talk talk, and it's not just the phone bill neither, it's also the broadband issue, we bought the package and never got the actuall broadband but managed to get the money taken off us though. Heres a few of the numbers

09016550001- services F

08450700365 - services L

08450723333 - services L

08450700365 - services L

08452468256 - services L

08456043550 - services L

08456090082 - services L

09050818086 - services F

09058560424 - services F

09050818086 - services F

08456091122 - services L

08459555200 - services L

08456091122 - services L

08715551555 - services G

09016550001 - services F

09012250008 - services F

Not only that but these calls are worth 2 thirds of the phone bill.

[Movingon]

Write to them demanding that these calls are removed from your bill as you dispute them. Give them 14 days. Make sure you can demonstrate that neither you nor any device in your home made the calls. After the 14 days send them a Letter Before Action. You know the drill....

[Gino32]

I don't know if any of you guys remember some years back on a watchdog investigation into porn premium rate numbers appearing on bills?

The outcome was a widespread [problem] where at BT exchanges in the dead of night line were being hacked and use for porn to pass the time. One old boy had a bill for nearly a thousand pounds and had a heart attack.

Does it ring any bells, it was a few years back?

[buzby]

No. And not in the 'dead of night' either. I think less that 0.5% of BT's exchanges are staffed at all, never mind at night. I did hear of some engineers listening to these services as a perk of the job, using a butt phone at a street cabinet, but those days are long gone. Nowadays BT Openreach guys have hardly any time to do the work they're scheduled, never mind listening to porn.

[Gino32]

Does it ring any bells, it was a few years back?

 

As I said Buzby it was a few years back, maybe before your time when BT employed staff at the exchanges!

[buzby]

Flattery gets you everywhere - Actually, it couldn't get much earlier than 1990 as it was about then the Premium phone codes started.

[goodwill]

Phantom phone [problem] hits another village | The Register

Phantom phone [problem] hits another village

 

BT's roadside boxes fingered

 

Published Friday 2nd July 2004

 

Another village in the East of England has been targeted by premium rate crooks after they apparently gained "illicit access" to BT's phone network.

West Wickham in Cambridgeshire was targeted in May leaving some 20 or so homes stung by premium rate charges that residents insist were not made by them

 

n a statement, BT admitted that "an investigation by BT Security has shown that a number of customers in the East Anglia area have been affected by illicit access to the BT network.

BT's phone network hit by 'illicit access' | The Register

Punters billed for premium-rate XXX action

 

Published Thursday 24th June 2004

BT has admitted that someone has gained "illicit access" to its network after half the homes in Norfolk village Thurne were billed for calls made to premium-rate XXX phone numbers.

were BT telling the truth or were they afraid the press was going to rumble the scale of fraudulent "rogue dialler" activity on BT's billing platform?

 

@klubbinlass321

 

most if not all your numbers are interactive TV premium rate numbers.

dialled from your sky digibox using your remote control.

you can check them on the Icstis website

ICSTIS Consumer - Number Checker

[buzby]

Not quite what Gino was getting at - but the prospect of lines being intercepted after the exchange, at street cabinets and distribution boxes external to homes is always fair game. One of the reasons I've got PR call barring on all my lines.

[klubbinlass321]

Thanks for that, I have just checked and it's only the services F that are sky related, but I don't know what the other two numbers are. I know it's not all down to me because in august I went away on hols and when the phone bill came through it had these numbers on there and they were very expensive too might I add, while no one was in my house I am supposed to have phoned these random numbers??????? it just doesn't make any sense, I had none of these problems while I was with BT......

[Gino32]

@Goodwill

 

I knew I could rely on you to remember !

 

Buzzer.... words fail me!

[goodwill]

@klubbinlass321

 

most if not all your numbers are interactive TV premium rate numbers.

dialled from your sky digibox using your remote control.

you can check them on the Icstis website

ICSTIS Consumer - Number Checker

I have just checked and it's only the services F that are sky related

thankyou k, yes of of course you are correct.

So the 090 appear sky/tv interactive related

 

the various 0845

WWW.CAMBERLEY.ORG.UK - Welcome to Camberley Community Website

Lloyds TSB and

"0845 604 3550 " - Google Search

car insurance (Sheila's Wheels)

 

@ k if you want to search the rest google various ways

"0845 604 3550" and

"0845 6043550" and

"08456 043 550 " etc.

 

the 08715551555 - services G is an interactive tv

TV Programs - EuroTV : Best Direct

 

are any of these numbers the type of number you would knowingly dial?

................................................................................

@ Gino32

It appears BT misled "the village people" (and buzzer) in 2004

[buzby]

Why? It wasn't BT exchanges that were being targeted (and BT staff responsible), but external plant that anyone can access with a screwdriver!

[Gino32]

Goodwill has managed to dig up the press release from BT and the local media report, as I have said the Watchdog investigation found not only that it was an internal problem but it was also nationwide.

I am adding another possible angle to this problem. Past history of a not dis-similar [problem] which had found to be not as simple as BT had made the people of this village and the press believe.

The fact that you don't remember the incident or program, I suppose gives you the right to make up your own story of the event. That's ok if that make you happy!

[buzby]

Oh - so there has been action by BT in stopping the national wholesale misuse of their network by staff in telephone exchanges who spend their time calling premium rate numbers? 'Media reports' are only as accurate as the reporter's (mis)understanding of the issue - and I've already mentioned that most exchanges are unmanned in the 'dead of night' and anyone so inclined, not just BT staff, can make calls on your line from a distribution point - it isn't somehow magically only the responsibility of dishonest BT staff, which is all you've been going on about.

