MONEY COMMENT
Internet Phone Scam!

By Cliff D'Arcy
April 14, 2004

Premium-rate telephone services regulator ICSTIS has warned consumers to beware of a growing phone scam. Hundreds of Internet users have had their computers hijacked, leading to massive phone bills.

Many Internet users in the UK have received huge bills for calls to unfamiliar '090' premium-rate services charged at £1.50 per minute, which appear to be linked to dubious online businesses, often based in West Africa. Another scam involves international numbers terminating in Byelorussia and Eastern European countries. (These are yet more examples of how tangled the Web has become - perhaps they are the new Nigerian scams?)

These people are victims of a 'rogue dialler' swindle, in which virus-style programs hijack their PCs, making them connect to the Internet via premium-rate numbers, instead of their usual Internet Service Provider's numbers. PCs can become infected by rogue emails, web pages, unsolicited links, pop-up windows and downloaded programs. Note that these diallers usually only work with dial-up modems, so broadband users are normally unaffected (although they are more at risk from other scams, like credit-card number grabbers).

Sadly, many defrauded customers find BT remarkably reluctant to help, even though this spending has happened without their knowledge or consent - although BT is happy to take its cut of this unsavoury income!

Here are some tips to avoid being ripped off in this way:

• Tell your telephone provider (usually BT, Kingston Communications, NTL or Telewest) to block all calls to 090 numbers. Do it today!
• Keep your Windows software up to date with Windows Update and Office Update.
• Install up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software, plus a firewall - and then ask a PC-savvy friend to restore your usual dial-up settings.
• Free programs recommended on our Help With This Blasted Computer! discussion board include AVG Anti-Virus, Ad-aware, SpyBot, Sygate and Kerio.
• Be very wary of unsolicited emails and programs downloaded over the Internet, especially file-sharing software and dodgy MP3s.
• Here's a list of popular 090 and interactive TV numbers. If you've received a bill that includes bogus premium-rate charges, contact ICSTIS for advice before approaching the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman and regulator Ofcom.

Many thanks to Hallucigenia for his expert assistance in compiling this article. You can read more of his PC-related wisdom here and here.

More: More Scams | Double Your Money Today! | Email Scam.