 

The issue has got nothing to do with whether I remember anything about it, but the ease in which calls can be made from a telephone line without the users knowledge. Blaming BT as the sole culprit is both inaccurate and misleading. However, getting your liner switched to bar PR calls stops it for everyone.

[Gino32]

This 'issue', as you put it, was about another angle to look at, to try and help the poor buggers that had been hit with unexplained PR numbers on their bills.

For some reason you wrote it off, even though you had no knowledge of the incident, the Watchdog program or even the outcome of the events that followed.

 

It was fact that BT clients were hit nationwide with PR numbers on their bills which were porn chat lines, even though they only admitted that it was limited to a certain area.

It was fact that BT instigated an investigation, the outcome was never made public.

It was fact that BBC Watchdog investigated and proved that it was a nationwide [problem]. There was no mention in the program that BT street placed junction boxes had been broken into and used by someone to make these porn chat line calls with hand held units and a very good knowledge of BT equiptment. The onus fell onto the BT exchanges. Whether the exchanges were unmaned or manned, who cares, the fact was that it happened and it was proved. So where is the argument? Had the program been untrue I am sure that BT would have hit the BBC with all their lawyers (at the taxpayers expence), this never happened. So what does that tell you? Then again I am sure you will think of something!

 

Like all problems such as this it was quietly swept under the carpet and left to die.

 

Back to my original line, I had added another angle to this problem, no more no less. I had not blamed BT for anything, the media had proved that there was a problem nationwide.

 

Why you have taken it so personal is a mystery, perhaps you are a BT shareholder! I think you should really get out more and see a bit of life.

 

To the rest of the folks on this thread who have been victims of this [problem], I am sorry that we have moved away from your problems, this may or may not be something to look into.

[buzby]

Given 'Watchdog's' past history in sensationalising the mundane, the fact you seem to revere them as some absolute authority on the workings of telecommunications This program could prove black was white if it could get Nicky Campbell to dress up in a leather jacket have mood lighting and music and report only only one minuscule aspect of the matter being 'investigated'. If tabloid journalism is your bag, then fine - but don't believe everything you see, much of it will be nonsense.

 

The media has PROVED absolutely nothing. Neither have you. I've explained how anyone with a bit of knowledge can make PR calls on a phone line for free, but this doesn't suit your purpose of identifying BT as the sole culprit. You're still happy with that dead-of-night BT exchange nonsense.

 

As for taking it 'personally', sorry, you got that wrong too. I'm in if for the accuracy. This isn't a problem confined to BT. Virgin Media's network is also at risk, however since this has only been rolled out over the last 15 years or so, DP boxes are better protected (slightly) and have the phone and co-ax TV wire running together, making cable-pair free-for-all less likely.

 

No I'm not a BT shareholder, but I have friends that do. Finally, you refer to this as a '[problem]'. It isn't. It's theft. A [problem] is where a punter is misled or induced into following a course of action. And that, is a fact.

[goodwill]

Phantom phone [problem] hits another village | The Register

2nd July 2004

 

A spokesman for BT insisted that the problem of premium rate phone calls appearing on customers' phone bills was "not widespread". He declined to comment on suggestions that criminals are breaking into BT's roadside boxes to make the calls.

why did BT say this?

when

ICSTIS in meltdown - MPs | The Register

1st July 2004

 

While MPs called for the industry to put its own house in order, they also recognised that the regulator was struggling to keep up with complaints. With ICSTIS handling some 2,000 calls a day at the moment with many more not getting through, Conservative MP Sir George Young, described the regulator as being in "meltdown".

 

 

 

[Gino32]

If you think that there were perverts scurrying around all over the countryside breaking into BT boxes with screwdrivers in their hands (!!!) to make free calls to sex chat lines in 2004 you really do have a fantastic imagination.

 

You seem to have lost the plot, this has nothing to do with BT exchanges, manned or unmanned. Watchdog programs, proved or unproved. It's all about victims of a [problem], I'm sorry that you do not like that 'S' word but ask the victims on this thread what they think it is? Or perhaps it is their fault that they have these charges on their bills?

 

As I have said I gave them another avenue to look down form from documented events of the past, whether they took that road was up to them, but it was an option and it was also up to them.

 

Now lets leave it at that and let this thread continue on it's original subject.

[buzby]

Oh purleeze - the original subject was done and dusted ages ago, it was an Amstrad Emailler calling 'home' - no intrigue, no mystery and certainly not a '[problem]'. As for trying to extend the use of a word to mean something else - yes, I think you should leave it at that.

[goodwill]

the original subject was done and dusted ages ago, it was an Amstrad Emailler calling 'home' - no intrigue

yes quite

 

but something I can't see from the thread.

It wasn't BT exchanges that were being targeted (and BT staff responsible), but external plant that anyone can access with a screwdriver!

Yes I agree, I don't think anybody here was seriously suggesting that

but

How do you know external plant was being targeted?

 

and why did BT say

Phantom phone [problem] hits another village | The Register

2nd July 2004

 

A spokesman for BT insisted that the problem of premium rate phone calls appearing on customers' phone bills was "not widespread".

if BT told the truth in 2004 what are the tens of thousands of people mentioned in this BBC program claiming.

BBC NEWS | Business | The Great Phone Call Con